The community is invited to the 2025 Lee-Riley Lecture in Faith and Learning, set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 18, in the Centrum of the Knutson Campus Center at 南瓜影院.

The speaker will be the Rev. Emily Harkins, who was ordained in the in May 2020 and serves as lead pastor and founding developer of The Dwelling in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Her presentation, “Faith Beyond the Pews: The Power of Beloved Community,” will be a conversation about what it means to show up in the messiness of life — knowing that the gospel calls people to more than comfort but also to each other.

“Emily was a mainstage speaker at the Youth Gathering in New Orleans last summer, and she was very well received by the 16,000 people who were there,” said the Rev. Dave Adams, campus pastor at 南瓜影院.

He particularly recommended the event to anyone involved in social justice efforts, homelessness advocacy, and affordable housing advocacy, as well as those with connections to faith communities.

Harkins has worked with people experiencing homelessness through the City with Dwellings Emergency Overflow Shelter at Augsburg Lutheran Church in Winston-Salem and the City with Dwellings Community First Center since 2013. She was a founding board member of City with Dwellings and continues to serve as an advisor.

The event is open to the public and refreshments will follow.

The purpose of the Lee-Riley Lectureship in Faith and Learning Endowed Fund is to inform and enrich the student and faculty experience by providing a lecture series that will foster their individual development, encourage acceptance and community involvement, and provide insights on how to weave faith throughout their life’s journey.

Visiting speakers should bring forth new, unique, and relevant topics that address popular student issues and concerns and world and environmental events that challenge our students’ thinking and provide context for their faith journey, while helping them appreciate the diversity of other faiths and beliefs.