The Willard is an annual event that engages our faith tradition with relevant issues including justice, human dignity, and inclusion. It is sponsored by The Willard Endowment of First Presbyterian Church, a fund that was established in memory of Charles R. Willard, Jr.
“Trauma and Grace”
March 26, 5-6:30 p.m., Sanctuary
Rev. Dr. Serene Jones
President of Union Theological Seminary, New York
A highly respected scholar and public intellectual, the Rev. Dr. Serene Jones is the 16th President of the historic Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. The first woman to head the 186-year-old institution, Jones occupies the Johnston Family Chair for Religion and Democracy. She is a Past President of the American Academy of Religion, which annually hosts the world’s largest gathering of scholars of religion. Jones came to Union after seventeen years at Yale University, where she was the Titus Street Professor of Theology at the Divinity School, and Chair of the University’s Program in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. She is the author of several books including Trauma and Grace and, most recently, her memoir Call It Grace: Finding Meaning in a Fractured World. Jones, a popular public speaker, is sought by media to comment on major issues impacting society because of her deep grounding in theology, politics, women’s studies, economics, race studies, history, and ethics.
Dr. Justin Johnson
Psychiatrist - Director of Veteran Services at HopeWay
Dr. Johnson is a board-certified psychiatrist and serves as HopeWay’s Director of Veteran Services. He has expertise in mood and anxiety disorders, PTSD and TBI, men’s mental health, military and Veteran mental health, complex medical-psychiatric disorders, and psychotherapy. Previously, he treated patients at the Durham VA’s Iraq/Afghanistan Veteran clinic. He is an Assistant Consulting Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine, where he supervises Duke trainees. In addition to HopeWay and Duke, Dr. Johnson currently serves in the U.S. Army Reserve, has deployed in support of several operations, and is interested in military medicine. He continues to publish and is a regularly invited speaker on the topic of psychiatric care for the combat Veteran.
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