Henderson Leadership Conference 2024

Dr. Diana Butler Bass is an award-winning author, popular speaker, inspiring preacher, and one of America’s most trusted commentators on religion and contemporary spirituality. Bass’ passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world – a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently. She does this with intelligence, joy, and a good dose of humor, leading well-known comedian John Fugelsang to dub her “iconic,” the late Marcus Borg to call her “spontaneous and always surprising,” and Glennon Doyle to praise her “razor-sharp mind” and “mystical heart.” She holds a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of 11 books. Her bylines include The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN.com, Atlantic.com, USA Today, Huffington Post, Spirituality and Health, Reader's Digest, Christian Century, and Sojourners. She has commented on religion, politics, and culture in the media widely including on CBS, CNN, PBS, NPR, CBC, FOX, Sirius XM, TIME, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and in multiple global news outlets. In the 1990s, she wrote a weekly column on religion and culture for the Santa Barbara News-Press, which was distributed nationally by The New York Times Syndicate. Her work has received two Wilbur Awards for best nonfiction book of the year, awards from Religion News Association for individual commentary and for Book of the Year, Nautilus Awards Silver and Gold medals, the Illumination Book Award Silver medal, Books for a Better Life Award, Book of the Year of the Academy of Parish Clergy, the Frank S. and Elizabeth D. Brewer Prize for Church History, Substack Fellowship for Independent Writers, multiple nominations for the Library of Virginia Literary Awards, and Publishers Weekly’s Best Religion Book of the Year. She and her husband live in Alexandria, Va., with their dog and their sometimes-successful backyard garden. You can follow her online at www.dianabutlerbass.com, her public author page on Facebook, and Twitter @dianabutlerbass, or her newsletter, ”The Cottage” at https://dianabutlerbass.substack.com/.

The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the associate professor of preaching and worship at Lexington Theological Seminary in Lexington, Ky. An ordained Lutheran minister (ELCA) for more than 20 years, Schade earned both her MDiv and PhD degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary). She has pastored three Pennsylvania congregations in suburban, urban, and rural contexts. She has authored and edited six books, including, Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), which explores how clergy and congregations can address controversial social issues using nonpartisan, biblically-centered approaches and deliberative dialogue. Her forthcoming book, Preaching and Social Issues: Tools and Tactics for Empowering Your Prophetic Voice will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in the fall of 2024. Schade received a $30,000 grant from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion to study deliberative dialogue in classrooms and congregations.  She recently served as a consultant with the United Methodist Church Great Plains Conference training trainers in the sermon-dialogue-sermon method and developing an issue guide for congregations navigating denominational conflict regarding LGBTQIA+ inclusion. She has conducted longitudinal research on ministry, preaching, and social issues that has surveyed nearly 3,000 clergy and 1,000 laity since 2017. Schade received the Kentucky Council of Churches award in 2019 and is the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos.

* will be livestreamed for online attendees

How Can We Heal Our Divides? Approaches for Navigating Politics with the People We Love

Just as our society is frayed by divisive politics, so does the tension spill into our families and congregations. Holiday meals are strained, people stop speaking to each other, and an “emotional cold war” overtakes the gifts of nurturing and support that God intended. In this session, Leah Schade will provide frameworks for understanding the dynamics of divisive politics in families and congregations and suggest strategies and tactics for listening, finding common values, and restoring relationships.

Preaching Across the Divide: Strategies for Sermons in the Election Season

The challenge of preaching across the red-blue divide in our churches is fraught with risks, but also offers opportunities for proclaiming the gospel and building community in profound and contextual ways. Informed by insights from her longitudinal research of ministry, preaching, and social issues, Lean Schade will offer an approach to preaching in this politically divisive climate using a “dialogical lens” for interpreting Scripture and crafting sermons. Participants will workshop a biblical text to learn how to use the dialogical lens for preaching in their own contexts during and after the election season.

Maxo Vanka completed 25 individual murals in two brief but intense periods in 1937 and 1941. He then returned to the church in 1951 to add the five symbols of Christianity to the choir loft. Vanka’s paint medium was not obvious. It is documented that he tried to make his own from a variety of substances – including mayonnaise – but finally settled on a commercial preparation of casein.

Father Zagar lightly prescribed the artist’s subject matter and Vanka maximized his opportunity to pay tribute to faith while expressing his passionate beliefs about social justice, injustice, the horrors of war, and helping to preserve and celebrate cultural identity among an immigrant population.

The 75-plus year presence of the 25 main murals has been largely unaltered with approximately 4,500 square feet of the original paintings on constant display. Other aspects of Vanka’s work including a detailed textile design that covered almost every other open wall and pillar space were modified in keeping with the needs of the Church.

Although not a Western Pennsylvania artist, Vanka’s work is reminiscent of the visual storytellers at work during the same time period. Vanka referred to the murals as his “Gift to America.” This collection has been compared to the works of the great Mexican muralist Diego Rivera.

Learn more at: https://vankamurals.org/

Options to visit the murals (choose during registration):

Maxo Vanka Murals Tour 1: Mon., Sept. 23, 10:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (max: 30)

Maxo Vanka Murals Tour 2: Mon., Sept. 23, 3:15-5:30 p.m. (max: 30)

On-campus guest housing is no longer available. 

Here is a list of hotels near the Seminary to assist you in finding suitable lodging in the area.

Hotel Indigo, 123 N. Highland Ave., 15206, 412-665-0555

The Maverick, 120 S. Whitfield St., 15206, 412-214-8888

SpringHill Suites Bakery Square, 134 Bakery Square Blvd., 15206, 412-362-8600

Please choose your registration:

In-Person Registration for the Full 3-day Conference is now closed. 

Click here to register for In-Person or Online (Monday evening Lecture Only)

Click here to register for Online (All Lectures, Workshops, and Worship)

Please contact Click to view e-mail or call 412-924-1345.