March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Public welcome to Bangor seminary’s convocation

BANGOR — Bangor Theological Seminary will hold its 90th annual convocation Jan. 17-18 on the seminary campus, 300 Union St. The first series of its kind in the country, the convocation features outstanding theologians, preachers, scholars and religious leaders. The public is welcome to register for the event.

The speakers this year are the Rev. Walter R. Dickhaut, Robert Wood Lynn and M. Shawn Copeland.

Dickhaut will preach the David Nelson Beach Quiet Hour at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, and at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the David Nelson Beach Chapel.

Lynn will deliver the Enoch Pond Lectures on Applied Christianity. His topics will be: “Christian Views of Money: Creation and the Fall,” 11 a.m. Tuesday; “Christian Views of Money: The Church and God’s Future,” 3:30 p.m. Tuesday; and “Christian Views of Money: The Missing Center,” at 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Copeland will offer the Francis B. Denio Lectures on the Bible. Her topics will be: “Suffering: Meaning, Memory and Mystery,” 2 p.m. Tuesday; “Casting One’s Lot: From Suspicion, Beyond Rhetoric, Toward Communities of Resistance and Solidarity,” 9 a.m. Wednesday; and “There Is No Alien Sorrow: The Cross of Jesus and Solidarity,” 2 p.m. Wednesday.

The Rev. Walter R. Dickhaut is professor of practical theology at Bangor Theological Seminary, where he has also served as dean of students and director of field education. He has a bachelor’s degree from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio; and master’s and doctoral degrees from Methodist Theological School in Ohio.

In 1970 he was the recipient of the Bishop Everett W. Palmer Fellowship in Preaching. He has served pastorates in Ohio Methodist churches and has been visiting instructor in preaching at Methodist Theological School and at United Theological Seminary, both in Ohio. He was supervisor of field education at Methodist Theological School 1971-1980, and joined the faculty of BTS in 1980. He is an ordained priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Maine.

Robert Wood Lynn has served as scholar-in-residence at BTS since 1989. He has bachelor’s degrees from Princeton University and Yale Divinity School, and a doctorate from Union Theological Seminary.

He was assistant minister at Montview Presbyterian Church in Denver, then became assistant professor of religious education and church and community at UTS. He later served as dean of Auburn Theological Seminary, assistant professor of practical theology, and professor of religion and education.

During many of those years, he also served as professor of religion and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. In 1976 he was named senior program officer of The Lilly Endowment Inc., where he served as vice president until 1984. From 1985 to his retirement in 1989, he was senior vice president at the endowment.

Lynn is the author of several books and articles, and is at work on a major research project on “Faith and Stewardship in American Culture.”

M. Shawn Copeland is associate professor of theology at Marquette University, with responsibility for teaching and research in systematic theology and African American intellectual history and culture. She has a bachelor’s degree from Madonna College in Livonia, Mich.; and a doctorate in systematic theology from Boston College.

Copeland is co-editor with Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza of the international Concilium series on feminist theology. She has taught, lectured and written extensively at institutions throughout the country, and is a contributor to the acclaimed “A Troubling in My Soul: Womanist Reflections on Evil and Suffering.”

At present, she is working on one manuscript on the history, tasks and possibilities of African American critical thought; and another on a theology of freedom, focusing on slave narratives and ethnographic accounts.

Registration for the convocation is $20 a person. Alternative registration opportunies are: CMU credit, $25; patron, $35; patron couple, $45. Luncheon will be held both days at Wellman Commons, with tickets $6.50 each day. The alumni banquet and annual meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Jeff’s banquet Center. Reservations are required, and the cost is $15.

The President’s Reception and Tea, offered by Malcolm and Pamela Warford, will be held at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Hannibal Hamlin House, 15 Fifth St., Bangor.

Scholarship funds are available for the convocation. Child care is available by request.

Registration will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday at Wellman Commons. Advance registration should be sent to Convocation, Bangor Theological Seminary, 300 Union St., Bangor 04401. For information, call 942-6781.


Have feedback? Want to know more? Send us ideas for follow-up stories.

comments for this post are closed

You may also like