Wright City native and nationally honored theologist the Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr is the subject of a presentation at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, at Immanuel United Church of Christ in Wright City. 

Niebuhr, who is best known for creating the Serenity Prayer, wrote and spoke about the intersection and ethics of religion, politics and public policy during the early half of the 20th century. His work was considered controversial to some and inspiring to others. 

The presentation will include a showing of the PBS documentary “An American Conscience: the Reinhold Niebuhr Story.” The Rev. Dr. David Greenhaw, president of Eden Seminary in St. Louis, will lead a discussion of Rev. Niebuhr’s time as a student at Eden and discuss the impact of his writings. The Rev. Dr. Ginny Brown Daniel, conference minister of the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the UCC, is also expected to attend.

Presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Barack Obama as well as Sen. John McCain and others say some of Niebuhr’s work has influenced them. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson awarded Rev. Niebuhr the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Niebuhr was born in Wright City in 1892. He attended Elmhurst College, Eden Seminary and Yale Divinity School. His father was a pastor at what is now Immanuel United Church of Christ. 

The program is free and open to the public. It will be held in the church’s sanctuary. The church is located at North 4th and Elm streets in Wright City. 

Cake will be served following the program. 

For more information, call Jackie Nierman at 636-745-3096.