McCormick Seminary launches public partnerships office and leadership institute

McCormick Theological Seminary will unveil a new public gateway office and launch a leadership development institute on Oct. 16 in Chicago during its annual McCormick Days gathering. The move is designed to expand the seminary’s community reach, deepen civic engagement and extend the legacy of Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. into new training programs.

Why it matters: - McCormick Theological Seminary is creating a formal public-facing channel to connect faith leadership training with civic engagement, organizing and community development. - The new Office of Strategic Partnerships and Community Engagement, or SPACE, is intended to extend the seminary’s reach beyond the classroom and into churches, grassroots networks and civic institutions. - The Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Leadership Development Institute adds a new vehicle for preserving and teaching Wright’s legacy through ongoing programming.

What happened: - McCormick Theological Seminary will unveil SPACE and launch the Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. Leadership Development Institute on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, during McCormick Days in Chicago. - The event will take place at McCormick Theological Seminary, 5416 S. Cornell Ave., with a 9 a.m. reception and 10 a.m. program. - The keynote roundtable is titled “Organizing for Democracy: A Light in Today’s Shadows.” - The discussion is inspired by Dr. Randal Maurice Jelks’ book, My America: Langston Hughes on Democracy. - Featured participants include the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson, former U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, the Rev. Dr. Marshall Elijah Hatch Sr., attorney Jeanette Wilson and Bishop John Michael Villareal.

The details: - SPACE will function as a public gateway for the seminary and will connect McCormick with faith communities, organizers, scholars, civic groups and philanthropic networks. - The office will offer noncredit masterclasses, organizational cohorts, public programs and digital intensives. - Those offerings are meant to extend McCormick’s theological resources while creating pathways into its credit-bearing academic programs. - Rev. Dr. Maisha Handy, president of McCormick Theological Seminary, said the office operationalizes the seminary’s S.T.O.R.Y. Strategic Plan and its commitment to “Re-Storying.” - Handy said the institute positions McCormick as a global convening hub where prophetic legacies, civic ethics and community-rooted scholarship meet. - Rev. Dr. Derrick Rice, executive director of SPACE and the leadership institute, said the initiative is building an active global learning community rather than a static archive. - Rice said the institute will equip faith leaders, organizers and lay practitioners with tools for civic transformation, global ethics and community development. - The institute was established with the written concurrence and blessing of the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr. - The institute is designed to preserve, teach, transmit and extend Wright’s legacy for future generations.

Between the lines: - McCormick is using a public partnerships model to turn theological education into a broader platform for civic formation. - The launch also signals a strategic effort to connect legacy-building with enrollment pathways and public programming. - The Wright institute centers a prominent Black church and social justice tradition at a moment when faith-based civic leadership remains part of broader democracy debates. - Wright’s influence is presented not only as historical recognition but as a framework for future leadership training.

What's next: - Initial programming for the institute is already underway with the Rev. Dr. Iva E. Carruthers’ God Box Talks. - Additional SPACE and LDI masterclasses will feature scholars and practitioners, including longtime colleagues and mentees of Wright. - McCormick says public registration is open at McCormick Days 2026 registration.

The bottom line: - McCormick is making community engagement a formal part of its institutional strategy, with a new office and institute meant to widen access, deepen influence and carry a major theological legacy forward.