Briar Cliff University hosts Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko for the Sr. Ruth Agnes Ahlers Lecture Series

This year's Ahlers Lecturer is the Rev. Dr. Nicholas Denysenko.  

Nicholas Denysenko serves as Emil and Elfriede Jochum Professor and Chair and concurrently as professor of theology at Valparaiso University. Denysenko writes and speaks on diverse topics, and specializes in liturgical theology, religion in Ukraine, and Orthodox Christianity. His most recent work explores the religious dimension of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, titled “The Church’s Unholy War: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine and Orthodoxy” (Cascade Books, 2023).  

This occasion marks the coming together of Briar Cliff’s year of peacemaking, the international day of peace (Sept 21) and the 800th anniversary of St. Francis’s vision at Mt. Alverna, an event that St. Bonaventure appeals to as a sign of peace and love.  

Sr. Ruth Agnes Ahlers, OSF, (1917-2006), in whose name we host this event, was Professor and Professor Emerita of Theology at Briar Cliff University from 1967-2000. Trained in theology during the pivotal years on the cusp of Vatican II, Sr. Ahlers helped Briar Cliff and the Sioux City Diocese receive the theological developments of the council, and was known for her passionate devotion to the Eucharist, and for placing a strong emphasis on the role that worship plays in our formation and flourishing.