Certificate Description: Transformative Nonviolence
The James Lawson Institute Academy for Nonviolence is a formation series for those who realize that our world is in need of transformation. We are inundated with the news of violence and injustice, and many have discovered that we all need to deepen our commitment to nonviolence and justice. The James Lawson Institute Academy for Nonviolence invites you to deepen your commitment to both. This journey begins with heart and hands open to change.
We believe that change occurs when we attend to three dimensions of experience: 1) the internal, 2) communal, and 3) systemic. The cultivation of nonviolence must be at the center of any path toward change.
If you are ready to engage in a process designed to foster your commitment to a world imbued with justice, courage, spiritual wisdom, and communal care enroll in the certificate in “Transformative Nonviolence.”
This six-session program, running Wednesdays from May 14th-June 18th, explores spiritual wisdom, social justice, and nonviolent action.
This series, open to the public, will:
- Prepare you to be active in the work of spirituality and social justice
- Offer resources for your personal formation
- Provide strategies for responding to social issues
- Introduce you to a group of like-minded learners
To register visit the link below:
Facilitators include:
Rev. Brittany T. Paschall (she/they), affectionately known as Rev. Beloved, is an educator, minister, organizer, and memory-worker from Nashville, TN. An avid speaker and writer, her work has been featured in outlets such as AP News, Sojourners, and CBS This Morning. She holds a Master of Religion and Public Life from Harvard Divinity School, along with certifications in conflict, crisis, change, and peacebuilding circles from Lipscomb University, Pepperdine University, and The Circle Group.
Jeremy L. Williams, Ph.D. is a native of Huntsville, AL. His recent book Criminalization in Acts of the Apostles: Race, Rhetoric, and the Prosecution of an Early Christian Movement was published with Cambridge University Press. Dr. Williams is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School where he is also the inaugural director of the Center for Theology and Justice. He has written several articles, and his current research project is a manuscript entitled "Abolitionist Acts of the Apostles: Hermeneutics of Imagination." It is under contract with Society of Biblical Literature Press. He began his academic work on Acts of the Apostles while studying for the Ph.D. at Harvard University. He earned the M.Div. from Yale Divinity School and received the Henry Hallam Tweedy Award, which is the highest award given to graduating students. He graduated with Highest Honors in Religious Studies and Economics from Vanderbilt University. He is also an Elder in Full Connection in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Lynne McFarland, an 80-year old longtime justice advocate and an elder at St. Augustine Episcopal Chapel, was arrested in April 2025 for engaging in nonviolent direct action protesting a bill in Tennessee that was passed allowing school districts to refuse education to students based on their immigration status. The bill also allowed schools to charge undocumented students tuition. Lynne is a also a recipient of the James Lawson Institute inaugural Transformative Nonviolence certificate in 2024.
Phillis Isabella Sheppard, Ph.D, E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair
Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture and Womanist Thought
Executive Director of the James Lawson Institute for the Research and Study of Nonviolent Movements
For more information email: jameslawsoninstitute@vanderbilt.edu
