Sylvania United Church of Christ
Claimed by God, Responding as Disciples
Nurture - Bill Chidester Lecture Series

Nurture

BILL CHIDESTER LECTURE SERIES

Sign up here to receive email reminders before each event.
Download the brochure here.

The Bill Chidester Lecture Series was established by Sylvania United Church of Christ with funds donated to honor the life of William Henry Chidester. Bill served as pastor at Sylvania UCC for 25 years before his death May 21, 2011. Our theme is borrowed with permission from the UCC: "God is Still Speaking." We seek to present a continuing series of speakers that explore what it means to be a Christian in the 21st century.

Saturday lectures will be from 4-5:30 p.m. including 30 minutes of Q&A, followed by light refreshments and conversation. Sunday talks will be from 9:20-10:20 a.m. between services. All are welcome to worship with us at 8:30 and 10:40. Tickets for Saturday are $10, available at the door. No tickets are required for Sunday. Childcare will be available both days.

Series Dates and Lecturers:

  • January 19-20, 2013: MARTIN MARTY taught religious history for 35 years at the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he now holds emeritus status and where the Martin Marty Center has since been founded to promote "public religion" endeavors.
    View photos here
    Toledo Blade: Martin Marty to speak on God's words beyond the Bible
    ToledoFAVS: Martin Marty to kick off Sylvania UCC lecture series
    ToledoFAVS: U.S. religious-secular divide will never be settled, scholar says

  • March 16-17, 2013: ALAN JONES is Dean Emeritus at the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. Author of Reimagining Christianity: Reconnect Your Spirit without Disconnecting Your Mind, he addresses how to follow Jesus and experience the sacred in ways that are authentic. This lecture was sponsored in memory of Toshi Kadowaki.
    View photos here
    Listen to sermon audio here
    ToledoFAVS: San Francisco minister speaks in Sylvania lecture series

  • September 21-22, 2013: DIANA BUTLER BASS is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She is the author of eight books including Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening.

  • November 16-17, 2013: DANIEL SPENCER is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at The University of Montana. His focus is on how and why religious traditions and communities are responding to environmental issues and global ecological crisis.

  • January 18-19, 2014: WALTER BRUEGGEMANN is an Old Testament scholar and theologian.

    • Please check out videos, audio and press coverage from the 2012 Scientists in Congregations speaker series at our church.