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RELIGION BRIEF Dean Leander Harding/Contributed ONE OF NEW COLLEGE'S FIRST RELIGION MAJORS RETURNING TO SARASOTA TO PREACH AT CHURCH OF REDEEMER The Church of the Redeemer in downtown Sarasota has announced that Leander Hard- ing, dean of the Trinity School for Ministry and a noted author, will be the special guest preacher for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day Masses held Nov 1-4. The public is welcome to join Redeemer mem- bers at the services, church leaders say. Harding was one of the New College of Flor- ida students to pursue a major in religion, a news release says. At the Sarasota school, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in religion and lit- erary criticism. Harding serves as the dean of seminary ad- vancement at Trinity School, located in Am- bridge, PA, and he is an associate professor of pastoral theology. "I was one of the first religion majors at New College under the controversial 'death of God' theologian, William Hamilton," Harding recalls in a news release. "Nevertheless, in my senior year at New College, I had a profound encoun- ter with Christ which set me on the road to seminary." After graduating from New College, Harding went on to earn his Master of Divinity degree, cum laude, from the Andover Newton Theo- logical School and his doctorate from Boston College's Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.