Faith Forum Series: The Power of Hope
Fall 2021
Jim Hollis: Hope in Hard Times
September 26, 2021 • Jim Hollis
James Hollis, Ph. D., is a licensed Jungian analyst in private practice in Washington, D.C. He has served as Executive Director of the Jung Educational Center in Houston, Texas and of the Jung Society of Washington. Jim is the author of 17 books, including Prisms: Reflections on This Journey We Call Life (2021), which contains eleven essays on subjects ranging from reframing our sense of self in plague times to a profile of the wounded healer. Jim and The Reverend Chip Edens explore the power of hope during difficult times.
Michael Marsicano: Hope in Generosity
October 3, 2021 • Michael Marsicano
Michael Marsicano is the President and CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas. In 1999, he became only the third head of the organization in its 60 years. During his tenure, FFTC has grown in assets from $240 million to more than $2.5 billion, and from the 35th largest community foundation in America to sixth largest. He has helped raise more than $3.5 billion in philanthropic gifts for cultural, educational, and social-economic initiatives in the Mecklenburg County region. In 2017, Michael was named No. 1 on the list of 50 Most Powerful People in Charlotte by Charlotte Magazine.
Kathy Izard: Hope in Radical Uncertainty
October 10, 2021
Kathy Izard is an award-winning author and speaker who has helped bring transformation to Charlotte in the areas of homelessness, housing, and mental health. Her memoir, The Hundred Story Home, has been featured on NPR as well as "The Today Show," inspiring people to be change-makers in their own communities. In 2019, she released A Good Night for Mr. Coleman, a children’s book written to encourage kids to dream big and do good. Eight years ago, Kathy’s world was shattered when her healthy husband, Charlie, suffered a catastrophic heart attack. Although he was miraculously still alive, there could be no return to normal living because the cause was a rare, incurable disease. In her latest book The Last Ordinary Hour (2021), Kathy shares how they learned to live in radical uncertainty and how you can find hope even when medical science can offer no assurances.
Jimmy Greene: Looking Upward
October 17, 2021
Jimmy Greene is Associate Professor of Music and Co-Coordinator of Jazz Studies at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, CT. A native of Connecticut, he is one of the most respected saxophonists of his generation. Jimmy's daughter, Ana Grace Márquez-Greene, was six years old when she was murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. The GRAMMY®-nominated Beautiful Life and Flowers: Beautiful Life, Volume 2 were made in tribute and dedication to his daughter, celebrating her life and spirit. He is part of the music ministry at his local church, Glory Chapel International Cathedral. On his heartfelt new album, While Looking Up, the saxophonist was guided by the inspirational words of his pastor: “If I’m not able to find strength or peace by looking inward,” he said, “or if I’m not able to do it by looking outward to my immediate surroundings, I have to look upward.”
Kate Bowler: Everything Happens
October 24, 2021 • Kate Bowler
Kate Bowler, PhD, is an associate professor of the history of Christianity in North America at Duke Divinity School. She is the author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, which traces the history of the movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness. After being unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35, she penned the New York Times bestselling memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I’ve loved). Dr. Bowler subsequently staged a national conversation on speaking frankly about suffering through her popular podcast, "Everything Happens."
Becca Stevens: Practically Divine
October 31, 2021 • Becca Stevens
Becca Stevens is an author, speaker, Episcopal priest, justice entrepreneur, and founder and president of Thistle Farms (Nashville, TN), a community of women survivors of prostitution, trafficking, and addiction. Thistle Farms includes a holistic two-year residential program, justice enterprises that employ survivors, and an education and outreach program that includes a national network of 50 sister communities. Becca experienced the death of her father and subsequent child abuse at a young age, and as an adult she longed to create a sanctuary for survivors. She is an international voice for the growing global movement for women's freedom and a fervently hopeful and loving champion of the marginalized. Becca is a graduate of the University of the South and Vanderbilt Divinity School. She has been conferred three honorary doctorates and named a 2011 White House “Champion of Change” as well as a 2016 CNN Top Ten Hero. She has been featured in The New York Times, ABC World News, NPR, CNN and other national press.
Sharon Risher: Hope and Forgiveness
November 7, 2021 • The Reverend Sharon Risher
The Reverend Sharon Washington Risher was catapulted into the limelight after the Charleston, S.C. shooting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on June 17, 2015. Her beloved mother and the church’s sexton, Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance, were killed along with eight others, including two cousins and a childhood friend. Since that horrific tragedy, Sharon has been very outspoken about the nation’s gun laws and is one of the national spokespersons for the grassroots advocacy groups Everytown and Moms Demand Gun Sense. She has appeared on CNN on several occasions and was interviewed by Time Magazine, Marie-Claire magazine, Guardian-BBC radio, among others. She also has visited President Barack Obama at the White House on several occasions, and she has been a guest speaker for several Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial events. Until shortly after her mother’s heartrending death, Rev. Risher had served Rice Chapel AME Church as associate pastor for congregational care, where she preached and led the women’s ministries of the church. Sharon’s book, “For Such a Time as This: Hope and Forgiveness after the Charleston Massacre” was published in June 2019, coinciding with the four-year anniversary of the shooting.
Lisa Miller: Spirituality, Depression, and Resilient Life
November 14, 2021 • Lisa Miller, Ph.D.
Lisa Miller, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology and Education at Columbia University, Teachers College and is Founder of the Spirituality Mind Body Institute, the first Ivy League graduate program in spirituality and psychology. Dr. Miller is a foremost scientist on spirituality across the lifespan, with her work published in top research journals including JAMA-Psychiatry, American Journal of Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Her innovative research has focused on quantifiable effects of spirituality in health, resilience and thriving, and an overall sacred and joyful life. Her clinical and consultation work focuses on spiritual awareness and spiritual growth. Dr. Miller's latest book, The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life, was published in August 2021. Weaving her own deeply personal journey of awakening with her groundbreaking research, Dr. Miller’s book reveals that humans are universally equipped with a capacity for spirituality, and that our brains become more resilient and robust as a result of it.
Barbara Brown Taylor: Hope Far From Home
November 21, 2021 • Barbara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, professor, theologian, New York Times best-selling author, and one of the United States' best known preachers. In 2014, TIME magazine placed her in its annual TIME 100 list of most influential people in the world. She has been an Avon lady, a cocktail waitress, a horseback riding instructor, and a hospital chaplain, but her favorite job was teaching world religions at Piedmont College for twenty years before putting the chalk down in 2017. Her latest book, Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far From Home was released in October 2020. Barbara now divides her time between writing, speaking, and caring for the land on which she lives. Taylor and her husband Ed live on a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians, sharing space with wild turkeys, red foxes, white-tailed deer and far too many chickens.