5:00 PM Pre-Lecture Reception. We invite you to attend a pre-lecture reception in the Winn Center prior to the Lecture.

Resisting the Domestication of God-Talk: Towards a Black Feminist Apophatic Mysticism

Rev. Dr. Keri Day will be at Louisville Seminary to deliver the lecture in person with an option for remote participants to join virtually. Registration is required whether attending in-person or online.

About the Lecture

In this lecture, Day suggests that a black feminist apophatic mysticism facilitates the de-objectification of God, resisting the domestication of God and therefore the domestication of Christian theology. Drawing on black feminist and womanist studies, this black feminist apophatic mysticism challenges the doctrinal dogmatism and theological certainty of white Christian knowledge around God that has marked the historical development of Christian theology in the Unites States. In arguing for a black feminist apophatic mysticism, this lecture centers nineteenth century figure Sojourner Truth to explore how such black mystical traditions re-imagine God and the world. I also explore how Truth’s de-objectification of God helps Christian theology reimagine its discourse on God, offering a more cosmologically expansive and ethically responsible view of God. Black feminist apophatic mysticism not only reckons with US slavery and its theological legacies but also offers Spirit-inflected visions of cosmological wonder needed to reimagine God in more capacious, ethical ways.

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About Rev. Dr. Keri Day

Keri Day is the Elmer G. Homrighausen Chair & Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. She also has an honorary appointment as Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University in Stellenbosch, South Africa. In 2023, she was the first African American woman to be promoted to full professor in the 212-year history at Princeton Theological Seminary. She earned a B.S. in Political Science and Economics from Tennessee State University, an M.A. in Religion and Ethics from Yale University Divinity School, and her Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University. Her teaching and research interests are in womanist/feminist theologies, social critical theory, cultural studies, economics, and Afro-Pentecostalism. She has authored four academic books, Unfinished Business: Black Women, The Black Church, and the Struggle to Thrive in America (2012); Religious Resistance to Neoliberalism: Womanist and Black Feminist Perspectives (2015); Notes of a Native Daughter: Testifying in Theological Education (2021); and her most recent book, Azusa Reimagined: A Radical Vision of Religious and Democratic Belonging, (2022). She has been recognized by NBC News as one of six black women at the center of gravity in theological education in America.

She has previously served as the chair of the theology department. She also has served as a board member for the American Academy of Religion, which is the largest scholarly society dedicated to the academic study of religion, with more than 6,000 members around the world. She currently is an editorial board member for the Journal of World Christianity.

Alongside her scholarship, she also engages public policy leaders. She has participated in White House briefings in Washington D.C. to discuss issues related to economic policy, religious freedom, and faith-based initiatives. She has written for the New York Daily News, The Christian Century, The Feminist Wire, and The Huffington Post.

About the Katie Geneva Cannon Lecture - hosted by the Black Church Studies Program at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Katie Geneva Cannon Womanist Lecture returns to Louisville Seminary as a vital forum for theological reflection, prophetic scholarship, and transformative dialogue rooted in the legacy of Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon—trailblazer, ethicist, and founder of womanist theological ethics. This annual lecture series honors her pioneering contributions by centering the voices and visions of Black women who engage in liberative scholarship at the intersection of faith, justice, and community.

Each year, this lecture features distinguished womanist scholars, pastors, and practitioners who challenge systems of oppression while offering sacred insight grounded in lived experience, rigorous intellect, and deep spiritual conviction. The event serves as a sacred space of celebration, education, and empowerment—calling the church and academy alike to accountability and action.

Through this lecture, Louisville Seminary affirms its commitment to justice-centered theological education and the uplift of Black women’s voices in ministry and the public square.

*This lecture, hosted by the Black Church Studies Program and funded by our Black Church Cornerstone Collaborative at Louisville Seminary, continues the legacy of Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon by centering prophetic voices that challenge oppression and uplift community.

**This event may be photographed and/or recorded. By registering and participating, you understand that your image may be included in the recorded video or still photography, and you consent to this and its use in any and all media throughout Louisville Seminary and its partners.

Resisting the Domestication of God-Talk: Towards a Black Feminist Apophatic Mysticism

2026 Katie Geneva Cannon Womanist Lecture presented by Rev. Dr. Keri Day