2026 Donald Macleod Lectures | Real Presences in the Pews: Recognizing the Invisible Companions of our Congregation's Inner Lives.

About this event

Monday September 28, 2026 | 5:00 P.M. | In-Person and Livestream Theron Room, Wright Library 25 Library Pl, Princeton, NJ 08540 Our human need for a companion who will always support us and never move away is deep, abiding, and intense. It creates a quest that lasts throughout our lifetimes. Beginning with the phenomenon of children’s imaginary friends, this lecture explores a portrait gallery of parasocial (non-reciprocal) relationships of adolescent and adult life. They include “Dear Diary” relationships, novelists’ creation of characters, celebrity fandom, and imagined conversations with deceased loved ones, and, most recently, AI chatbots. We will look at the benefits we derive from our relationships with these companions and the means we employ to cultivate them. We will explore the psychological and social factors that give rise to them and point toward their deeper spiritual roots. Sign up Today! Presented by: The Rev. Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie The Rev. Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie is the George W. and Nell Ayers Le Van Professor of Preaching and Worship at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University (SMU). She joined the Perkins faculty in 1999. McKenzie, an ordained United Methodist elder, is a member of the Horizon Conference of the United Methodist Church. McKenzie received her Bachelor of Arts in the History of Religions from Bryn Mawr College, her Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School, and her PhD in Theology and Communication in Preaching from Princeton Theological Seminary. From 1980-88 she served as associate pastor at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in York, Pennsylvania. From 1994-98 she served as visiting lecturer in homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary. While teaching at Princeton Seminary, McKenzie served as interim pastor at several United Methodist congregations in eastern Pennsylvania. From 2011-19 McKenzie served as preacher-in-residence at Christ United Methodist Church in Plano, Texas, where she preached…