Nelson W. Trout Lectures
April 3-4, 2025
The Trout Lectures honor the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Nelson W. Trout (1920-1996). He was a Trinity Lutheran Seminary alumnus, a member of the Trinity faculty, and the first African American elected to serve as a Lutheran bishop. His vibrant preaching and commitment to social ministry inspired hundreds of seminary students and touched thousands of lives. As always, this year's Lectures are held in his honor.
Featuring The Rev. Dr. Teresa L. Smallwood
Dr. Teresa L. Smallwood was born and raised in Windsor, North Carolina, in a rural community with her mother, father, and extended family. She grew up Baptist in a community that leaned into the idea “it takes a village to raise a child.”
In 1978, she graduated from Bertie Senior High School and enrolled in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH). She obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Speech Communications and Afro-American Studies from UNC-CH and went on to obtain her Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 1985. She began her legal career with Legal Services of the Southern Piedmont in Charlotte, NC, where she also worked as a staff attorney for the Children’s Law Center. In 1989, she served as an Assistant District Attorney until in 1991 she commenced her private practice that spanned more than two decades.
Dr. Smallwood graduated from Howard University School of Divinity in 2010 with a Master of Divinity degree. In 2011, Dr. Smallwood pursued a Ph.D. from Chicago Theological Seminary, which she earned in 2017.
Dr. Smallwood has held ministerial staff positions at Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church, Lewiston, NC, Israel Baptist Church, Washington, DC, and New Covenant Christian Church Disciples of Christ, Nashville, TN. She is currently on the ministerial staff of Saint John African Methodist Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN with Senior Pastor, Rev. Dr. Lisa Hammonds.
Dr. Smallwood has taught at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Religious Freedom Center in Washington, D.C., Chicago Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, and Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dr. Smallwood served as the Postdoctoral Fellow and Associate Director of the Public Theology and Racial Justice Collaborative at Vanderbilt Divinity School from 2017 to 2021. Since 2021 she has the honor of serving as the James Franklin Kelly and Hope Eyster Kelly Associate Professor of Public Theology at United Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. As of July 1, 2024, Dr. Smallwood will serve United Lutheran Seminary as Dean and Vice President of Academic Affairs.
Rev. Dr. James Thomas
Dr. Thomas is a retired Associate Professor of Church and Ministry and Worship from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary of Lenoir-Rhyne University and Visiting Professor of Church History and Ministry at Good News Theological Seminary, Accra, Ghana. Dr. Thomas is also the author of A Rumor of Black Lutherans: The Formation of Black Leadership in Early American Lutheranism.
A Rumor of Black Lutherans: The Formation of Black Leadership in Early American Lutheranism
The history of Lutheran engagement in the Black context in the United States is regrettably thin. The book helps Lutherans in the US and other students of American history to assemble a complete account of the role of early American Lutherans in higher education among African Americans.
The book does so by tracing the stories of ten remarkable African Americans from their encounters with Lutherans through to the powerful and impactful lives of ministry and service they went on to lead.
Diverse in place, time, and work, these ten mini biographies paint a richly unified portrait of the ways Lutherans have supported African Americans in higher educational pursuits.
Support the Trout Endowment
The Nelson W. Trout Lectures are, in part, endowment supported. To support the Trout Lectures, please give online.
Please note: When asked for designation, select "Other" and then write in "Trout Endowment"
Contact
Please contact msiefke@capital.edu with questions or call 614-236-6301.