Sunday, November 17 at 9am (Faith’s Imagination) and 11:15am (Creation Collective)

Dr. Cody Sanders will be presenting in both the 9am Faith’s Imagination class (Longfellow Room), and then at 11:15am in the Creation Collective (Art Gallery). Amid the rise of the green burial and home funeral movements, and new practices like water cremation and human composting, congregations are engaging in conversations about the ethics of deathcare practices. We’ll learn about the history of care for the dead from the Puritans to the present, what theological significance the dead body holds, and how congregations can reclaim communal care for persons from birth through death. Books will be available for purchase.

Title: “Deathcare in the Web of Life”

The Rev. Cody J. Sanders, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Congregational and Community Care Leadership at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He spent eight years as pastor to Old Cambridge Baptist Church in Cambridge, MA, where he also served as American Baptist Chaplain to Harvard University and Advisor for LGBTQ+ Affairs in the Office of Religious, Spiritual, and Ethical Life at MIT. He has published several books, most recently Corpse Care: Ethics for Tending the Dead with Mikeal Parsons (Fortress, 2023); Christianity, LGBTQ Suicide, and the Souls of Queer Folk (Lexington, 2020); and A Brief Guide to Ministry with LGBTQIA Youth (Westminster John Knox, 2017). He and his partner, also named Cody, live in Saint Paul with their dog Suzie.