HESED at Austin Seminary

Keynote Speaker - Rev. Dr. Liz Rios - "Innovating with Courage: Prophetic Leadership for a Liberated Tomorrow"

Rev. Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Rios is a Lower East Side Manhattan-raised Afro-Boricua who founded Passion2Plant, one of the few known national church planting networks founded and led by a woman, to teach global majority planters to start holistic, justice-focused churches. She is a spiritual daughter of NYC's respected institutions, Primitive Christian Church (PCC) and the Latino Pastoral Action Center (LPAC).  Dr. Rios also directs the Púlpito Fellows program at Urban Strategies, a compelling preaching initiative funded by Lilly Endowment. The program empowers Latina/o faith leaders to harness technology and social media as transformative tools for ministry by recognizing the digital pulpit as a fertile space for sowing seeds of faith; the program equips fellows to share gospel-centered, justice-oriented messages with digital audiences. Full bio here. 

LECTURE DETAILS: The future demands faith leaders who are not only bold but also innovative—leaders who embrace the prophetic call to dream, disrupt, and build. During her transformative keynote session, Rev. Dr. Liz Rios will explore the intersection of courage and innovation in ministry, inspiring attendees to create a liberated, inclusive tomorrow. Drawing on her experience as the founder of Passion2Plant, Dr. Rios will share practical strategies for fostering prophetic innovation in church planting, leadership, and community impact.

She hopes that these talks will be more than a call to action but an invitation to reimagine ministry as a Spirit-led laboratory of justice and transformation. Together, we’ll uncover what it takes to innovate purposefully, navigate challenges, and build faith communities that reflect God’s vision for a liberated world.

Preacher: Rev. Lis Valle-Ruiz, PhD

Rev. Lis Valle-Ruiz is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and Worship and Director of Community Worship Life at McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL. She earned her PhD in Homiletics and Liturgics from Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, where she studied gender and sexuality. Her research interests lie at the intersection of preaching, worship, and performance studies from queer and decolonial perspectives. Dr. Valle-Ruiz has researched and taught digital mediations of worship and preaching, artivism and proclamation, and different ways of worship and preaching that are trauma-responsive, decolonial, and intersectional. Rev. Valle-Ruiz received a ThM in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary and an MDiv from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She holds a JD and a BA in Education from the University of Puerto Rico. Theater is her life-long passion.

The theme for this year's HESED is An Invitation to Dream for a Liberated Tomorrow. Imagination has been the source of hope for humanity since the beginning of time. In a rapidly shifting world, where communities face unprecedented challenges, the call for Prophetic Innovation emerges as a vital force in reimagining ministry. This program invites faith leaders, ministry practitioners, community advocates, and most importantly the underrepresented to dream together of a tomorrow that meets the unique needs of a diverse and evolving landscape.

SATURDAY, MARCH 1 - 11:15AM WORKSHOPS

SATURDAY, MARCH 1 - 1PM WORKSHOPS

Our sacred prophets were truth-tellers in the face of adversity.  In this session, we will invite a panel of community leaders to share how they have used the power of uncomfortable truth telling to help advance their missions of justice. Q&A to follow.  

The purpose of HESED at Austin Seminary is to promote awareness and church involvement in the area of social justice, thus enabling hesed, which is Hebrew for love in action. The HESED lectureship was a grassroots effort started by Austin Seminary students of the (then) African American Student Group and Hispanic Student Association in 2014 to bring scholars from black, LatinX, and other marginalized communities to Austin Seminary’s campus, in hopes that their voices would deepen the community’s conversations in response to issues of justice as faced by these students and their communities.

The HESED experience has created community and formed leaders that have helped transform Austin Seminary and the communities the students have entered after graduation. Since its establishment in 2014, HESED organizing committee members and chairs have gone on to serve as student body presidents, student senators, and in other campus leadership capacity, as well as numerous recipients of graduate fellowships and awards. HESED leaders are also hard at work in their communities: leading congregations, advocacy organizations, working as chaplains, and even continuing to serve as employees of Austin Seminary.

Sponsored by the LatinX and African and African Diaspora Student Groups

We'd love for you to be involved with HESED! If you are interested, please fill out the form below. Contact the HESED Organizing Team at hesed@austinseminary.edu with any questions, concerns, or suggestions!

View lecture recordings from past HESED Lectures on the official HESED YouTube page: www.youtube.com/@HESEDatAustinSeminary