seabury next

Friday, April 26

Join Bexley and Seabury faculty, alums and friends at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis for a seminar exploring how sacred texts can help us foster understanding and create communities. The event is free and open to all, and participants may earn up to four contact hours for Continuing Education. Restoring the Biblical Imagination is presented with the generous support of The Henry Luce Foundation.

1:30-2:15 pm  President Ferlo's Address: Restoring the Biblical Imagination

2:30-4 pm A Muslim, a Jew and a Christian Walk into a Cafe:  Building Relationships through Scriptural Study 

As Christian leaders, how can we navigate our multi-faith world with integrity and compassion? Scriptural Reasoning, a process that brings Christians, Jews and Muslims together to study and discuss each other’s holy texts, can help create meaningful conversations that don’t gloss over differences. In this participatory workshop, you’ll see the Scriptural Reasoning process demonstrated and then try it out in a small group. Learn more.

Workshop leader:  The Rev. Dr. Jason Fout, assistant professor of Anglican theology, Bexley Hall

Presenters:  

Sarah Snyder works with the Cambridge Inter-Faith Programme, co-ordinating Scriptural Reasoning in the UK and overseas. She supports Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities using Scripture as the focus of conversation. She also chairs a biblical think tank called the Jubilee Centre, applying biblical principles to current affairs.

Joshua Stanton serves as associate director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College in Newton Centre, Massachusetts and director of communications for the Coexist Foundation. He is founding co-editor of the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue and co-director of Religious Freedom USA, which works to ensure that freedom of religion is as protected in practice as it is in theory. He alo co-edits O.N. Scripture -- The Torah, a weekly online Torah commentary featured on the Huffington Post.

Homayra Ziad is assistant professor of religion at Trinity College, where she teaches courses on Islam. After receiving her first degree from Bryn Mawr, she earned a doctorate in Islamic Studies from Yale. Her scholarly interests include Sufi theory and practice, theologies of pluralism, Qur'anic studies, and religion and humor. Homayra is deeply involved in interfaith initiatives and educational outreach on faith, in academia and on the grassroots level. She is co-founder and co-chair of the American Academy of Religion's Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Group and is a contributor to the Huffington Post's HuffJummah.

4:30-5:45 pm  The Bible for Nones:  Sights and Sounds of Scripture

Twenty percent of all Americans and more than thirty percent of adults under age 30 are “nones”—they identify with no religion. Many of these people know nothing about the Bible and have no particular interest in studying it.

But the images and sounds of the biblical story can foster new kinds of biblical exploration by appealing to hearts as well as minds. At this workshop, you’ll discover new ways to begin conversations about the Bible and to sense scriptural truths beyond words. Learn more.

Presenters:

John Addision Dally is professor of theology and culture, Seabury Western Theological Seminary and artist-in-residence at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Chicago. His particular interest is generating theological reflection through images and sounds. He is the author of eight plays, a cycle of pageants for children based on medieval mystery plays, nine works for speech choir, and two novels.

Shaun Whitehead is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and associate chaplain at Saint Lawrence University in Canton, New York and worship leader of the Gospel Service Community. A healthy portion of her flock consists of the unaffiliated youth known as "nones" (because their response on a questionnaire asking about religious affiliation is "none.") She is a native of Chicago and a graduate of Clark College, (now Clark Atlanta University) in Atlanta and McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, where she received an MDiv in 2003. While in seminary, Shaun’s field education was in The Night Ministry of Chicago. 

Frank Yamada is president of McCormick Seminary in Chicago and Cyrus McCormick Professor of Bible and Culture. He is the first Asian American to serve as president of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) seminary.He is passionate about the way seminaries must create new models for delivering theological education that respond to an increasingly diverse American population. Prior to becoming president of McCormick, Dr. Yamada was the director of the Center for Asian American Ministries and associate professor of Hebrew Bible at McCormick.  He also taught Hebrew Bible for nine years at Seabury.

6:00-6:30 pm  Panel Discussion

6:30 pm  Dinner Reception (tickets for $25 are available online)

Can't attend?  Support the future of Bexley Hall and Seabury. Donate now.