Noble Lecture
The William Belden Noble Lectures were established in 1898 by Nannie Yulee Noble in memory of her husband. According to the terms of the bequest: “The object of the Founder of the Lectures is to continue the mission of her husband, whose supreme desire was to extend the influence of Jesus as ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life,’ and to illustrate and enforce the words of Jesus — ‘I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.’ The Founder has in view the presentation of the personality of Jesus as given in the New Testament, or unfolded in the history of the Christian Church, or illustrated in the inward experience of His followers, or as the inspiration to Christian Missions for the conversion of the world. The scope of the Lectures is believed to be as wide as the highest interests of humanity.”
Lecture Archive
William Belden Noble Lectures
April 16, 2026
Lecture Title: When We All Get to Heaven
Lecturer: In the 1980s, the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco was one of the few gay-affirming churches in the United States and became a focal point for the social and humanitarian horrors of the AIDS epidemic in the Bay Area and across the country. A new 10-episode podcast series, “When We All Get to Heaven,” explores the extraordinary hardships and challenges—personal, congregational, and community-wide—that the church faced in the early years of the crisis, including the deaths of hundreds of its members. The creators of the Peabody Award-winning podcast were the focus of this year’s William Belden Noble Lecture at the Memorial Church on April 16. Creators Lynne Gerber, Ariana Nedelman, and Siri Colom were joined by former MCC Pastor the Rev. Jim Mitulski for an evening discussion moderated by the Rev. Matthew Ichihashi Potts, Plummer Professor of Christian Morals in the Faculty of Divinity and Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church.
April 7, 2025
Lecture Title: Christian Legacy: Reckoning with the Roots of Antisemitism and Racism
Lecturer: Magda Teter, Professor of History, the Shvidler Chair in Judaic Studies at Fordham University, and President of the American Academy for Jewish Research, speaks about the roots of antisemitism and racism.
March 25, 2025
Lecture Title: The Colonial Legacies of Christianity: A Roundtable Discussion
Lecturer: Harvard University Native American Program and Harvard Memorial Church presented a roundtable discussion featuring Professor George ‘Tink’ Tinker, Professor Emilie Townes, and Professor Emmanuel Akyeampong. This thought-provoking conversation explored the enduring impact of coloniality on faith and daily life from diverse perspectives. The colonial enterprise was central to European Christianity for centuries, and these colonial legacies continue to shape not only Christian thought and life but also contemporary religion, economics, and politics in multiple ways.
April 12, 2024
Lecture Title: A conversation with Ruth Ozeki
Lecturer: Ruth Ozeki, New York Times bestselling author, filmmaker, and Zen Buddhist priest, whose books have garnered international acclaim for their ability to integrate issues of science, technology, religion, environmental politics, and global pop culture.
March 22, 2023
Lecture Title: Build Me a Sanctuary: The Role of Religion in the Anthropocene
Lecturer: Dekila Chungyalpa, Director of the Loka Initiative at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She is a religion and ecology expert, having worked with faith and Indigenous leaders around the world on developing faith-led environmental and climate projects for more than 15 years.
November 10, 2022
Lecture Title: Considering Hope in a Climate Crisis World.
Lecturer: Norman Wirzba, the Gilbert T. Rowe Distinguished Professor of Christian Theology and Senior Fellow at the Kenan Institute of Ethics at Duke University.
October 14, 2022
Lecture Title: How the World Ends.
Lecturer: New York Times bestselling Author John Green, author of "The Fault in Our Stars," "Turtles All the Way Down," and "The Anthropocene Reviewed," among others. He is also widely-known video blogger, podcaster, and philanthropist. The title of his lecture is "How the World Ends."
October 16, 2019
Lecture Title: Let My People Go: The Scandal of Mass Incarceration in the Land of the Free.
Lecturer: The Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock, Senior Pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, the spiritual home of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 4, 2016
Lecture Title: The Divine
Lecturer: Award-winning American author Marilynne Robinson.
Listen to the lecture (stream)
April 13, 2015
Lecture Title: Drew Faust Interviews Stanley Nelson
Description: Documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson is interviewed at the 2015 Noble Lecture by Harvard President Drew Faust in the Memorial Church.
April 7, 2014
Lecture Title: "Approaching the Ledge: Why America needs a crisis of faith
— and why, in order to save religion, we must be willing to let it die."
Lecturer: Joshua DuBois, Former Special Assistant to President Obama
and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and
Neighborhood Partnerships and author of The President's Devotional
April 29, 2013
Lecturer: Janet McKenzie, Artist (www.janetmckenzie.com)
Listen to Janet McKenzie's lecture (stream)