Gladden Lecture 2025
Dr. Pete Enns
"The Case for Social Justice"
First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ
Saturday, October 4 at 2 p.m.
Popular theologian, author, and podcaster Pete Enns will deliver the annual Gladden Lecture at First Congregational Church. Enns has attracted a wide following for his interpretations of the Bible that reconcile biblical stories with science and modern biblical scholarship and that speak to the faith concerns of many contemporary Christians. He also is co-host of the podcast “The Bible For Normal People.”
He will deliver the Gladden Lecture at 2 p.m. on October 4 in the Sanctuary of First Congregational Church, 444 E. Broad St. His lecture, “The Case for Social Justice,” will be followed by a question-and-answer session and a book signing. Weather permitting, a reception will be held in the adjacent Washington Gladden Social Justice Park.
The lecture is free and open to the public. Advance registration for the lecture is requested, but not required. Click the button below to register.
Enns is the Abraham S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pennsylvania. He has a master of divinity degree from Westminster Theological Seminary and master’s and Ph.D. degrees in Near Eastern languages and civilizations from Harvard University. He has written numerous books, including How the Bible Actually Works: In Which I Explain How an Ancient, Ambiguous, and Diverse Book Leads Us to Wisdom Rather Than Answers – and Why That’s Great News and The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our ‘Correct’ Beliefs.
About the Gladden Lecture
Dr. Washington Gladden was the distinguished pastor of The First Congregational Church of Columbus from 1882 to 1914. During that complex time in post-Civil War history, Dr. Gladden was nationally known for his Social Gospel views. His constant concern was the application of what he felt to be the self-evident Judeo-Christian principles of compassion, brotherhood/sisterhood, peace and justice issues, social problems of his time. He was engaged in a lifelong pursuit of religious truth, which could be directly applied to human needs.
During his days in Columbus, he was elected to the Columbus City Council where he served for two years (1900-1902) working vigorously for the betterment of community “within the city.” Dr. Gladden thought of himself as first a pastor and then a social prophet and activist.
Even today, the legacy of the Gladden Community House, the libraries throughout the Columbus area, the academic faculty chair in Applied Christianity at the Methodist School of Theology in Delaware, The Washington Gladden Social Justice Park, and the Gladden Lecture tradition all remind us of the extraordinary influence he still casts upon contemporary society. We honor him through this lecture series and will continue to extol his influence in subsequent Gladden Lecture programs.
The Gladden Lecture Series invites dynamic speakers to share thought-provoking sermons and lectures on a topic of social justice or community development. Gladden speakers in the past include The Rev. Dr. Sarah Lund, the author of Blessed Are the Crazy: Breaking the Silence About Mental Illness, Family and Church and The Rev. Dr. Starsky Wilson, president & CEO of the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and CDF Action Council. The 2024 Gladden Lecture is being co-sponsored by the Washington Gladden Social Justice Park and through generous individual donors.