“What are we willing to do to distinguish ourselves from other people? Look at all the tricks we use to keep others at bay, to keep our own version of the truth intact, our way of life secure,” said the Rev. Peter W. Marty during Sunday morning’s sermon. Marty is the chaplain for Week Five at Chautauqua. His sermon title was “The Fastest Growing Religion in America.” The selected Scripture texts were Exodus 12:1-4, 11-14 and Mark 9: 38-50.
Although technological developments have created a more interactive, engaged world than ever before, Luke Timothy Johnson will argue today’s society is much more private than ancient ones — and there are many lessons about privacy to be learned by looking to the past.
Spong said in his fifth Interfaith Lecture Friday in the Hall of Philosophy that the Christian religion is in need of a new Jesus story, and he believes John’s Gospel holds the key to redefining the tradition.
Episcopal bishop isolates John’s Gospel so audiences can read with Jewish eyes.
“I want to talk about women in a global context, and specifically women at the Southern border,” the Rev. Daisy Machado said at the 9:15 a.m. Friday morning worship service. Her sermon topic was “A Woman of Value,” and the Scripture text was John 8:1-11, the story of the woman caught in adultery.
Karen Armstrong is not too big on happiness — she said it’s overrated and never sticks around long enough. She has found that the world’s major religions don’t concern themselves much with happiness; rather, it’s focusing on suffering that’s important.
“The religions are not about finding some outer palacio where we will … be blissed out, but [about learning] to live creatively and kindly and realistically with our pain,” Armstrong said.
The 10:45 a.m. Sunday morning worship with the sacrament of Communion is a special worship service in the life of Chautauquans. This was the ninth annual service of this kind, a tradition started by the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell in 2004.
The Rev. Tony Campolo began his sermon at the 9:15 a.m. Friday morning worship service with a story that many congregation members had heard before.
“My mother introduced me to Jesus,” said the Rev. Tony Campolo at the 5 p.m. Sunday Vespers in the Hall of Philosophy. “I found out that he was a lot nicer than my mother told me. From her, I learned to trust Scripture and have a personal relationship with him.”
“We are talking about grace; the Christian gospel is about grace,” said the Rev. Tony Campolo. Campolo was the preacher for the 9:15 a.m. Tuesday morning worship service. His sermon was titled “The Grace of the Kingdom,” and the Scripture was Luke 7:41-43.
The Chautauquan Daily 