Pitts kicks off its series of Summer Reading suggestions with recommendations from Assistant Professor in the Practice of Old Testament and Director of Public Theological Education, Dr. Ryan Bonfiglio! Dr. Bonfiglio joined the Candler faculty in 2018. He previously taught at Columbia Theological Seminary and served as the John H. Stembler Scholar in Residence at the First Presbyterian Church (USA) of Atlanta.

Take a break from the books with a speaker series directed by Dr. Bonfiglio called TheoEd Talks. TheoEd Talks bring together leading thinkers in the church and the academy to give the talk of their lives in 20 minutes or less. By packaging powerful ideas in bite size talks, this series seeks to do for the Bible, theology, and spirituality what the popular TED series has done for Technology, Entertainment, and Design. These highly polished, beautifully produced talks are designed to spark conversations that change how regular church goers and those who are just curious about faith think about God, religion, and the power of faith to change lives and communities.

Past speakers have included: Shane Claiborne, Amy-Jill Levine, Mike McHargue, Diana Butler Bass, Lauren Winner, Pete Enns, and Candler’s own Greg Ellison and Brent Strawn. TheoEd Talks events are hosted live twice a year in Atlanta, but all of past talks can be viewed for free at www.TheoEd.com. You can also subscribe to the podcast, where you’ll have instant access to all of the talks as well as behind the scenes interviews with the speakers. TheoEd Talks is now part of Candler’s new initiative in Public Theological Education. Stay tuned and register for the next event coming up on Sunday, September 22 featuring Jonathan Merritt, Austin Channing Brown, Mihee Kim Kort, and Ted Smith.

Thank you to Dr. Bonfiglio for this timely and innovative suggestion! Stay tuned over the summer for reading and resource suggestions from Candler’s faculty and staff.