Hickory – The Lenoir-Rhyne University Living Well Center for Vocation and Purpose will continue its 2019-20 speaker series, Lives Worth Living, with a presentation by the Rev. Dr. Gregory Jones, Monday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. in Grace Chapel. The event is free and open to the public.
A gifted speaker and author, Jones is an ordained United Methodist pastor, and in 2018, was appointed dean of Duke Divinity School, 
where he is also a professor. Jones also serves as Senior Fellow of the Fuqua-Coach K Center for Leadership and Ethics at Duke University.
An editor-at- large for “Christian Century,” Jones writes regularly for “Faith and Leadership,” the web magazine published by Leadership Education at Duke Divinity. He is dedicated to cultivating strategic and visionary leadership and innovation in partnership with individuals and institutions. His focus on leadership and innovation builds on his scholarly work in forgiveness and reconciliation as well as his years in leading Christian institutions.
He is the author of several books, including “Christian Social Innovation,” the co-authored “Forgiving As We’ve Been Forgiven: Community Practices for Making Peace” and “Resurrecting Excellence: Shaping Faithful Christian Ministry.”Jones earned his doctorate in theology from Duke University.
For the academic year, the speaker series concludes with a presentation by Eboo Patel, Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in P.E. Monroe Auditorium. This event is co-sponsored by the LR Living Well Center for Vocation and Purpose, Institute for Faith and Learning, and Visiting Writers Series, with the Catawba Valley Interfaith Council.
For more information, visit lr.edu/publicevents or contact Mindy Makant, LR associate professor of religious studies and director of the Living Well Center, at [email protected] or call 828.328.7188.
Established in 2018, the Lenoir-Rhyne University Living Well Center for Vocation and Purpose strives to engage students, faculty, and staff in the ongoing discernment of vocation and purpose. The Living Well Center for Vocation and Purpose hosts the speaker series: Lives Worth Living. Speakers, including theologians, bishops, artists, and advocates for justice, will share their vocational stories and encourage participants to think in new ways about what makes one’s life meaningful and purpose-filled.
About Lenoir-Rhyne University:
Founded in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a co-educational, private liberal arts institution with more than 50 undergraduate degree programs and over 30 graduate degree programs. LR enrolls more than 2,750 undergraduate and graduate students and has had 11 consecutive years of enrollment growth. LR’s main campus is in Hickory, North Carolina, where both undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered. The University also offers graduate degree programs on its campuses in Asheville, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary is also in Columbia. LR is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and welcomes students from all religious backgrounds. The website is www.lr.edu.
Rev. Dr. Gregory Jones
