Seminary convocation to feature diverse speakers

BANGOR – The subject of Bangor Theological Seminary’s 97th convocation hasn’t changed since it was announced last year, but its content was altered dramatically by the events of Sept. 11, the seminary’s president says.

“Convocation has changed in two different ways – one intentional and one accidental,” said President William Imes. “The three academic speakers are big, big names with widely varying perspectives, including Roman Catholic, Unitarian Universalist and American Baptist.”

“Communicating the Gospel” is the title of the seminary’s annual assembly Jan. 28-30 at the Hammond Street Congregational Church in Bangor. Recent speakers have included Gov. Angus King and U.S. District Judge George Singal.

“Because the public figures we had the last two years were so well-received, we were looking for someone of that caliber to give us some perspective on the world of Islam,” Imes said. “We set out to find someone who could look at the context in which the faith is lived.”

Robert H. Pelletreau, who served as assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in the Clinton administration, turned out to be that person. His sister, Anne Woodbury, is a member of the seminary’s board of trustees, and she approached him about speaking at convocation.

Pelletreau, who served as U.S. ambassador to Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain during his career in the Foreign Service, will lecture at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28. His speech, “The Elusive Search for Peace in Today’s Middle East,” will focus on reactions in the United States and in Muslim nations to the terrorist attacks as well as the status of the Arab-Israeli conflict and how it relates to what’s happening in Afghanistan.

“This is not my normal speaking beat,” said Pelletreau in a phone interview from his law office in Washington. “I usually speak at institutions and universities with an interest in foreign policy and foreign affairs. Normally I don’t particularly emphasize religious values and perceptions of religious differences. In this case, I have to say something about how someone who thinks of him or herself as a good Muslim could be increasingly frustrated with his or her society and could turn to religion for solace and some political action.”

Pelletreau, who is fluent in Arabic and French, now practices international law from Washington. The governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco decorated him during his years in diplomatic service. He is a frequent guest on television news programs like the “Newshour with Jim Lehrer.”

The “accidental” speaker the seminary found will be the Rev. Dr. Forrest Church, senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Manhattan, N.Y. He replaces the Rev. Fred Craddock, who is unable to attend due to illness.

Church, son and biographer of the late Idaho Sen. Frank Church, will deliver the lecture “Bringing God Home: A Traveler’s Guide” at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. That is also the title of his latest book, scheduled to be released in March. He also will lead the final convocation worship service at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30. His sermon is titled “The Acts of Life.”

Imes said the seminary approached Church, who has written 20 books, through a seminary staff member who knows him. Imes said he is excited that a Unitarian Universalist will be one of the speakers at a program about proclaiming the Gospel. Unitarian Universalism is a liberal, creedless denomination with Judeo-Christian roots that draws from Eastern, humanist and other traditions. Professing a belief in God is not required for membership in a UU church.

Church’s latest book “is his own rather personal tale about discovering that he really needed God,” Imes said. “I can hear a more literal-minded Christian saying, ‘But, where’s Jesus?’ Yet, I think it is important that he is proclaiming and living his faith and taking God seriously.”

Church also recently edited a collection of sermons delivered after the events of Sept. 11 called “Restoring Faith: America’s Religious Leaders Answer Terror with Hope.” He also is writing a book, “The American Creed: Union of Faith and Freedom,” that will be released on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks.

“The United States was founded on a creed which finds its most eloquent expression in the Declaration of Independence,” he said in a phone interview from his church office in New York. “Ours is a union of faith and freedom in which faith elevates freedom and freedom tempers faith.

“In many ways Unitarian Universalism is a generic American faith,” Church said. “Our gathering principle is a direct reflection of the faith our nation’s founders expressed so eloquently in documents like the Declaration of Independence. It also reflects the dynamic character of pluralism in America, where religion particularity is honored, yet at the same time we are united under a broader banner of liberty.”

Luke Timothy Johnson, professor of New Testament and Christian origins at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, will lecture twice at the convocation.

A Benedictine monk and priest before becoming a biblical scholar, he continues work as a lay leader in the Roman Catholic community. Imes called him the most eloquent and capable critic of the Jesus Seminar, a group of theologians that concluded in the mid-1990s that no more than 20 percent of the sayings and even fewer of the deeds attributed to Jesus were authentic.

Johnson’s participation in this year’s convocation stirred interest at seminaries around the country, Imes said. His lecture, “The Good News of Jesus: The Prophetic Messiah of Luke’s Gospel,” will be delivered at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. His speech, “Witness to the Good News: The Prophetic Church in Acts,” will be at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30.

The Rev. Emilie M. Townes, ordained in the American Baptist denomination, also will lecture twice. “Vanishing into Limbo” will be delivered at 3:45 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28, and “Growing Like Topsy” will be given at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 29. Townes is a professor of Christian ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York. She is working on a manuscript on the relationship between culture and evil.

The Rev. William Friederich, pastor of the Trinitarian Parish Church of Castine and an accomplished percussionist, and composer and pianist Paul Sullivan will perform throughout the three days.

“The Gospel Proclaimed, Taught, Lived,” an exhibit of sacred art, will be on display in Wellman Commons on the seminary campus between Union and Hammond streets through March 21.

Registration for convocation 2002 will begin at 10 a.m. Monday, Jan. 28, at the Hammond Street Congregational Church. Imes will conduct the opening worship service at 11 a.m. For information, call 942-6781.