Dr. Heather Macumber
“Metaphors for God: Disrupting the Familiar & Embracing the Uncanny”
October 27, 2024
Heather Macumber is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Providence University College in Otterburne, Manitoba (Canada). She received an MDiv from Tyndale University (Toronto, Canada) and graduated with a PhD in Old Testament from St. Michael’s College (Toronto, Canada).
Her work focuses on the intersection of the divine and earthly realms found predominantly in Jewish prophetic and apocalyptic texts. Recent publications employ monster theory as a critical lens to examine the monstrous in Daniel, Revelation, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 2021, her book Recovering the Monstrous in Revelation was published with Lexington Books/Fortress Academic as part of the Horror and Scripture Series. She has also published articles in academic journals including the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures, Biblical Interpretation, and the Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies.
Heather Macumber has appeared as a guest on the popular podcast the Bible for Normal People (episode 149) highlighting her work on monsters in Revelation. Additionally, she is also a contributor to the Visual Commentary on Scripture organized by King’s College, London (England). This is an open access site that features online exhibitions of artwork and biblical commentary by experts. Her exhibition “Leah’s Struggles (Genesis 29:21-35)” is available here.
She lives in southern Manitoba (Canada) with her family. You can follow her on Twitter: @heathermacphd.
Dr. John Fea, Ph.D
Distinguished Professor of American History, Department of History
Messiah University, Mechanicsburg, PA
CurrentPub.com
September 21-22, 2024
“The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump”
(We sincerely apologize for the poor quality of the video above.)
John’s first book, The Way of Improvement Leads Home: Philip Vickers Fithian and the Rural Enlightenment in Early America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), was chosen as the Book of the Year by the New Jersey Academic Alliance and an Honor Book by the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. His book Was America Founded as a Christian Nation: A Historical Introduction (Westminster/John Knox Press, 2011) was one of three finalists for the George Washington Book Prize, one of the largest literary prizes in the United States. It was also selected as the Foreword Reviews/INDIEFAB religion book of the year.
John is also co-editor of Confessing History: Explorations in Christian Faith and the Historian’s Vocation. (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010), a finalist for the Lilly Fellows Program in Arts and Humanities Book Award. Other books include Why Study History?, The Bible Cause: A History of the American Bible Society, and Believe Me: The Evangelical Road to Donald Trump.
His essays and reviews on the history of American culture have appeared in The Journal of American History, The Atlantic, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, The William and Mary Quarterly, The Journal of the Early Republic, Sojourners, Explorations in Early American Culture, Pennsylvania Heritage, Education Week, The Cresset, Books and Culture, Christianity Today, Christian Century, and Common Place. He has also written for The Washington Post, USA Today, Al-Jazeera, Philadelphia Inquirer, Fox News, CBS News, New York Daily News, AOL News, Houston Chronicle, Austin-American Statesman, Harrisburg Patriot News, Salt Lake City Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Religion News Service, and other newspapers. He blogs daily at The Way of Improvement Leads Home, a blog devoted to American history, religion, politics, and academic life and serves as the Executive Editor of Current, an online magazine of opinion and commentary.
John has lectured widely at institutions such as Duke University, Columbia University, Southern Methodist University, Bucknell University, Gettysburg College, University of Colorado, University of Southern California, University of Mary Washington, Wheaton College, Grove City College, University of Tennessee, University of Pennsylvania, University of Notre Dame, Woodberry Forest School, Boston Trinity Academy, Georgetown University, Colonial Williamsburg, University of Minnesota, Southwestern Theological Seminary, Northwestern College, Fort Ticonderoga, Syracuse University, Eastern University, Fraunces Tavern Museum, Valparaiso University, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the David Library of the American Revolution. His is a Distinguished Lecturer with the Organization of American History and has appeared on NBC News, CNN, C-SPAN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, and dozens of radio programs across the country.
Reverend Hillary Taylor / Mr. Raymond Patterson
Sunday, August 25, 2024
“Putting a Face on the Other Side of the Death Penalty in South Carolina”
Rev. Hillary Taylor is the Executive Director of South Carolinians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. A graduate of both Furman University and Candler School of Theology (Emory University) and an ordained United Methodist Minister, she worked as a young adult missionary with the United Methodist Church as a Field Education Coordinator for Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary in South Africa, then as a financial coach in Miami, Florida. In her present position she works for restorative justice.
Mr. Raymond Patterson is what he calls “a returning citizen” referring to his 37-year prison journey of which 22 years were on South Carolina’s death row. A resident of Myrtle Beach, he enjoys sharing his high and low experiences, including difficult subjects like prison life, making parole, and avoiding recidivism. He hopes to provide meaningful education and insight, as well as hope and motivation by putting a human face on the other side of the death penalty.
Ramsey Hanhan
Sunday, March 17, 2024
3:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
What It Means To Be Palestinian: One Palestinian’s Dream
“I dream of a Jerusalem with no borders, a Palestine without Walls!”
– Ramsey Hanhan, Fugitive Dreams
_________
View the recording here: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/play/pGSbXu9EOGdFxiZmgUiuLDBdlqOohJ9hyc8OJFajzhHMRU66Oyrw5maTBpLROWxLMPkZRoLz8X3K3CdQ.gIs1OvHDpdzaReNg
Jerusalem, the city of peace. Since our Sunday school lessons, we have formed biblical images of the city and surrounding lands. Perhaps we long to visit it and walk in the very footsteps of Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
Author Ramsey Hanhan was born in Jerusalem, but “on the wrong side of the border.” Raised a Christian in Ramallah before coming to America, Ramsey is a Palestinian, a people about whom Americans know little. What little we do know comes from the news, which has lately brought us images and statistics of horrific carnage in Gaza, with thousands of people killed within an area a fifth that of Anderson County.
The story of the Palestinian people did not begin on that fateful day marking the latest bout of violence, October 7, 2023, but centuries ago.
Who are the Palestinians? What does it mean to be a Palestinian? What is it like for them to chart their way through life in the Holy Land? How do we make sense of the violence gripping the region?
Ramsey Hanhan has a dream of peace for the land of his birth and its children. Drawing from his life experience, he comes to share his fifty-year journey of faith and hope and yearning for justice and freedom for his fellow Palestinians. As a Palestinian American, Ramsey offers a perspective tragically underrepresented in America. As a Palestinian Christian whose faith is intuitively grounded in the hills of his childhood home, he finds his understanding at odds with that of a politicized American Christianity that confuses “the people of Israel” with modern-day Israel.
Ramsey’s dream is to spare his daughter and her generation of Israeli and Palestinian children the violence he experienced as a child. Our event today is an invitation to engage in a conversation about what each of us can do to help bring a just and lasting peace to Palestine.
Biography: Ramsey Hanhan is the Palestinian American author of Fugitive Dreams, a literary exploration of the Palestinian experience and his immigrant journey in America. Several short stories and poems of his are forthcoming, and he currently blogs on Medium. He was formerly a physics professor noted for his computer models that describe and predict complexity in nature. Hanhan holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and resides in Maryland. https://ramseyhanhan.org/ https://fugitivedreams.us/
“Fugitive Dreams is one of the few books that would make a compelling read even for those of us very familiar with the question of Palestine.” – Mondoweiss
Rev. Gretta Vosper
West Hill United Church of Canada
Tried for heresy, survived to provoke a new way to do church, whether in the pew or in the pulpit: honestly
“It is important that we [reckon with] those things it took much longer than six days for us to create—the concept of god, the book we call the Bible, and the institution we know as the church.” —Gretta Vosper, With or Without God
As a minister in search of an authentic faith, Gretta Vosper is engaged in the work of creating community for individuals and groups for which religious belief or practice is no longer meaningful. As an author, she explores, contextualizes, and challenges the evolution of Christian faith and practices. Her emphasis always returns to this truth, her truth: how we live is more important than what we believe. In other words, she says, “We need a space where we can fall in love with being together – regardless of who we are or what we believe – which may be the only thing that can help us preserve our humanity and our world for future generations.”
14 January 2024
“Falling in Love with Being Together:
The Church’s Role beyond being Church”
View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/tzEzQxEDzuxRMPzHrDAjj9nEKcuImQRW1gctEm8hGBX8GORxtLBwCKfCy40GURxg.-YEKmNLvsfzc1aU0
Resources:
Books:
With or Without God: Why the Way We Live is More Important than What We Believe; Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief; Time or Too Late: Chasing the Dream of a Progressive Christian Faith
Blog
Website
Articles
https://progressivechristianity.org/author/gretta-vosper/
 |
| DUE TO ARTISTIC CONCERN, NO RECORDING WAS POSSIBLE “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).“Meaningless” — A dramatic exploration of the enigmatic Book of Ecclesiastes —Presented at the Market Theater Company by dramatist Rodney Brazil October 28, 2023 |
Obery M. Hendricks, Jr.
“The Looming Danger of Christian Nationalism”
Sunday, September 10, 2023
3:00 p.m.
View Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UNknQ8lnSkuQ00JkYx0ceA
A lifelong social activist, Obery Hendricks is one of the foremost commentators on the intersection of religion and political economy in America. He is the most widely read and perhaps the most influential African American biblical scholar writing today. Cornel West calls him “one of the last few grand prophetic intellectuals.”
A widely sought lecturer and media spokesperson, Dr. Hendricks’ appearances include CNN, MSNBC, CBS, Fox News, Fox Business News, the Discovery Channel, PBS, BBC, NHK Japan Television and the Bloomberg Network. He has provided running event commentary for National Public Radio, MSNBC, and the al-Jazeera and Aspire international television networks.
Dr. Hendricks has been a member of the Faith Advisory Council of the Democratic National Committee, for whom he delivered the closing benediction at the 2008 Democratic Convention; served on the National Religious Leaders Advisory Committee of the 2008 Democratic Presidential campaign and served in the Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group at the U. S. Department of State under Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at The Democracy Collaborative in Washington, DC; has been an Affiliated Scholar at the Center for American Progress; was a Senior Fellow at The Opportunity Agenda social justice communications think tank; is on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Christian Socialism; and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).
Dr. Hendricks has been a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post and Salon.com, a former editorial advisor to the award-winning Tikkun magazine, and a contributing editor to The Encyclopedia of Politics and Religion. The Dictionary of Biblical Interpretation has called his work “the boldest post-colonial writing ever seen in Western biblical studies.”
Hendricks’ bestselling book, The Politics of Jesus: Rediscovering the True Revolutionary Nature of Jesus’ Teachings and How They Have Been Corrupted (Doubleday, 2006), was declared “essential reading for Americans” by the Washington Post. Social commentator Michael Eric Dyson proclaimed it “an instant classic” that “immediately thrusts Hendricks into the front ranks of American religious thinkers.”
The Politics of Jesus was the featured subject of the 90-minute C-SPAN special hosted by the Center for American Progress, “Class, Politics and Christianity.” The tenth anniversary of its publication was acknowledged at a major 2016 panel at the American Academy of Religion at its annual convention in San Antonio, TX. Governor Howard Dean, former chair of the Democratic National Committee, has called his book, The Universe Bends Toward Justice: Radical Reflections on the Bible, the Church and the Body Politic (Orbis, 2011), a “tour de force.” His forthcoming book, Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith, will be published by Beacon Press in July 2021.
A former Wall Street investment executive and past president of Payne Theological Seminary, the oldest African American theological seminary in the United States, he is currently a Visiting Scholar at Columbia University in the Department of Religion and the Department of African American and African Diasporic Studies; a Visiting Professor at Union Theological Seminary; and Emeritus Professor of Biblical Interpretation at New York Theological Seminary. An Ordained Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Hendricks holds the Master of Divinity with academic honors from Princeton Theological Seminary, and both the M.A. and Ph.D. in Religions of Late Antiquity from Princeton University.
2023 April 30 — Amanda Tyler
How Christian Nationalism Threatens Democracy & Christianity
Amanda Tyler is executive director of BJC. She leads the organization as it upholds the historic Baptist principle of religious liberty, defending the free exercise of religion and protecting against its establishment by government.
Tyler often speaks in churches, educational institutions and denominational gatherings, and she provides commentary on church-state issues to the media. A member of the Texas and U.S. Supreme Court Bar, Tyler has experience working in Congress, in a private legal practice and serving as a law clerk for a federal judge.
Called a “powerful advocate” and “rising star in the sector” by The Nonprofit Times, she was named one of the nation’s top 50 nonprofit leaders in 2018. Tyler was named “Baptist of the Year” by EthicsDaily.com in 2019 for her work leading the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. She also co-hosts the Respecting Religion podcast series, and she serves on the board of the Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation.
Originally from Austin, Texas, Tyler grew up hearing about the cherished Baptist principles of religious liberty and the separation of church and state as a member of Highland Park Baptist Church. Because she was committed to these principles, Tyler sought out BJC when she moved to Washington to attend Georgetown University, and she began volunteering in the office.
Tyler graduated from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown with a bachelor’s degree in foreign service, magna cum laude. She was hired by BJC to serve as assistant to the general counsel, working closely with Brent Walker, James Dunn, Melissa Rogers and Holly Hollman. During this time, she wrote columns for Report from the Capital, drafted statements on religious liberty issues, presented educational programs and coordinated the broad coalition in support of the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.
Tyler left BJC to enroll in The University of Texas School of Law, where she received her J.D. with honors. Following law school, Tyler worked in private practice and served as a law clerk for a U.S. district court judge in Dallas, Texas. She later joined the staff of U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett in Austin and Washington, D.C.
In Austin, Tyler served as the congressman’s district director, leading the staff in the development and execution of an outreach agenda for a 7-county congressional district, as well as serving as a spokesperson for his office. She later served as Rep. Doggett’s counsel for the Ways and Means Committee.
A member of First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., she lives in the city with her husband, Robert Behrendt, and their son, Phelps. You can follow her on Twitter: @AmandaTylerBJC.
2023 February 12 – Rev. Traco D. Blackmon, RN, MDiv.
“The Church’s Response to Christian Nationalism“
In the aftermath of the attempted insurrection on January 6, 2020, Christian Nationalism has become a more familiarized phrase in national discourse. Many watched the invasion of our nation’s capitol by those carrying signs and flags displaying a strange juxtaposition of God and Country as their mandate to overthrow democracy. More specifically, the images suggested a holy union between the God of Christianity and Country that is both familiar and fracturing. The good news is tribalism fractured the world during Jesus’ earthly ministry as well, and he refused to be taken hostage by any side. What lessons might the Church learn from our past and current challenges, and how might this lessons shape our responses today?
Rev. Traci Blackmon is Associate General Minister of Justice and Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ, a denomination inspired by God’s grace to welcome all, love all, and seek justice for all through God-centered action, Christ -driven connection, and Spirit-led leadership. As a public theologian, Rev. Blackmon’s voice is featured on many local, national, and international platforms spanning the breadth of the White House to the Carter Center to the Vatican, as well as several documentaries and print publications. She currently serves as pastor in residence for Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, MO.
From 2009 through 2020, Rev. Blackmon served as pastor of Christ the King United Church of Christ in St. Louis, MO, a position she retired from to serve the wider church fully. The ministries of the church expanded under her leadership as well, serving as a sacred launchpad for communal engagement. After the police killing of Michael Brown, Jr., Christ The King hosted the first community-led town hall meeting and dialogue with law enforcement and elected officials. The church led several other mobilization efforts and healing spaces during the Ferguson uprising.
From 2000 through 2014, she also worked as a registered nurse in the city. Under her healthcare leadership, a community based mobile health unit was established engaging thousands of residents annually and providing a culturally attuned access point to heath care in underserved and uninsured communities.
President Barack Obama appointed Rev. Blackmon to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships for the White House and awarded her special recognition as a presidential volunteer for her community service. She was also appointed to the Ferguson Commission by Governor Jay Nixon and led the criminal justice reform task force featured in the ‘Forward Through Ferguson: A Path Toward Racial Equity’ Report, calling for sweeping changes in policing, the courts, child well-being and economic mobility in 2015.
Rev. Blackmon is the co-author of The White Privilege Curriculum for the United Church of Christ, and is a prominent voice in the PBS Special, The Black Church, and is featured in several print publications. She currently serves on the board of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. She is a recipient of the NAACP Rosa Parks Award; the Hannah G. Solomon Founder’s Award from the National Council of Jewish Women, the National Planned Parenthood Faith Leader Award, and The Urban League of St. Louis Woman in Leadership Award, to name a few. She is listed as one of Ebony Magazine’s Power 100, the St. Louis American’s Citizen of the Year, and one of the 15 Faith Leaders to watch in 2020 by The Center for American Progress.
Speaking engagements include the World Council of Churches, the National Council of Churches, the Pontifical Council, the United Nations, Global Women’s Forum at the Carter Center, the Festival of Homiletics, the United Reformed Church, SURRENDER Conferences of Australia.
Rev. Blackmon earned a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Birmingham-Southern College where she is listed among Distinguished Alumni, a Master of Divinity degree and honorary Doctor of Ministry from Eden Theological Seminary. She is a graduate of Leadership St. Louis and is listed as one of St. Louis’ 100 most influential voices. Rev. Blackmon was inducted into the 33rd Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers of Morehouse College. Rev. Blackmon currently resides in St. Louis, MO.
Until the lion tells the story, the hunter will always be the hero.
~ West African Proverb
“I speak from the chorus of lions. And we are many!” ~ Rev. Traci D. Blackmon
Follow Rev. Blackmon’s ministry at: http://twitter.com/pastortraci
ucc.org
2022 October 30 – Bryan Bibb
“What Is the Bible Now? A Critical Reflection on the Theology of Bible Translation in a Time of Conflict”
[Unfortunately, technical problems prevented the successful recording of this presentation. We apologize.]
Bryan Bibb is Professor of Religion, with a specialty in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. A 1994 graduate of Furman, Bryan received his MDiv and PhD degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary, and returned as a member of the Furman faculty in 2000. During his career, he has been awarded both the prestigious Furman Standard Research Grant and the Alester G. Furman Jr. and Janie Earle Furman Award for Meritorious Teaching. Bryan has served as the President of the Southeastern regional of the Society of Biblical Literature, as the Board Chairman of the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion, and as a research fellow with the Nida Institute of the American Bible Society. Having written books about Leviticus and about the Hebrew Prophets, Bryan’s current area of research is the history and ideology of Bible translation, and he is also writing a major academic commentary on the book of Numbers for the Word Biblical Commentary series. Bryan is very popular as a speaker and workshop leader for religious and civic organizations on topics related to the Bible in contemporary culture.
2022 September 18
A 60+2 Year Anniversary Celebration and Commemoration
of the
ANDERSON FORUM FOR PROGRESSIVE THEOLOGY
(Formerly the Anderson School of Theology for Laypersons)
An Interactive Conversation with Panelists and the Audience
What is progressive theology?
What might spiritual growth look like?
Are there common personal experiences?
What are past significant moments of the Forum?
* * *
Featured a Panel Presentation of Present and Past Board Members: Betty Gable, Eugenia Hall, Tom Richie, Jim Ross, Stuart Sprague
Steven Morgan, Moderator
Benson Room of the Bleckley Inn
151 E Church St.
Anderson SC 29624
2022 June 11-12 – Hal Taussig
“The Building of Belonging and Communities Through Festive Meals and Wide-Ranging Gender-Bending”
Hal Taussig is a retired professor, United Methodist pastor, on-going theologian, continuing writer, and international speaker. The most recent of his 15 published books is After Jesus Before Christianity: A Historical Exploration of the First Two Centuries; Re-Reading the Gospel of Mark Amidst Loss and Trauma and A New New Testament: A Bible for the Twenty-First Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts. His academic positions include Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Union Theological Seminary in New York; Professor of Christianity at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; Presidential Contract Faculty, Chestnut Hill College Graduate Program in Holistic Spirituality, Philadelphia, Pa. He has been senior pastor of the Calvary United Methodist Church in Philadelphia, Pa. and senior pastor of the Chestnut Hill United (United Methodist and United Church of Christ) Church in Philadelphia, Pa.
His mediography includes The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times; Time Magazine, The Daily Show, People Magazine, Newsweek Magazine, The Australian Broadcasting Company, National Public Radio, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC, the Bob Edwards Show on Sirius Radio, The History Channel, and the Washington Post.
Some of his 145 public lectures include Speaking Tour, South Korea; Speaking Tour, Australia; Speaking Tour, New Zealand; Living the Questions Annual Lectureship, First United Methodist Church, Madison, Wisconsin; “The Authority of Ancient Writings: A Spectral Phenomenology of Scripture, Scripturalizing, Fetish, and Canon,” The Phi Beta Society, Eastern Pa. Conference of the United Methodist Church; “The Thunder: Perfect Mind” Faculty, The New York Seminary; “Do We Need New Scriptures for the Twenty-First Century,” Panel with Professor Karen King and Bishop Susan Morrison, Harvard Divinity School; “Eat, Drink, and Be Spiritual,” Lecture Series for Ministers’ Week, Phillips Theological Seminary, Tulsa, Oklahoma; “The Future of Progressive Christianity,” Featured speaker, Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, Newton, Massachusetts, The Massachusetts Bible Society; “Empire Then and Now: New Testament Call to Resistance,” The 2006 Harrell F. Beck Lectureship, The Massachusetts Bible Society; “The Spirituality of the Historical Jesus,” Annual Lectureship, West Side Presbyterian Church, Ridgewood, New Jersey; “The Prayer Life of the Historical Jesus,” Lecture, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, New York; “A Call for Cross Denominational Alliances Among Progressive Christians,” Speech, Voices of Faith: First National Conference of Progressive United Methodists; “Wisdom Scriptures”; “International Conference on Worship Renewal with Matthew Fox,” Friends of Creation Spirituality, Ashville, North Carolina; “Images of God: Male and Female,” Conference for the Presbytery of Lansing, United Presbyterian Church, Lansing, Michigan; “Verbal and Non-Verbal Evangelization,” lecture to Board of Directors, Union of Evangelical Churches and Missions of Switzerland; “The Gospel of Mark and Trauma,” The Goodspeed Lectures, Denison University; “What Spiritually Is at Stake in Reading A New New Testament,” The Lay Academy Lectures, Wooster College, Wooster, Ohio; “A New New Testament: A Bible for the 21st Century Combining Traditional and Newly Discovered Texts, The Annual Burchenal Lecture,” Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida; A New New Testament: Book Review Panel,” Feminist Hermeneutic Section, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting; “Festive Meals, Social Experimentation, and Early Christian Identities,” Lecture Series, Colby College; Review of Bible Trouble: Queer Readings at the Boundaries of Biblical Scholarship, eds. Teresa Hornsby and Ken Stone, Women in Biblical World Section and Queer Hermeneutics Section Joint Session, Annual Meeting, Society of Biblical Literature; “The Work of the Society of Biblical Literature Seminar on Meals in the Greco-Roman World,” presented to the Dresden University Conference on Religious Identity and Early Christian Meals.”
2022 April 3 – Jim Wallis
“Is America Possible?: A Test of Democracy and Faith“
Professor of the Practice at the McCourt School of Public Policy and Founder and Director of the Center for Faith and Justice at Georgetown University, Jim Wallis is a globally respected writer and speaker, public theologian, and justice advocate. He is the founder of Sojourners and is a New York Times bestselling author with recent titles including America’s Original Sin, God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong, and the Left Doesn’t Get It, and Christ in Crisis: Why We Need to Reclaim Jesus. He is the host of the Soul of the Nation podcast.
Jim is in demand as a speaker at Colleges, Universities, Seminaries, Churches, and faith-based conferences and conventions both nationally and internationally.
2022 February 27 – Kristin Kobes Du Mez
“Jesus and John Wayne: The White Evangelical Reckoning and What It Means for All of Us”
Author of the New York Times bestseller Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Du Mez is a writer, speaker, and scholar who explores the intersection of religion, gender, and politics. Her writing is described as “urgent and sharp-elbowed,” and Du Mez does not refrain from presenting the hard truths that history has to offer Americans—and especially American Christians. Her unflinching examination of the American church, however, is ultimately a call to confession, a call to lament, and a call to greater faithfulness.
An academic by training, Du Mez holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame, but she writes and speaks for popular audiences in an entertaining style that is equal parts winsome and hard-hitting. Her bylines include The New York Times, the Washington Post, Daily Beast, Religion & Politics, Religion News Service, NBC News.com, Christian Century, and Christianity Today.
Her work has also garnered extensive national and international attention, as a feature on NPR’s Morning Edition, the BBC, and in national outlets in China, Japan, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Germany, and the Netherlands. She is a frequent commenter on religion and politics in the national media at outlets such as the Washington Post, Religion News Service, NPR, CBS, Newsweek, CNN, and the BBC.
As a speaker, she has appeared at colleges and universities across the country including the University of Notre Dame, Eckerd College, University of Iowa, Indiana Wesleyan University, Southern Adventist University, Dordt University, and at the University of Calgary. Her public speaking has also included Christian Feminism Today, Seattle’s Crosscut Festival, Lenses Reframed (Cru national leadership), Newbigin House (San Francisco), the University of Chicago’s Martin Marty Center, and Johns Hopkins’ Stavros Niarchos Foundation Angora Institute, to name a few.
Du Mez teaches at Calvin University and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Paco.
Books: Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation (Liveright, 2020)
A New Gospel for Women: Katharine Bushnell and the Challenge of Christian Feminism (Oxford, 2015)
2022 January 22-23 – Robin Meyers
“American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel” – available online (Amazon Prime and/or elsewhere)
“God as the Wizard of Church” (drawn from his recent book, Saving God from Religion: A Minister’s Search for Faith in a Skeptical Age – with discussion and Q&A following)
To request the required passcode, send an email request to afpt.update@gmail.com (Please expect up to a few days for a response.)
Rev. Robin R. Meyers, PhD, is Retired Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church of Oklahoma City, and Distinguished Professor of Social Justice Emeritus in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University. He is the author of eight books about religion and culture, including, With Ears Hear: Preaching as Self Persuasion, Morning Sun on a White Piano: Simple Pleasures and the Sacramental Life; The Virtue in the Vice: Finding Seven Lively Virtues in the Seven Deadly Sins; Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus; The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus; Spiritual Defiance: Building a Beloved Community of Resistance; and Saving God from Religion: A Minister’s Search for Faith in a Skeptical Age.
A fellow and former board member of the Westar Institute (home of the Jesus Seminar), a newspaper columnist and commentator for NPR, Dr. Meyers lectures nationally and internationally on the merits of Progressive Christianity, gave the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale, and is the subject of a feature-length documentary about the unlikely success of his progressive ministry in perhaps American’s most conservative state: American Heretics: The Politics of the Gospel (www.americanhereticsthefilm.com).
He is married to Shawn Meyers, an artist and professor, and they are the parents of three children, Blue, Chelsea, and Cass, and now grandparents to three remarkable granddaughters, Iris, Hazel, and Eleanora.
2021 November 14 – Rabbi Brian Zachery Mayer
Fun With Theology: An Interactive Zoom About Talking to Adults About (the) God (of Their Understanding)
Rabbi Brian Zachary Mayer was ordained as a rabbi in 1998. After years of mainstream congregational work, Rabbi Brian — known as rB — felt soul-drained, left, and became a high school mathematics teacher, while maintaining “Religion Outside The Box,” a blog. Membership grew to thousands of people from all over the world; and maintaining The 77% Weekly, the 40/52 week a year spiritualigious newsletter became a full time occupation. “In a word, revolutionary!”rB lives in Portland, Oregon with two children, one beloved, and two dogs.
Visit and learn more at ROTB.org
2021 September 12 – John C. Dorhauer (filled in for Traci Blackmon, who was unable to participate)
“White Privilege and its Effects on the Church”
The Rev. Dr. Dorhauer is currently serving as the 9nth General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. His doctoral research studied White Privilege and its Effects on the Church, completed in 2004 at United Theological Seminary in Dayton OH. He is the author of two books: Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion and Beyond Resistance: The Institutional Church Meets the Postmodern World. He is the recipient of Eden Seminary’s Shalom Award, given by the student body for a lifetime commitment to social justice. His life partner is Mimi, with whom he has been creating family for 37 years, proud father of three and grandfather of two.
2021 July 18 – Richard Abercrombie and JoAnn Borovicka
“Learning about Whiteness through a Black Man’s Story“
Richard Abercrombie was born and raised in the Nicholtown Community of Greenville, SC, and graduated from Greenville’s historic Sterling High School. Since joining the Bahá’í community in 1961, Richard has traveled in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia in the pursuit of knowledge and in service to the Bahá’í Faith. He has worked in a number of elected and appointed positions in the local, regional, and national Bahá’í community, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Greenville Bahá’í Center. Richard continues to reside in Greenville where he serves on the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the City of Greenville.
JoAnn Borovicka is an author, educator, and artist. Like Richard, she has worked in local, regional, national, and international venues establishing and facilitating Bahá’í community-building activities for the common good. JoAnn is a member of the faculty of the Religion, Philosophy, and Theology Department of the Wilmette Institute, a higher educational institution offering courses in Bahá’í history, texts, and the Bahá’í approach to social transformation. JoAnn’s other publications include Light of the Kingdom: Biblical Topics in the Bahá’í Writings, While originally from the Midwest, JoAnn has called South Carolina home for over half of her life and currently lives in Greenville, SC
From 2017 to 2020, Richard Abercrombie (an African American man) and JoAnn Borovicka (a white woman) collaborated on the recently published book Crossing the Line: A Memoir of Race, Religion and Change. This book tells the fascinating story of Richard’s coming of age as a Black youth in the Deep South (Greenville, SC) during the 1960’s. JoAnn’s role in this collaboration was to interview Richard as well as his family and friends and to weave the oral stories of Richard’s youth into one written narrative. In this program, the authors will show an illustrated overview of the book, comment on why their biracial collaboration worked so well, and share what JoAnn’s three-year immersion in Richard’s story taught her about the culture of whiteness and the often-surprising steps that white people can take to help the world overcome racial prejudice.
2021 May 23 – David Gushee
Dr. David P. Gushee (PhD, Union Theological Seminary, New York) is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University, and Chair of Christian Social Ethics at Vrije Universiteit (“Free University”) Amsterdam.
Dr. Gushee is the elected Past-President of both the American Academy of Religion and Society of Christian Ethics, signaling his role as one of the world’s leading Christian scholars. He is author and/or coauthor or coeditor of more than 25 books, which together have sold over 100,000 copies and been translated into a dozen languages. His most recognized works include Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Kingdom Ethics, The Sacredness of Human Life, and Changing Our Mind. His new book, After Evangelicalism, charts a theological and ethical course for post-evangelical Christians, a course he personally relates in Still Christian.
Prof. Gushee also has published over 150 academic book chapters, journal articles, and reviews.
An award-winning teacher, Professor Gushee offers courses both to seminarians and college students. Over a busy 27-year career, he has written hundreds of opinion pieces, given interviews to scores of media outlets, and has led significant activist efforts on climate, torture, and LGBTQ inclusion. Along with his friend Jeremy Hall, David also hosts a popular podcast called “Kingdom Ethics.”
Dr. Gushee and his wife Jeanie live in Atlanta. You can connect with David at davidpgushee.com or @dpgushee on social media.
2021 April 25 – Fletcher Harper and Saarah Yasmin Latif
In partnership with Greater Anderson Interfaith Network
As the climate change emergency intensifies, religious communities have a vital role to play in challenging weak government responses, pressuring financial institutions to stop their support for fossil fuels and deforestation, and calling out fundamentalist religious groups for their anti-climate theologies. These same faith allies must also connect the dots between systemic racism and environmental injustices that burden communities of color and poor communities with deadly air pollution and toxic exposures. Learn from our two presenters about what motivates them from their Muslim and Christian backgrounds and how GreenFaith – a global. multi-faith climate justice alliance – is making an impact.
Together our members create communities to transform ourselves, our spiritual institutions, and society to protect the planet and create a compassionate, loving and just world.
The Rev. Fletcher Harper is GreenFaith’s Executive Director. A pioneer of the global religious environmental movement, he has helped catalyze religious engagement in the fossil fuel divestment movement, led organizing for multi-faith turnout at major climate mobilizations, including the historic Peoples Climate March in New York City in 2014, and was an early leader in the Interfaith Rainforest Initiative, which trains and organizes diverse religious communities to protect tropical forests and the rights of their Indigenous guardians. An Ashoka Fellow and an Episcopal priest, he is the author of GreenFaith: Mobilizing God’s People to Protect the Earth.
Saarah Yasmin Latif is a Guyanese American Muslim raised in New Jersey. Her enthusiasm and work focuses on the intersection of sustainability, urban farming, community building and faith based education rooted in Islam. Saarah has a Master’s degree in Sustainability and Leadership from Montclair State University. She is a part of the Greenfaith Fellowship Program and co-authored an ebook entitled Forty Green Hadith: Sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him) on Environmental Justice & Sustainability.
2021 March 28 – Sue Monk Kidd
“Spiritual and Theological Evolution: Personal Reflections and The Book of Longings”
Sue Monk Kidd was raised in the small town of Sylvester, Georgia, a place that deeply influenced the writing of her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees. An award-winning and international bestselling author, Kidd also authored The Invention of Wings and The Mermaid Chair, as well as several acclaimed memoirs, including Traveling with Pomegranates and The Dance of the Dissident Daughter.
Her book When the Heart Waits, published by Harper San Francisco in 1990, has become a touchstone on contemplative spirituality. In 1996, Harper published The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, describing Kidd’s journey into feminist theology, a memoir that had a ground-breaking effect within religious circles. Her newest novel, The Book of Longings, was published on April 21, 2020.
Sue’s presentation was a return visit by a friend of the Forum. She first presented to us in 1994, when she lived in Anderson. We were able to hear about her spiritual journey since then and insights she had for each of us as we navigate these challenging times.
2021 March 21 – James Tabor
Dr. James D. Tabor is a Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he is Professor of Christian Origins and Ancient Judaism. Tabor served as Chair of the department for a decade. His Ph.D. is from the University of Chicago. He previously taught at the University of Notre Dame and the College of William and Mary. Tabor has combined his work on ancient texts with extensive field work in archaeology in Israel and Jordan—with seventy trips to the Holy Land since 1990. Since 2008 he has been co-director, with Shimon Gibson, of the acclaimed Mt Zion excavation in Jerusalem. He was also involved in the 1993 Waco tragedy, drawing upon his expertise in understanding ancient Biblical apocalyptic ideas, and he testified before Congress in the 1995 Waco Hearings. Among his publications are Things Unutterable (1985), A Noble Death (1992), Why Waco: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America (1995) and The Jesus Dynasty: A New Historical Investigation of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity (Simon & Schuster, 2006). In 2012 he published two books: The Jesus Discovery: The New Archaeological Find that Reveals the Birth of Christianity (Simon & Schuster) and Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity (Simon & Schuster). Currently he is finishing a new book, The Lost Mary: How the Jewish Mother of Jesus Become the Virgin Mother of God (Knopf 2020). For more information see: Dr. Tabor’s Faculty page: https://pages.uncc.edu/james-tabor/ and Dr. Tabor’s popular blog: http://jamestabor.com.
2021 January 24 – Cameron Trimble
“The Great Unveiling: How the World Is Changing and What It Means for the Church“
Rev. Cameron Trimble is the Executive Director, CEO of the Center for Progressive Renewal. She served as an advisor to the Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Team of Local Church Ministries for the United Church of Christ and as Associate Conference Minister of Church Development in the Southeast Conference of the UCC. In her ministry in the national setting, Rev. Trimble was responsible for the development of national strategy for birthing new churches. In her conference setting, she directly oversaw the birthing of churches throughout the Southeast Conference. Each setting has given her a unique perspective on the challenges of cultivating leaders equipped to meet the needs of the future of mainline Protestantism. Rev. Trimble is an adjunct professor teaching church planting and renewal with the Pacific School of Religion and Chicago Theological Seminary. She has co-authored the book “Liberating Hope” in 2011. With this wide experience and exposure, Rev. Trimble is convinced that the future of the progressive mainline Church is dependent upon our ability to cultivate the highest quality of leadership in both ordained and lay leadership.
2020 November 8 – Dr. David Emmanuel Goatle
“Christianity and Social Justice: Looking Ahead – The Future“
David Emmanuel Goatley is Research Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies; Director of Office of Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School. He has a B.S., University of Louisville, and M.Div. and Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Professor Goatley is a constructive theologian whose scholarship and practice is at the intersection of missiology, Black Theology, and leadership strategy. A globally recognized missiologist, he emphasizes cross-cultural experiential learning with indigenous communities to deepen understanding, broaden horizons, and strengthen Christian discipleship and leadership formation. He is ordained in the National Baptist Convention, USA, and serves in leadership capacities with the NAACP, Lott Carey Baptist Foreign Mission Society, and the Baptist World Alliance and the World Council of Churches. In addition to articles, essays, and book chapters, Goatley is editor of Black Religion, Black Theology: Collected Essays of J. Deotis Roberts (2003) and authored Were You There? Godforsakenness in Slave Religion (1996, 2007), A Divine Assignment: The Missiology of Wendell Clay Somerville (2010), and Missions Is Essential (2011). His current research projects include leadership development informed by liberation theology, contemporary missiology and strength-based organizational theory, Black Baptist missiology, and African-American pneumatology.
2020 October 11 – Dr. Luther Smith and Dr. Matthew Fox in dialogue
“Christianity and Social Justice: Looking Around and Within – The Spiritual Calling“
Luther E. Smith, Jr., Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology of Emory University. The title of his teaching position reflects his life’s commitment to social transformation as an expression of religious conviction. Dr. Smith speaks and writes extensively on issues of church and society, congregational renewal, Christian spirituality, and the thought of Howard Thurman. He is the author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet; Intimacy and Mission: Intentional Community as Crucible for Radical Discipleship; and editor of Howard Thurman: Essential Writings. He serves as Senior Advisory Editor for the Howard Thurman Papers Project. He is a cofounder of the Interfaith Children’s Movement that educates, mobilizes, and networks faith communities in being advocates for children in Georgia. He is the Coordinator of the “Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty”; the Campaign represents the commitment of six Methodist denominations to address the realities of children in poverty. Dr. Smith helped to found the International Community School that has as its mission educational excellence for children who have experienced the traumas of war and violence. He also serves on the board “L’Arche USA” to assist its mission with persons with intellectual disabilities. He is an ordained minister of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church.
Rev. Matthew Fox, Ph.D., author, theologian, and activist priest, has been calling people of spirit and conscience into the Creation Spirituality lineage for over 50 years. His 38 books, lectures, retreats, and innovative education models have ignited an international movement to awaken people to be mystics and prophets, contemplative activists, who honor and defend the earth and work for justice. Seeking to establish a new pedagogy for learning spirituality that was grounded in an effort to reawaken the West to its own mystical traditions in such figures as Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart and the mysticism of Thomas Aquinas, as well as interacting with contemporary scientists who are also mystics, Fox founded the University of Creation Spirituality. His recent projects include Order of the Sacred Earth and Daily Meditations as well as the Cosmic Mass. A forthcoming book in October is Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in at Time of Pandemic—and Beyond. His most recent book is The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times. Other books include Original Blessing, The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, A Spirituality Named Compassion, The Reinvention of Work, Christian Mystics. www.matthewfox.org. www.dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org
2020 September 13 – Dr. Robert P. Jones
Christianity and Social Justice: Looking Back – The Past
Robert P. Jones is the CEO and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity. Jones writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion for The Atlantic online, NBC Think, and other outlets. He is frequently featured in major national media, such as CNN, MSNBC, NPR, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and others. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University and a M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of The End of White Christian America, which won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
2020 June 14 – Brian McLaren
“What Is Progressive Christianity? (And Why Does It Matter?”)
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. He is an Auburn Senior Fellow, a contributor to We Stand With Love, and a leader in the Convergence Network, through which he is developing an innovative training/mentoring program for pastors and church planters.
2020 January 19 – Steve Morgan
“Seasons of the Spritual Journey – Becoming Fully Human“
Rev. Dr. Steven Morgan is a retired minister in the South Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, having served churches in Glasgow, Scotland, Newberry, Gaffney, Spartanburg, Lancaster, Florence, and Seneca, plus the South Lakes Methodist Circuit in England after retirement. He holds degrees from Wofford College, Duke Divinity School, and Candler School of Theology of Emory University. He is active in venues of interfaith and interracial dialogue.
2019 October 6 – 7 – John Pavlovitz
&
John Pavlovitz is a writer, pastor, and activist from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past four years his blog “Stuff That Needs To Be Said” has reached a diverse worldwide audience. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John is committed to equality, diversity, and justice—both inside and outside faith communities. In 2017 he released his first book, A Bigger Table. His new book, Hope and Other Superpowers, arrived on November 6, 2018.
2019 August 25; 26 at Clemson U – Riffat Hassan
During her 33-year career in Arts & Sciences, Professor Emerita Riffat 
Hassan, an internationally acclaimed religious scholar and activist, taught generations of students about Islam and articulated a progressive understanding of the religion that influenced Muslims around the world. Her work after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks is credited with building bridges between the US and the Muslim world. She is one of the pioneers of feminist theology in the context of the Islamic tradition – an area in which she has been engaged since 1974. She has also been extensively involved in interreligious dialogue with Jews, Christians and Muslims, with a particular focus on Human Rights in Religious Traditions.
2019 April 7 – Roger Ray
“Evidence Based Faith” & “A New Bill of Rights“
Roger Ray earned his masters and doctoral degrees at Vanderbilt 
Divinity School and was a 2004 Merrill Fellow at Harvard Divinity School. A native of Kentucky, Roger has lived in Springfield, Missouri since 1991. His sermons are available on YouTube and iTunes and are among the most popularly downloaded progressive faith messages on the internet. He is the founding pastor of The Emerging Church and he is an adjunct religion and philosophy professor for Drury University. He is the author of Progressive Faith and Practice:Thou Shalt Not Stand Idly By, (2014) and Progressive Conversations: Essays on Matters of Social Justice for Critical Thinkers, (2016).
2018 October 14 – Jerry R. Wright
“The Religious Present: A Depth Psychological Analysis” &
“The Religious Future: A Depth Psychological Prognosis”
Jerry R. Wright is a Jungian psychoanalyst in private practice in Flat Rock, NC. A former Presbyterian pastor, he is interested in integrating various religious/spiritual traditions and depth psychology. In addition to his teaching and retreat leadership, he has led pilgrimages to Iona, Scotland, Ireland, Peru, India, and Vietnam/ Cambodia/ Thailand (March, 2019).
2018 April 8 – Robin Meyers
“Houston, We Have a God Problem” & “Spiritual Defiance: Faith as Resistance to Ego, Orthodoxy, and Empire”
Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers is Professor of Rhetoric at Oklahoma City University, Distinguished Professor of Social Justice in the Philosophy Department at OCU, and Senior Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City. He is the author of seven books, including With Ears to Hear, Morning Sun on a White Piano, The Virtue in the Vice, Why the Christian Right is Wrong , The Underground Church, and Spiritual Defiance.
2017 October 1 – Ruby Sales
“Biblical and Theological Roots of Social Activism” &
“Social Activism in the Twenty-first Century”
Ruby Sales is Public Theologian, Historian, Activist, Social Critic, Educator, and Founder and Director of the Spirit House Project in Atlanta.
2017 March 12 – Amy-Jill Levine
Phil Silverstein Memorial Lectures
“How Jews and Christians Read Scripture Differently” & “Hearing Jesus’ Parables: Of Pearls and Prodigals”
Amy-Jill Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies at Vanderbilt Divinity School and College of Arts and Science. Her books include The Misunderstood Jew,The Meaning of the Bible (co-authored with Douglas Knight), and the thirteen-volume edited Feminist Companions to the New Testament and Early Christian Writing. Her most recent volume is Short Stories by Jesus.
2016 October 16 – James Carroll
Reimagining Christ for the Modern World
“Jesus after the Holocausts” & “The Future of Jesus Christ”
James Carroll is the author of eleven novels and eight works of non- fiction, including An American Requiem, Constantine’s Sword, House of War, and Jerusalem. He is Distinguished Writer in Residence at the Center for European and Mediterranean Studies in the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at New York University.
2016 March 4-5
Diana Butler Bass
Finding God in the World
Session I: God in a Post-Religious Time
Session II: The Rise of the Mystics
Session III: Religion in America
Session IV: The Democratization of Religion
Diana Butler Bass is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a Ph.D in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of nine books, including Grounded: Finding God in the World, A Spiritual Revolution (2015). The Anderson School of Theology for Laypersons and Foothills Presbytery co-sponsored the event.
January 26, 2015
Galileo: Italian Prophet of the Modern Era
ASTL sponsored a presentation in which actors gave readings from two plays: Galileo by Bertolt Brecht and Lamp at Midnight by Barrie Stavis. Following the readings, there was a discussion of the impact of Galileo on modern ways of thought and the interaction between science and religion.
2015 October 25
Harry T. Cook
Presentations : “Varying Portraits of Jesus” and “Regarding the Resurrection”
Harry T. Cook is a retired Episcopal priest and the author of eight books, the latest being What a Friend They Had in Jesus: The Theological Visions of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Hymn Writers. His weekly exegetical essays have a wide online audience. He is working on a book about Niebuhr’s years in Detroit.
2015 February 22
Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor
Theme: Holy Envy: An Antidote to Fearing the Religious Stranger
Presentations:”Who Is My Neighbor?”
and “What Would Jesus Do?”
2014 November 9
Dr. John Philip Newell
Theme: Christianity’s Struggle for New Beginnings
Presentations: “Reconnecting with the Earth” and “Reconnecting with Nonviolence”
2014 February 16
Dr. Walter Brueggemann
Presentations: “Voicing the Cry” and “Voicing the Impossible”
2013 October 13
Rev. Michael Dowd : “Ecology Is the New Theology: The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness”
2013 January 20
Dr. Luther Smith : “Howard Thurman & Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Love Ethic, Past and Present”
2012 September 29
James Carroll : “Beyond Nostalgia and Survival: Alternative Agenda for Institutional Religion”
2012 March 11
Lillian Daniel : “When ‘Spiritual but not Religious’ Is not Enough”
2012 January 24
Chocolat. In conjunction with the Anderson International Festival, ASTL sponsored the showing of the movie Chocolat and a discussion afterwards.
2011 October 16
Dr. Luther Smith : “The Life and Work of Dr. Howard Thurman”
2011 October 4
Discussion of Dr. Howard Thurman’s Search for Common Ground, led by Stuart Sprague
2011 September 20
Discussion of Dr. Howard Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited, led by George West
2011 June 21
Discussion of Dr. Howard Thurman’s Luminous Darkness, led by Stuart Sprague
2011 May 10
Discussion of Dr. Howard Thurman’s Essential Writings (edited by Luther Smith), led by George West
2011 August 6
Bishop John Shelby Spong : “Christianity Before the Gospels Were Written” and “The Shadow of the Synagogue in New Testament Formation”
2011 Feb 18 and 19 (ASTL Anniversary)
Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan : “Parables by and about Jesus”
2010
Dr. Jerry R. Wright : “Seeking a God Sufficient For The Soul’s Passion”
Dr. Stuart Sprague : “Experiencing Truth”
Dr. Bill Mallard : “Imagining Truth”
Rev Tom Richie : “Prophesying Truth”
Dr. Tommy Watson : “Singing Truth”
Rev. Dr. Barbara Brown : “Practicing Truth”
2009
Dr. Amy-Jill Levine : “The Bible and Sex: David and Bathsheba” and “The Bible and Empire: Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas” and “The Bible and Politics: Daniel and Revelation”
Dr. Tom Long : “A Raid On the Inarticulate: How The Bible Tells The Truth Poetically”
2008
Dr. Laura Sugg : “God’s Encircling: the Rich Traditions of Celtic Christianity”
Dr. Marion “Marty” Swords : “Paul: the Man, the Message and the Mission”
2007
Dr. Charles Kimball : “Islam, Christianity and the Clash of Civilizations: What In The World Is Going On” and “Sharing the Road to an Uncertain Future: Religion, Politics and Democracy in the 21st Century”
2006
Dr. R. Jerry Wright : “Recovery of Soul” and “Living at the Edge of the Visible and Invisible World”
Levine, Dr. Amy-Jill : “Stories: How the Bible Both Unites and Divides”
2005
Dr. Fred Craddock : “A Conversation Between The Text and The Listeners” and “More Than Anything Else In The World”
Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor : “Us and Them…Religious Strangers Post 9/11”
2004
Dr. William Mallard : “The New Testament Revolution: The Virgin Birth and The Samaritan”
Dr. Brian K. Blount : “The Revelation of Culture” and “A Cultural-Political Reading of Revelation 1”
2003
Dr. Bill Leonard : “The Church and The World: Ancient Mission—New Dilemmas”
Dr. Charles Kimball : “Sharing a Fragile Planet: Obstacles and Opportunities for the Children of Abraham”
2002
Dr. Walter Bruggeman : “The Book of Psalms—The Church’s Rich Script of Truth and Hope”
Dr. John Cobb : “Keep Faith Dialogue Going In A New Kind of World”
2001
Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor : “Living Faithfully in a Multi-Faith World”
Dr. Amy-Jill Levine : “The Next Stage of Jewish-Christian Relations”
2000
Dr. Harold G. Koenig : “A History of Religion, Spirituality, Medicine and Science” (Co-sponsored by the Anderson County Medical Association)
1999
Rev. Richard F. Elliott, Jr. : “Spirituality with Integrity”
Dr. Gregory Jones : “Forgiveness: Making Peace with the Past and Finding New Life in the Future”
1998
Dr. William Mallard : “Doctrines Come to Life: The Trinity and The Spirit”
Dr. Vincenzo Di Nicola : “Small Answers: Lessons for the Left Hand”
The Rt. Rev. Bennett J. Sims : “Heresy Reconsidered” and “Servanthood and Sexuality”
1997
Merwyn S. Johnson: “Will You Serve God for Nothing?”
Howard Hanger
David Rutledge
1996
Mary Glazener: “Dietrich Bonhoeffer”
Penelope Yungblut: “Path of Devotion as a Way of Individuation” and “Making a Good End”
1995
Andrew and Marie Foley: “Meditation: A Path to Healing and Wholeness”
Zee Holler: “Jesus and Why It Is We Find Ourselves So Little Able to Be About the Sort of Business He Intended”
1994
Sue Monk Kidd: “Feminine Wounding in the Church” and “The Feminine Face of God”
Panel: Charles Kimball, Rabbi Jodie Futornick, M. Samir Jaber: “Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations”
1993
William Mallard: “The Apostle Paul”
James Fowler: “Commitment and Civility: The Calling of Public Churches”
1992
Charles Kimball: “The Middle East After the Gulf War: Is Peace Possible?” and “Jews, Christians, and Muslims Together”
Robert Wilhelm
1991
Thomas Thangaraj: “Images of Christ in World Christianity”
John Yungblut: “A New Personal Myth to Live By”
William Willimon
1990
Elizabeth Canham: “Praying the Bible, Finding the Way, Claiming the Hope” and Slides: “Hildegard of Bigen’s Mandalas”
Walter Bruggemann: “As It Was in the Beginning but Not Always and Is Now: Reflections on the Community Through Time”
1989
Rebecca Chopp: “Christian Images of Human Flourising”
John Yungblut: “Being a Contemplative Where You Are”
Thomas Thangara: “The Art of Being a Global Christian”
1988
William Mallard
Dr. Karl Plank : “Thomas Merton, A Film Biography”; “A Monk Contemplates Eichmann”; “Thomas Merton’s Contemplative Turn”
1987
Fred Craddock: “The Sermon on the Mount: One Voive among Many, Ethics as Relationships, Ethics as Imitation of God”
James Fowler: “Faith and Human Development,” “Present Cultural Crisis and Formation of Souls,” and “The Public Covenant and Vocation”
1986
Will Campbell
William J. Everett: “The Oikos Project on Work, Family, and Faith” and “God’s Federal Republic”
1985
Carl Evans: “Christian-Jewish Relations”
John Yungblut
1984
Tom Long
1983
William Mallard: “Augustine of Hippo”
Mr. Carol Newsom: “Apocalype Now” and “Authentic Christian Apocalyptic”
1982
David Pacini
1981
Charles Gerkin: “Crisis Experience in Modern Life”
1979
William Mallard: “Reflections on Theology in Literature”
1978
Hans Frei: “The Significance of the Theology of Karl Barth” & “Views of Christ in Current Theology”
1976
Jack Spong
Retreat: John and June Yungblut
Ted Runyun: “Baptism and the Lord’s Supper”
1975
Norman Robertson and Jim Spearman: “Communications in Marriage and Family Relationships”
John Yungblut: “Human Sexuality”
1974
William Beardslee
1973
Panel: Philip Enlow, Webster Myer, Francis Nicholson, William Leake: “A Study of the Approach to Crime”
1972
Edgar Grider: “Mission of the Church in an Urban Context”
John Stapleton
1971
Glenn Dorris
Zee Holler
Jack Boozer
William Stringfellow
C. Fitzsimmons Allison
1970
L. D. Johnson
Wallace Fridy
Eugene Bianchi
J. Maxwell Miller: “The Effect of Archaeological Discoveries”
1969
William Mallard: “Theology and Contemporary Theater”
Lewis Hay: “Theological Understanding of the Future”
William Brandlee
1968
Carl Skrade
Victor Frankl, Holocaust Survivor
Norman Perrin : “Rediscovering the Teachings of Jesus”
1967
Jack Boozer
*Paul Tillich
William Stringfellow
John Cooper : “Historical Understanding Christian Radical Thought” (several sessions)
1966
Lewis Hay : “Studies in the Synoptic Gospels: Mark”
John Patton : “Theological and Psychological Concepts of Human Emotions” (eight-week course)
Claude Evans
Robert Briggs
George K. Schweitzer
1965
Joe Matthews
Theodore Weber : Christian Ethics
1964
Norman Perrin : “The Kingdom of God”
William Mallard : “The Nature and Significance of the Church”
1963
(?) Carlisle Marney
Eugene Bianchi
Z. Holler : “The Parables”
Theodore Runyan : “Romans: Sourcebook of Our Faith”
1962
Harvey Guthrie
1961
Carl Losen
Franklin Littell : “The German Phoenix”
Glenn Dorris
Z Holler: “The Prodigal Son”
1960
Elton Trueblood: “A History of Quaker Doctrine”
Dean Allison: “The Unity of the Bible”
1959
Gustav Wiegle, Vatican II Consultant: “The Spirit of Catholicism”