TheoEd · A Candler Foundry initiative

Brief Talks. Big Ideas.

Free, TED-style talks on the Bible, theology, and spirituality.

Browse the talks Past events

13Events hosted

6Cities

51Talks in the archive

50Free discussion guides

About TheoEd

TheoEd is a faith-based speaker series that brings together leading thinkers in the church and the academy to give the talk of their lives in 20 minutes or less. Its speakers deliver neither sermons nor traditional lectures. Rather they offer highly polished, no-notes, TED-style talks that seek to spark conversations about God, religion, and the power of faith to change lives and communities.

The TheoEd Library

Find a talk, start a conversation.

Search by speaker, title, or idea: Bible, justice, trauma, gratitude, Howard Thurman, Old Testament. Results include the talk and its discussion guide.

Event Archive

Every TheoEd, city by city.

Open an event to see all of its talks together. Each one plays right here, with its guide one click away.

For classes and small groups

One talk can carry a whole evening.

Each discussion guide is written to help Sunday school classes, Bible studies, small groups, and individuals engage a TheoEd talk more deeply. Need help planning your group? Email TheoEd@emory.edu.

Watch togetherPick a talk from the library and play it in the room or ask everyone to watch beforehand.

Download the guideFree PDF with the talk's big ideas, scripture connections, and questions for conversation.

Go deeper with the FoundryPair a talk with a Foundry course or certificate when your group wants to keep going.

Bring TheoEd to your city

Partner with The Candler Foundry to host a TheoEd event for your congregation and community.

Partner with us

Nominate a speaker

Know a scholar, pastor, or practitioner whose idea the church needs to hear? Tell us about them.

Nominate someone

Hear about new talks first

Get event announcements and new talks in your inbox from The Candler Foundry.

Join the newsletter

The Courage to Create carltonmackey Carlton Mackey TheoEd Orlando 2026 Orlando October 9, 2026 https://youtu.be/-Q8r0kssnBE https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66fb157fafb9d1a634706912/6ad558ca01dc21185b05c427_Carlton%20Mackey%20-%20Discussion%20Guide.pdf What if the most creative people in the world would never call themselves artists? In this inspiring TheoEd Talk, artist, author, and Black Men Smile® founder Carlton Mackey offers a new definition of creativity: the courageous response to limitations. Carlton tells the story of his grandmother, Miss Pearl of Blackshear, Georgia. She was a domestic worker and head cook with a sixth-grade education who raised him after his mother’s death and could “take and put” anything into something delicious. Through her, he came to see creativity as a sacred force at work in mothers, grandmothers, teachers, and people with their backs against the wall. Drawing on Genesis, where God’s first act is to create, and Howard Thurman’s wisdom, Carlton shares how the 2014 killing of Michael Brown led to an idea that woke him up at 4 a.m. That idea became Black Men Smile, a movement amplifying the revolutionary power of Black joy. Identity & belonging creativity grandparents belonging creative artist art https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66fb157fafb9d1a634706912/6ad558321748b2a1507aa45e_images%20(8).jpeg Carlton Mackey is the Assistant Director of Education, Community Dialogue and Engagement at the High Museum of Art. In this newly created role at the museum, Mackey will use complex visual culture to strengthen self-awareness, frame productive public discussion, and engender institutional empathy regarding the fundamental issues defining contemporary society. Mackey is also the Co-Creator/Co-Director of the Emory University Arts and Social Justice Fellowship Program. The Arts and Social Justice Fellows program brings leading Atlanta artists into Emory classrooms to help students translate their learning into creative expressions of activism in the name of racial and social justice. Mackey is the creator and former Director of the Ethics & the Arts Program at the Emory University Center for Ethics and a Lecturer in Emory's Department of Film and Media. Mackey is the creator of BLACK MEN SMILE®, a viral social media platform, empowerment movement, and apparel brand with a mission of “amplifying the revolutionary power of Black joy.” Mackey is the author of 50 Shades of Black: Sexuality and Skin Tone in the Formation of Identity. https://www.carltonmackey.com/

What Must You Unlearn to Practice Anti Racism christopherandseth Rev. Dr. Christopher Carter and Dr. Seth Schoen TheoEd Orlando 2026 Orlando October 9, 2026 https://youtu.be/s55JmGWwT54 https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66fb157fafb9d1a634706912/6ad2d2f9f79813cd6e9e8905_Chris%20Carter%20and%20Seth%20Schoen%20-%20Discussion%20Guide.pdf Through honest, vulnerable stories from their own friendship, they explore why compassion is essential to anti-racist work, and why that compassion can be fierce as well as gentle. Drawing on the Gospels, the parable of the Good Samaritan, and Howard Thurman’s “sound of the genuine,” they make the case that anti-racism is ultimately a work of humanization and a path toward the beloved community. Justice & race, Identity & belonging Anti Racism Racial Justice Compassion beloved Community Howard Thurman Faith And Justice Racial Resilience Theology Christian Faith https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66fb157fafb9d1a634706912/6ad556f1bd687f861313bad7_christopher_carter_5x7.800x0.jpg Associate Professor of Theology, Ecology, & Race Methodist Theological School in Ohio My research, writing, and activism center on racial justice. Most of my work examines the environmental injustices experienced by Black, Indigenous, and other peoples of color. I believe that food and animal agriculture plays a critical role in the marginalization of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx people. The food we eat, the air we breathe, and the land on which we work suffer from environmental exploitation. But I know that there is another way and my goal is to help us chart that path. My writing examines how marginalized communities could subvert industrial agriculture and create food sovereign communities in order to save ourselves and hopefully our planet. https://www.drchristophercarter.com/ Dr. Seth Schoen https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66fb157fafb9d1a634706912/6ad55726ce283b927fee9c12_seth_schoen_photo.200x0-is.jpg My research and teaching interests are in contemplative and spiritual practices, especially the cultivation of compassion. I am committed to educating people about the power of compassion and the way that race and racism impact our worlds, from the macro structures that organize our society to the micro structures that permeate our relationships and structure our minds and bodies. I understand anti-racism as a process of spiritual formation. Offering tools for people to create a foundation of compassion that fuels an anti-racist way of life energizes and motivates my research and personal interests. I enjoy being part of compassion-based processes in which people gain insights about themselves and others. https://www.racialresilience.com/about-us.html