Louisville with CMEP Presbyterian Advisory Council
Join the Presbyterian Advisory Council of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) for an informative slate of events in Louisville, KY between October 29-November 1. Events will include robust discussion of the current context in Palestine and Israel, countering narratives of Christian Zionism, and concrete ways for communities to engage in initiatives that support just peace in the region. See our full slate of public events and registration links (where required) below.
Friday, October 30th
“Christian Zionism and Its Victims” Lecture with Dr. Mark Taylor
2:30-4:00 PM | Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Join Mark Taylor, PhD, for Christian Zionism and Its Victims, a lecture engaging the urgency of Christian engagement to end violence in the Holy Land. Dr. Taylor will be joined by additional discussants from the Presbyterian Advisory Council following his remarks.
Dr. Mark Lewis Taylor earned his MDiv from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and his PhD from the University of Chicago. A member of the Presbyterian Church, he frequently teaches and lectures in churches and supports church communities in their efforts to organize on justice and peace issues. Since 1987, he has studied regularly in Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico, where he analyzes the cultural and political dynamics of the churches as they move closer to a contextualized Mayan theology that also facilitates resistance to military repression. He is coordinator for Educators for Mumia Abu-Jamal. His regular teaching duties focus on the theologies of Paul Tillich and Gustavo Gutierrez, with full courses also on white racism as theological challenge, feminist and womanist theologies, empire and capital in theological perspective, and cultural-political hermeneutics.
Saturday, October 31st
When Theology Kills: Tools for Understanding Christian Zionism
organized by the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky
10:00 AM-12:00 PM | Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
What is Zionism? Is there a difference between Christian Zionism and Jewish Zionism? Is “anti-Zionism” antisemitic? Why did the 2024 PCUSA General Assembly “rejected all forms of Christian Zionism”? And why might all of this matter today?
Join us Saturday morning from 10am to noon at LPTS to reflect together on a theology which has been present in many Presbyterians’ Christian formation- and which is being used today to justify the killing of many civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. Dr Dhawn Martin is Assistant professor of Theology at LPTS and will present on Christian Zionism, with brief responses from three invited panelists. We will follow the presentations with deep conversation in small groups to enable us to recognize the tenets of Christian Zionism in our theology, preaching and hymnody and how to preach and teach in our congregations on Christian Zionism.
Dhawn B. Martin joined Louisville Seminary’s faculty in 2025. She holds the PhD and a MPhil in Theological and Philosophical Studies from the Graduate Division of Religion, Drew University, a MDiv from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, a MA from Durham University (England) in Western European Political and Economic Integration, and a BA in Political Science from Wellesley College. She has taught classes in philosophy, theology, civic engagement, and religious studies at Hanover College, St. Mary’s University (San Antonio), Elon University, and Drew University—Graduate Division of Religion.
Martin’s scholarship examines the interplay of Christian spirituality, novel strategies for social witness, and compassion-based activisms, particularly through the lens of public theology. Her current research explores the insights and embodiments of mysticism as sacred resource to enliven social activism.
Rev. Dr. Safwat Marzouk
Union Presbyterian Seminary
Dr. Daniel Bannoura
Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice
Rev. Dr. Ron Shive
CMEP Presbyterian Advisory Council
Sunday, November 1st:
“What is Christian Zionism and Why Does it Matter?” Lunch & Learn at Harvey Browne Presbyterian
12:00-1:00 PM | Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church
Join Rev. Dr. Wes Avram and members of the Presbyterian Advisory Council of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) for a special lunch & learn session at Harvey Browne Presbyterian Church on the subject What is Christian Zionism and Why Does it Matter?.
No registration required.
Rev. Dr. Wes Avram is a recently retired pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Director of Academic Engagement at CMEP, and member of the Presbyterian Advisory Council of CMEP. He most recently served Pinnacle Presbyterian in Scottsdale, AZ, where he is Emeritus Senior Pastor. Academically, he has a PhD from Northwestern University, was College Chaplain at Lecturer at Bates College, and held the Clement-Muehl Chair in Communication at Yale Divinity School before returning to parish ministry. As a Princeton Seminary Parish Fellow, he spent a year of study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the Interfaith Academy of Peace at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute. He has since joined and led study tours, invested sabbatical time in further contact and study in Israel/Palestine. Wes has additionally served on the Board of the Center for Middle East Studies at North Park Univ and the Faith Leader’s Advisory Council for Bright Stars of Bethlehem. In addition to other books and articles, he is contributing editor of Anxious About Empire: Theological Reflections on the New Global Realities (2006).