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Prof. Kristen Leslie to Present Mendenhall Lecture on October 6

Prof. Kristen Leslie to Present Mendenhall Lecture on October 6

September 22, 2011

102848September 22, 2011, Greencastle, Ind. — Kristen Leslie, professor of pastoral theology and care at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, will come to DePauw University to present the Mendenhall Lecture on Thursday, October 6. Dr. Leslie's presentation, "From Pastoral Care to Conversion: Military Chaplaincy During the Last Decade of War," will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Gobin Memorial United Methodist Church. The event is free and all are invited to attend.

Dr. Leslie is the author of When Violence Is No Stranger: Pastoral Care and Counseling with Survivors of Acquaintance Rape. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, has served on several different governing boards for the denomination, and is occasionally called on as a consultant for matters of clergy misconduct, religious intolerance and sexualized violence.

The professor previously served on the faculty at Yale Divinity School (1998-2010) and has worked with chaplains at the United States Air Force Academy on issues of sexualized violence and religious intolerance. In 2005, Leslie co-authored the report that brought to light the problem of Christian proselytizing at the Air Force Academy. She is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church and has served on several different governing boards for the denomination.

102856Dr. Leslie will be among the presenters at a workshop for pastors on October 6 from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the Inn at DePauw, located at 2 West Seminary Street. Entitled "Pastoral Care with Survivors of Sexualized Abuse: How to Help and When to Refer,” the program will also feature clinicians from Putnam County. There is no charge for attending; however, seating is limited and reservations are required. You may make your reservations by emailing Leslie Lytle at marjorielytle@depauw.edu or by calling (765) 658-4615.

DePauw's Mendenhall Lectures, which were inaugurated in 1913, were endowed by the Reverend Doctor Marmaduke H. Mendenhall. His desire was to enable the University to bring to campus "persons of high and wide repute, of broad and varied scholarship" to address issues related to the academic dialogue concerning Christianity. Although Mendenhall was a pastor in the North Indiana Annual Conference of what was then called the Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the parents of the United Methodist Church, he explicity dictated that lectures be selected without regard to denominational divisions. The endowment has allowed DePauw to bring theological and religious scholars of international repute to campus for nearly a century.

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