The Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture is a distinguished visiting professorship at Candler School of Theology devoted to exploring Jesus’s effect on culture and, conversely, culture’s shaping of the figure of Jesus.
Interdisciplinary in nature, The McDonald Chair allows scholars to approach the concept of Jesus and culture from a variety of perspectives. Holders of the chair have included artists, musicians, and poets, as well as scholars in the humanities and social sciences.
The McDonald Chair is supported by gifts from the McDonald Agape Foundation, founded by The Honorable Alonzo L. McDonald 48C, a longtime trustee of Emory University. The McDonald Agape Foundation “supports lectures and other public presentations that deal creatively and imaginatively with the person and teachings of Jesus as they shape and form culture.”
Videos of past McDonald Lectures may be viewed in Candler’s Video Library.
The 2026-2027 McDonald Chair
Author Min Jin Lee is the 2026-2027 McDonald Chair. Lee was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Queens, New York with her family when she was seven years old. She studied history at Yale College and law at Georgetown University. Lee practiced law for two years before turning to writing. She teaches fiction and essay writing at Amherst College and lives in New York City.
Lee is a writer whose award-winning fiction explores the intersection of race, ethnicity, immigration, class, religion, gender, and identity of a diasporic people. Lee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (2007) was a Top 10 Books of the Year for The Times of London, NPR’s Fresh Air, USA Today, and a national bestseller. Pachinko, her second novel, is an epic story which follows a Korean family who migrates to Japan; it is the first novel written for an adult, English-speaking audience about the Korean-Japanese people.
Pachinko was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize, a New York Times 10 Best Books of 2017, and is one of Kirkus Review’s Best Books of the 21st Century (So Far). A New York Times Bestseller, Pachinko was also a Top 10 Books of the Year for the BBC, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the New York Public Library. Pachinko was a selection for “Now Read This,” the joint book club of PBS NewsHour and The New York Times. It was on over 75 best books of the year lists, including NPR, PBS, and CNN. Pachinko has been translated into over 35 languages and is an international bestseller. President Barack Obama selected Pachinko for his recommended reading list, calling it, “a powerful story about resilience and compassion.” In 2024, Pachinko (#15) was named one of the New York Times Book Review’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century.
Lee’s newest book, is American Hagwon (Cardinal/HBG September 29, 2026) which Kirkus has already called “a gift to her readers” in their star review.
She is currently working on her next novel, Marshall Plan, which will be the fourth volume of the Diaspora Quartet.
Min Jin Lee will deliver two lectures, on March 2 and 4, 2027.
Past McDonald Chairs and Lectures
Sarah Coakley, 2025-2026
Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity Emerita, University of Cambridge
Lectures:
October 15, 2025
“Revisiting Modern Christian “Mysticism”: What Did the 20th Century Mean by It, and Why Does It Still Matter?”October 21, 2025
“Returning to Classic ‘Mystical Theology’: Why Contemplation and Apophasis Are Important for Contemporary Political Theology”
Brian Blount, 2024-2025
Ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and president emeritus of Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Lectures:
April 16, 2025
“Before He Was White: Jesus, Mark, and the Politics of Inclusion”April 23, 2025
“The Narrative Color of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark”
Hee-Soo Jung, 2023-2024
Resident bishop in the Wisconsin Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church since September of 2012
Lectures:
February 28, 2024
“Kenosis and Sunyata: Jesus Christ in Interfaith Context”March 22, 2024
“Jesus’ Tears: Messianic Hope and Liberation in the Korean Diaspora”
Christian Smith, 2022-2023
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society, University of Notre Dame
Lectures:
October 6, 2022
“The Future of American Churches: Is the U.S. Finally Secularizing or Just Morphing Religiously?”October 12, 2022
“Converging Perfect Storms: Hard Hits on American Organized Religion Since 1990”
Luke Timothy Johnson, 2021-2022
Robert W. Woodruff Professor Emeritus of New Testament and Christian Origins
Lectures:
Sep 17, 2021
“Imitation of Christ: The Disputed Understanding of Christian Discipleship.”Nov 10, 2021:
“Imitation of Christ: Is a Unified Vision of Christian Discipleship Possible?”
M. Shawn Copeland, 2020-2021
Professor Emerita of Systematic Theology, Boston College
Lectures:
Oct 13, 2020
“The Political Imagination of Jesus of Nazareth”April 7th, 2021
“Beyond Imagining to Resurrection”
Roberto S. Goizueta, 2020
Margaret O’Brien Flatley Professor of Catholic Theology Emeritus, Boston College
Lectures:
February 12th, 2020
“In Christ: Salvation, Deification, and the Option for the Poor”March 31, 2020
“Christ on the Border: Retrieving a Dangerous Memory”
Walter Fluker, 2018-2019
Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Ethical Leadership at Boston University School of Theology
Lectures:
October 23, 2018
“Walking with God: Preparation, Presence and Practice.”November 29, 2018
“Speaking From Sites Reserved for the Dead: Lingering Memories of Martin Luther King, Junior’s Great World House and the Great Mistake Jamestown Made Long Ago.”
David F. Ford, 2017-2018
Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Selwyn College
Lectures:
April 11, 2018
“Jesus in the 21st Century”April 18, 2018
“Reconciliation in the 21st Century,”
David H. Kelsey, 2016-2017
Luther A. Weigle Professor Emeritus of Theology, Yale Divinity School
Lectures:
February 1, 2017
A Human Being Just Like us But Raised From the Dead?”March 29, 2017
“Who is Christ For Us Today? God Crucified?”
Lloyd Baugh, 2015-2016
Pontifical Georgian University (Rome)
Lectures:
September 24, 2015
“The ‘God Question’ in Contemporary Cinema I: A Courageous Break with Tradition,”October 14, 2015,
“The ‘God Question’ in Contemporary Cinema II: Respecting Holy Mystery,”
Garry Wills, 2014-2015
Author, journalist and historian
Barbara Brown-Taylor, 2014
Priest, theologian, and author
Thomas Lynch, 2013
Poet, essayist, and undertaker
James Caroll, 2011
Suffolk University, Boston Globe
Beauty Maenzanise, 2010
Africa University
David C. Steinmetz, 2010
Duke University
Randall Balmer, 2009
Barnard College, Columbia University
Herbert L. Kessler, 2007
Johns Hopkins University
John Witte Jr., 2006
Emory University