Dr. Rattan Lal, one of the world’s most admired and honored soil scientists, will deliver a lecture at MTSO April 19 at 10 a.m. Eastern. His talk, “Growing Resilience: Connections Between Soil Science, Climate Change, and Spiritual Meanings of Soil and Water,” will take place in the Alford Centrum.

Presented through MTSO’s Science for Seminaries project, the lecture is offered at no cost to members of the public, who are welcome to attend in person or virtually via a Zoom webinar. A free buffet lunch featuring food from MTSO’s Seminary Hill Farm will follow the lecture in Dunn Dining Hall.

Registration is required and available here.

Lal was awarded the World Food Prize in 2020, won the Japan Prize in 2019 and was a member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.

He is Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State University, where he researches soil carbon sequestration, soil health, conservation agriculture, soil restoration and sustainable management. The author or editor of 100 books, he has written 1,000 journal articles and 550 book chapters.

Lal spent the first half of his four-decade career in Africa, where understanding the link between soils, people and ecosystems in a time of unprecedented environmental change became his passion.

We have had numerous requests for video of Luke Powery’s lectures from the Schooler Institute on Preaching, presented by MTSO March 27 and 28. Powery, dean of Duke University Chapel and associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School, spoke on the theme “Deep River: Preaching and the Holy Spirit.”

Both of Powery’s lectures, as well as his sermon at Schooler’s opening chapel, are part of MTSO’s expansive events archive, where more than 10 years of video and other resources are available.

Video and printed materials from the recent Schooler Institute are here. MTSO’s main Archive and Resources page is here.

MTSO offers many generous scholarships to qualified applicants, up to full tuition plus stipends. Those who are considering Fall Semester 2023 enrollment will want to apply by the May 15 scholarship priority deadline.

With MTSO’s free, streamlined application process, a single application serves for both admission and scholarship consideration. We don’t require a separate scholarship application. The admission process is the same for attendance in person, online or a combination of both.

Online application is available here.

It’s not necessary to complete the application in one sitting. Incomplete applications are automatically saved, with the applicant receiving an email link providing access to the application.

MTSO’s Seminary Hill Farm is celebrating its 10th year of offering those in Greater Columbus the opportunity to do good by eating good through its Community Supported Agriculture program.

Orders are being accepted for the 2023 CSA season, with weekly food distributions beginning June 6. CSA members who pick up fresh, delicious, local produce each week support the farm’s mission: Seminary Hill Farm teaches small-scale farming and produces good food for all in pursuit of a just, sustainable and generative world.

For 20 weeks from June through October, CSA shareholders will pick up shares of recently harvested produce at one of two distribution sites: on the MTSO campus or in German Village near downtown Columbus.

A full season of shares is $600 ($30 a week), with monthly shares available for $140 ($35 a week). Payment can be made upfront or on a weekly basis.

Learn more about Seminary Hill Farm’s CSA program and reserve your share here.

WomanPreach! Inc. will present a virtual event, “This Cross I Bear: Mental Health, Trauma, and Preaching,” May 18 from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Eastern. The conversation will be led by University of Houston Professor of Clinical Psychology Rheeda Walker and Rev. Cedrick Von Jackson.

Walker is director of the University of Houston’s Culture, Risk, and Resilience Lab. She has dedicated nearly two decades to advancing the emotional health of African-Americans who identify with a rich cultural history threatened by oppressive social contexts.

Through Cedrick Von Jackson Ministries, Jackson works with churches and other religious and social organizations, providing information on mental illness and mental health through workshops, worship services, prayer breakfasts and conferences.

WomanPreach! partners with MTSO in providing practical training and nurturing community spaces to empower preachers across the country.

Register for “This Cross I Bear” here. Questions? Email WomanPreach! at info@womanpreach.org.