The 2019 Robert C. Stuart Lenten Series on Resurrection
March 10
Luke Timothy Johnson
World-renowned speaker Luke Timothy Johnson is a New Testament scholar and historian of early Christianity. At Emory University in Atlanta, he is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology and a Senior Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
The author of more than 30 books, including The Real Jesus: The Misguided Quest for the Historical Jesus and the Truth of the Traditional Gospels, Johnson believes Jesus is experienced in the present, in faith, rather than in the past, in speculative historical reconstruction.
From The New York Times: “A former monk who loves monasticism, an active Roman Catholic who has found himself barred from teaching in some Catholic institutions, a member of the world of Scripture scholars whose working premises he is now challenging, Professor Johnson is a walking illustration of how unsatisfactory labels like conservative and liberal can be.”
March 17
Brigid’s Hope Graduates
Brigid’s Hope program of The Beacon is a mentoring, spiritual, and residential program that supports self-sufficiency for previously incarcerated women who desire to make the transition to independence, maintain a clean and sober life, and rise above their past. See the article in the March 2019 Bulletin to learn more about this program and the women in it.
March 24
The Rev. Dr. Ben Nelson
The rector St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in San Marcos, TX, the Rev. Dr. Nelson is also president of the board of Recovery Ministries of The Episcopal Church, an independent, nationwide network of Episcopal laity, clergy, dioceses, parishes, schools, agencies, and other institutions with a shared commitment to address the effects of addiction in all its forms. He is also co-chairman of the Recovery Commission in the Diocese of West Texas, which is revisiting the alcohol policy of the diocese.
Additionally, Nelson is a supporter of Alcoholics Anonymous. As he told the Episcopal News Service, “I think the 12-step movement is really a great spiritual movement, and The Episcopal Church has been present since the beginning. When we’re at our best, this is who we can be.”
March 31:
The Rev. Dr. Barbara Rossing
Nationally renowned public theologian the Rev. Dr. Barbara R. Rossing is Professor of New Testament at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where she also directs the seminary’s environmental ministry emphasis. She also teaches with interdisciplinary colleagues through the Zygon Center for Religion and Science.
The author of several books including The Rapture Exposed: The Message of Hope in the Book of Revelation and Journeys Through Revelation: Apocalyptic Hope for Today, she is an expert on the Apocalypse and eschatology (hope for the future), and she has spoken widely on the idea of “God’s unfinished future.”
She is part of the University of Chicago’s Enhancing Life Project, a multidisciplinary research program that explores this aspiration of human life to become “better” amid the advancements of technology, genetics, ecology, and other fields, and the vulnerability and endangerment these advancements may bring. Her work there focuses on the Tree of Life.
April 7:
Miroslav Volf
Called by former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams “one of the most celebrated theologians of our day,” Cathedral favorite Miroslav Volf is the founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale University Divinity School. In his work, he aims to bridge Christian theology with the public realm.
Volf is the author of more than a dozen books, including Against the Tide: Love in a Time of Petty Dreams and Persisting Enmities and A Public Faith: How Followers of Christ Should Serve the Common Good. The title of his talk this year is, “The Crisis of Trust and the Reality of Hope.”
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