Posts Tagged '2012 Week Eight'

Waskow shares thoughts on reinvigorating Judaism

August 16, 2012·Comments closed

After decades of rabbinical leadership and honors, Arthur Waskow is still a down-to-earth Jew.

Waskow is one of the most prominent leaders of the Jewish Renewal movement, which seeks to reinvigorate lofty, institutional Judaism with practices grounded in spirituality. In 1983, he founded The Shalom Center, an interfaith organization that unifies political and social action with spiritual search, and has served as director since.

He will join the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, director of the Department of Religion, for a conversation about radicalism at 2 p.m. Friday in the Hall of Philosophy.

Interfaith Lecture Previews

Clayton to address rise of religious radicalism since 9/11

August 15, 2012·Comments closed

Many innovations in recent years seem radical, but perhaps the most shocking are the the manifestations of radical religion, said Philip Clayton, provost of Claremont Lincoln University and dean of the university’s School of Theology.

Atheists often argue that religion is poisonous, Clayton said, but there are two sides to every argument. There are suicide bombers, but there are also religiously motivated radical reform movements. Clayton will discuss both sides of radicalism at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Hall of Philosophy. His lecture is titled “Suicide Bombers and Barefoot Prophets: The Faces of Radical Religion in the Early 21st Century.”

Interfaith Lecture Previews

Chane embraces ‘radical’ label while building interfaith bridges

August 14, 2012·Comments closed

From rock ‘n’ roll artist to student activist to eighth Episcopal bishop of Washington D.C., the Rt. Rev. John Bryson Chane is used to having “radical” attached to his name.

Chane will discuss what it means to be a radical — theologically and in his own journey — at 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Hall of Philosophy. He said he will look at the term from various perspectives, because he thinks it is often misused.

Interfaith Lecture Previews

Patel spreads gospel of America’s radical idea: religious pluralism

August 13, 2012·Comments closed

The United States was a radical idea from its beginning, said Eboo Patel, founder and president of Interfaith Youth Core.

The country was founded on principles of cultural and religious pluralism — ideas that would be considered radical in many other countries throughout the world even today, he said. But religious pluralism, radical or not, is what makes the U.S. a unique place of sacred ground.

Patel will discuss religious pluralism and the promise of America at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the Hall of Philosophy. His Interfaith Lecture is based largely on his new book, Sacred Ground: Pluralism, Prejudice and the Promise of America, which goes on sale today. Outside his family, Patel said Chautauquans are the first able to buy the book, and there will be a book signing after his lecture.

Interfaith Lecture Previews

Gordis: Religion based in absolutes distances from human experience

August 12, 2012·Comments closed

Rabbi David Gordis is a committed Jewish leader, but he said religion must leave the confines of the synagogue — as well as the church and the mosque.

Gordis, a professor at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and president emeritus of Hebrew College, considered himself a religious conservative for most of his life, taking comfort in the synagogue as a place of doctrinal culture and tradition. But during the past 20 years, he said he has transitioned to a more radical faith that fits modern science and culture.

Gordis will open this week’s Interfaith Lecture theme — “Radicalism: Burden or Blessing?” — by discussing different kinds of radicalism in the three Abrahamic religions. He will focus on and give examples from Judaism, and he will also explain his own radical faith.

Religion

Sacred Song to feature great hymn writer of our time

August 11, 2012·Comments closed

Sunday’s Sacred Song Service will introduce a poet who will inspire morning worship service hymns for the rest of the week.

The service, at 8 p.m. in the Amphitheater, will feature hymns by Brian Wren, who is spending Week Eight in residence at the Chautauqua Writers’ Center and teaching a Special Studies class on writing words for worship. Students’ prayers and hymns will be used during morning worship services throughout the week. The class is Monday through Friday, 3:30–5:30 p.m.

Jared Jacobsen, Chautauqua organist and coordinator of worship and sacred music, said he has been trying to bring Wren to Chautauqua for years and was finally able to do so with the help of Sherra Babcock, director of the Department of Education and Youth Services, who has worked with the poet before.

Community

Rueckert documentary goes behind pipes of Massey Organ

August 11, 2012·Comments closed

When third-generation Chautauquan Fred Rueckert heard that the Massey Memorial Organ would be renovated, he immediately knew the project would make a great story.

Rueckert, who was studying videography at Rochester Institute of Technology when the digital age was just beginning, decided to make a documentary about the renovation for his senior thesis project. Telling the story became so important to Rueckert that he postponed his graduation for a year in order to film the entire renovation process. He began filming in May 1992 and finished with the organ’s rededication in June 1993.

Rueckert will show his original one-hour documentary — which he later cut to 38 minutes — at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Hall of Christ. The video contains footage Rueckert thought he lost years ago, and the viewing will be followed by a tour of the Massey.