Convocation to feature high-profile speakers Inspiration for ‘Judging Amy,’ liberation theology father to address Bangor meeting

BANGOR – Preachers came by horse and train from villages throughout New England 100 years ago, sleeping on cots in the gymnasium at Bangor Theological Seminary and debating the weighty theological issues facing the new century.

The transportation and the accommodations may have changed, but 100 years after the seminary launched its annual convocation, the issues are still the focus.

Speakers this year include the woman who inspired the TV series “Judging Amy” and the father of liberation theology.

They and others will speak in a range of sessions Monday through Wednesday at Hammond Street Congregational Church and at the seminary, off Union and Hammond streets.

“[Convocation] represents one of the great traditions of this school,” said the Rev. William Imes, president. The event “functions as a semi-formal alumni reunion, as a major continuing education event for pastors and church leaders, especially those located in New England and Maritime Canada, and as an important opportunity for great scholars and preachers to share and test the ideas and wisdom they have generated in their work.”

That tradition continues as the 191-year-old institution focuses Convocation 2005 on the life of Christian churches. Two major topics stirring debate will be discussed, Imes said.

“One is the relationship of Christian faith to other religious faiths as well as to people who do not practice a religious faith,” he wrote in this year’s program.

“The second involves the diversity within the larger church community. In terms of worship styles, theology and denominational allegiances (or lack thereof), the differences are many. What does it mean to minister in radically different settings? How does our growing diversity impact our faith and the way we serve God?”

Key speakers will be:

. Judge Frederica S. Brenneman, the mother of television producer and actress Amy Brenneman. She served 37 years as a judge in Connecticut.

She graduated in 1953 from Harvard Law School as part of the school’s first class of women. Considered a national expert on juvenile justice, she speaks often to groups of lawyers and social workers, but rarely at seminaries.

“I think [Imes] invited me because I gave a speech to Connecticut United Church of Christ annual meeting in 2003,” Brenneman said recently. “I said to [the] conference minister, ‘You are nuts.’ … The minister of my church is a graduate of the Bangor seminary, so it’s extremely flattering to be asked and I’m honored.”

A self-described “latecomer to church,” Brenneman was 34 when she was baptized. The judge has said that through her faith community she often found hope which sustained her through her work in the juvenile justice system.

Brenneman’s speech “Impact Thinking in the 21st Century” will be at 2 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at Hammond Street Congregational Church and is open to the public.

. The Rev. James H. Cone, a theology professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, is considered the father of black liberation theology, from which other liberation movements sprang.

During the 1960s, Cone became involved in the civil rights movement. Dismayed that his professors would not incorporate contemporary issues of oppression into their courses, Cone sought guidance from those who would address discrimination, its effects on black identity and the impact of centuries of racism on Christian faith and practice.

Liberation theology includes various movements that emerged in the 20th century.

Proponents see the Gospel as liberation from all forms of oppression – economic, spiritual, political and social. They place emphasis on the practical ways in which God’s call for the liberation of the oppressed is accomplished.

Cone will speak at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at Hammond Street Congregational Church about the Rev. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and black theology. He also will lecture on the challenge of race at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Hammond Street Congregational Church.

. The Rev. C. Joseph Sprague, retired bishop of the United Methodist Church of Northern Illinois, will open convocation at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 24, at Hammond Street Congregational Church.

Sprague was arrested at the 2000 United Methodist General Conference in 2000 on a civil disobedience charge for participating in a demonstration to support gay and lesbian ordination and the blessing of same-sex unions in his denomination.

He also will speak at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Hammond Street Congregational Church on “The Confluence of Text and Context in the Courageous Vulnerability of Faithful Preaching.” He will close convocation with a sermon on “Adding Toughness to the Penchant for Tenderness” at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the chapel at the seminary.

. The Rev. Susan R. Garrett, a New Testament professor at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, will speak on “The Problem of Evil and the Liberals’ Loss of Nerve” at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Hammond Street Congregational Church. She also will preach at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 26, in the seminary chapel. Her sermon is titled “Bold and Biblical: A vision for the Mainline.”

For information on convocation, visit the seminary Web site at www.bts.edu.