The Last Lecture Series: Forgiveness
Contributed by Rev. Sarah R. Welton, PhD
I am sorry I had to cancel my last lecture in March due to illness. My next Last Lecture will be on May 26, 2025, in Palmer, at 415 S. Bailey Street, from 1 p.m. to about 3 p.m. This lecture will cover forgiveness— mostly academic information and some anecdotal stories. I sincerely appreciate the participants in my last lectures. I have had a great time and will probably host some discussions in the future if there is interest.
As you may know, I am the Pastor of The Meeting House, also known as the Church of the Covenant, Palmer, Alaska. I served on the Mat-Su Borough School Board for 18 years. While serving on the school board, I taught at Mat-Su College for 14 of those years. Some of the courses I taught included: Cultural Foundations of Human Behavior, Conflict Resolution, and many psychology courses including Human Relations, Managing Stress, Enhancing Self-Esteem, Death and Dying, and Rational Living. I have served on nonprofit boards and am currently serving on the board of Daybreak, Inc. While working as a mental health counselor in my private practice, being a pastor, and serving on the school board, I earned a PhD in Organizational Psychology. My research was on moral identity and the theoretical underpinnings of how we make moral decisions.
In the first session, I presented ideas about investigating who one is using a variety of ideas from psychology and philosophy. The information was provided to help develop a mission statement for who one is. How do you know who you are, and do you always align with who you think you are?
In the second session, I presented ideas on adult learning theories and the elements that go into decision-making, looking at the various theories and how they figure into developing a moral identity.
In the third session, I addressed the understanding of moral theories and identity theories that became foundational for obtaining the data collection for my theory of some of the elements of moral identity.
In this fourth session, I will review the issues of forgiveness using research and practices from a variety of sources. This lecture stands on its own, and it is not necessary for anyone to have attended the previous lectures. Join me for light refreshments and conversations. Thank you!