2027 Bethany BOLD Symposium

Bethany BOLD Symposium

March 4-5, 2026

Can We Live Justly in an Unjust World?

Complicity, Responsibility, and Structural Injustice 

Keynote speaker: Dr. Stephanie Mota Thurston is an Assistant Professor in the Religion Department at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Her research and teaching interests include social ethics, religion & politics in the US, moral formation, and theories of complicity, responsibility, and structural injustice. She is especially interested in moral and political questions concerning schools, families, and prisons. She is currently working on completing her first book titled: Beyond Unintended Consequences: School Segregation, Political Responsibility, and Education as a Common Good.  

Join us for enlightening presentations, good conversations, fellowship, and worship.

Registration open now — CEU credit available!

Please join us for this educational event exploring religious perspectives on complicity and justice.

Bethany BOLD Symposium 

Schedule

Friday, March 4

Dinner and presentation

Saturday, March 5

Grab and go breakfast

Worship

Presentations

Lunch

Cost: $50

Early bird discount: $45, when you register before January 1, 2027

(Overnight accommodations are available in Bethany housing for $30/night)

Student and Alumni Panel (Moderated by Dr. Maggie Elwell)

Courtney O’Banion Smith, MFA (Texas State University-San Marcos), MATW (Bethany)

“Accessibility and Disability Justice in Education and Faith Communities”

Brief description: Courtney O’Banion Smith examines complicity and social responsibility through accessibility and disability justice in education and faith communities. Drawing on experiences as a neurodivergent student, parent, professor, and ADA coordinator, she traces how ableism operates across institutions. Through theopoetics as speculation, she shows what responsibility demands of leaders and communities and what unfolds when they remain complicit.

Bio: Courtney O’Banion Smith has a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing-Poetry from Texas State University-San Marcos and a Master of Arts in Theopoetics and Writing from Bethany Theological Seminary. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee, and her collection, In Fidelity, won the 2023 Catherine Case Lubbe Award. She currently writes and teaches in Houston, Texas.

Erin Rinaca, MA (Bethany)

“Breaking the Silence: Confronting Intimate Partner Violence in Our Churches”

Brief Description – Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a pervasive and urgent problem, yet societies have historically been slow to acknowledge and confront this form of violence. Our churches are no exception. While uniquely equipped to be places of hope and healing, churches have often been, at best, complicit and, at worst, harmful in their responses to those subjected to IPV. This presentation explores the work of building up the church as a place of refuge and safety, and as a community with the capacity to compassionately bear the suffering of others.

Bio – Erin Rinaca serves as a pastor at Bridgewater Church of the Brethren. She is a 2026 graduate of Bethany Theological Seminary (MA) and a 2011 graduate of James Madison University (BA). Erin has a particular interest in ministry to individuals impacted by Intimate Partner Violence. She lives in Bridgewater, VA with her husband Wes, daughter Ellie, and her dogs, Dobie and Dizzy. She enjoys camping and spending time with family at their favorite river spot. 

 Isaac Zika, MA (Bethany) 

“A Priestly Politics of Pain “

Brief description: Political power brokers routinely pit persons in pain against each other. How might we be called to respond? Brethren and other Protestants often speak of the “priesthood of all believers”; this presentation posits that an important aspect of being a priestly people consists of attending to our fellow congregants and neighbors in their pain. Such priestly attention participates in Jesus’ intercession for the whole of hurting creation and is thus political in its scope. 

Bio: Isaac Zika recently graduated with a Master of the Arts in Theology from Bethany Theological Seminary. In addition to continuing studies at Bethany in the MDiv program, Isaac helps first generation college students access higher education, participates as a lay person in his congregation, enjoys spending time with his wife and two children, reading, making music, gardening, and woodworking. 

Continuing Education Units available!

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