The 2025 Willard Lecture with Kate Bowler

Name: The 2025 Willard Lecture with Kate Bowler
Start: 2025-03-06T18:30:00-05:00
Location: First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte

Schedule

Thu, 06 Mar, 2025 at 06:30 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte | Charlotte, NC

Kate Bowler was finally living the life she always wanted. She landed her dream job as a professor, married her high school sweetheart, and finally became a mom after years of infertility. She wanted to believe that all her hard work and dedication were finally paying off. After all, shouldn’t good things always happen to good people?
Then Kate received the sudden diagnosis that she had stage 4 cancer. From that moment on, she could no longer believe that life is what you make it. She began to use her training as a historian to understand our culture’s obsession with invincibility. We want to achieve our dreams and reach for what seems impossible. But the American myth of bootstraps and self-made people can only take us so far. We get sick. We get divorced. We no longer feel like we are capable of “living our best lives now.” What then?
With her characteristic wit and deep insight, Kate will explore life after things come apart and what might be even better than being perfect.
The Willard is an annual event that engages our faith tradition with relevant issues including justice, human dignity, and inclusion. It is sponsored by The Willard Endowment of First Presbyterian Church, a fund that was established in memory of Charles R. Willard, Jr.
Join us on March 6 at 6:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Charlotte. Tickets are $15 and go on sale January 29. Free parking is available.