Cummings Conversations at Maryville College

Held annually at the College since 1877,  the Margaret M. Cummings Conversations on Faith, Learning, and Service, renamed in 2019 and formerly known as “February Meetings” have offered Maryville College and local community an opportunity to come together to consider questions of faith and responsible living in the world. In years past, guest speakers and special music have been highlights of the condensed lecture series, which is open to all members of the College community and the public.

Who was Margaret Cummings?

Margaret McClure Cummings was born in 1903 and first came to Maryville College in 1935 with her husband John and their three children, when John was called to be the Director of Personnel and a teacher of Bible at the College. After John’s untimely death just over a year later, Margaret went to seminary in New York to prepare herself for collegiate teaching. In 1940, she joined the Maryville College faculty as Instructor in Bible and Religious Education, and she continued to teach at the College for 29 years. Since Bible was a required course, every student in those years was reached by “Ma Cummings.” In 1968, she led the first international study trip for Maryville’s new Interim Term, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, to the Middle East. In addition to her college teaching and raising three children, she was very active at New Providence Presbyterian Church, ordained in 1953 as its first woman elder, and teaching an adult Sunday School Class and Women’s Bible Studies for many years. She died in 2004, at the age of 101, leaving a legacy of faith, service and life-long learning. Thus, it is fitting that her name will live among us, doing what she loved—sparking conversation, inquiry and faithful action— through The Cummings Conversations—in years to come.


Past Themes and Speakers

2023- “The Good News of Neuroscience: Faith and the Brain for a Better You and a Better World!” with the Rev. Dr. William J. Carl III. Read More >

2022– “Neighborly Love: Reimagining Social Responsibility in Medical Ethics” with Dr. Brian Childs ’69 and Dr. Caroline Anglim ’13. Read More >

2021– “Looking back at the lives of some unlikely radicals as weconsider the role of faith in public life at this current moment” with Rev. Dr. Almeda Wright. Read More >

2020– “Buying, Selling, and Doing the Right Thing: Life Under Capitalism.” with Dr. Lucia Hulsether. Read More >

2019 – “On Faithful Families and Families of Faith: The Collective Spirituality of Black Evangelicals.” with Dr. Todne Thomas.  Read More >

2018 – “Living Well: Making Good Choices in A Material World.” with Dr. Laura Hartman.  Read More >

2017 – “Terabithia and Beyond: Celebrating the Life and Work of Katherine Paterson” with Katherine Paterson.

2016 – “Beyond Forgiveness: A Murder Victim’s Family Member on Redemption, Reconciliation, and Restoration” with Jeanne Bishop.

2015 – “Dancing at the Crossroads – Transforming Conflict and Building Peace in Church and Society” with Canon David Porter. 

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