Serene Jones

Mitchell Atencio 11-22-2022

Delores S. Williams in 1996. Courtesy Union Theological Seminary.

Delores S. Williams, a trailblazer and founder of womanist theology, died on Nov. 18. She was the author of Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk and a professor of theology.

Lexi McMenamin 4-19-2021

Sen. Raphael Warnock speaks with Serene Jones, the president of Union Theological Seminary, via video chat, on April 18, 2021 (screenshot).

On Sunday, April 18, in an event hosted by Union Theological Seminary (Warnock’s alma mater), Warnock, a Democrat, detailed how his time as a minister, and now U.S. Senator, led him to his current image as a staunch defender of voting rights, and the responsibility of progressives to combat restrictions.

Simran Jeet Singh 11-22-2019

Dr. Serene Jones discusses her memoir with Jacqui Lewis, Eddie S. Glaude Jr., and David Gushee in a conversation moderated by Kelly Brown Douglas. via Union Theological Seminary on YouTube

Dr. Serene Jones serves currently as president of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York — the first woman president in the institution’s 183 years of existence. Among her many illustrious achievements, Jones also served as president for the American Academy of Religion, the world’s largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies. Jones grew up in Oklahoma with her family, which she describes as “progressive and deeply Christian.”

Image via /Shutterstock.com

Developing real estate is not new to justice-minded groups — religious organizations from New York City to East Africa are weighing the symbolic meaning invested in their land against practical survival plans for the mission. What makes Union’s plans particularly upsetting to campus protesters is its location. When Union announced it was in talks with a developer to build condominiums on campus, the move was met with outcry from some students, alumni, and faculty. But President Jones said this move is nothing new for the school — only now, perhaps, it’s more public.

 

 

Liz Schmitt 6-18-2014
Union Theological Seminary, by David Merrett / Flickr.com

Union Theological Seminary, by David Merrett / Flickr.com

Last week, Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary, announced that the school is divesting its endowment of fossil fuels. It is the first seminary in the world to do so, marking Union’s latest action in a long legacy of social justice commitments.

So what? Well, it helps to look at this news in context.

Manhattan’s Union Theological Seminary. RNS photo by Richard Madona, courtesy Union Theological Seminary

New York City’s venerable Union Theological Seminary plans to pull all investments in fossil fuels from its $108.4 million endowment, casting it as part of a bid to atone for the “sin” of contributing to climate change.

President Serene Jones said Union is the first seminary in the country to take such a step, which came from a unanimous vote from its board.

Union’s portfolio has been investing 11 percent (or about $12 million) of its endowment in fossil fuels. Jones did not mince words in condemning the school’s contributions to fossil fuel, quoting “the wages of sin is death” from Scripture.

“We have sinned, and we see this divestment as an act of repentance for Union,” Jones wrote in an op-ed for Time magazine. “Climate change poses a catastrophic threat. As stewards of God’s creation, we simply must act to stop this sin.”