SCIENTISTS IN CONGREGATIONS SPEAKER SERIES
Series Dates and Topics:
- January 16: Reading scripture: The scholary view, modern criticisms and how the canon came to be, with Dr. Louis Stulman, University of Findlay professor of religious studies.
- February 20: Our faith, our scriptures and the big bang, stellar evolution, and the geological record, with Rev. Dr. Julian A. Davies and Dr. Al Compaan, both from the University of Toledo.
- March 19: Our faith, our scriptures, and what Darwin and our DNA tell us. Speaker TBA.
- April 16: What does it mean to be a human person? What the Bible says and what modern biology/medicine tells us, with Dr. Mark Douglas, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Columbia Theological Seminary.
- May 21: What does it mean to be a member of human society? With Father James Bacik of Corpus Christi.
This five-part series will follow the church's monthly drop-in dinners from January to May 2012. All are welcome to come to the dinners beforehand starting at 6 p.m. on the third Monday of each month. A free-will offering for the dinners will be taken, with proceeds supporting the church's outreach. The speakers will begin at 7 p.m.
The finale of the program will be lectures by theologian Marcus Borg on historical study of the Bible, September 28-30, at the church. Borg is Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, OR. Known in both academic and church circles as a biblical and Jesus scholar, he held the Hundere Chair of Religion and Culture in the Philosophy Department at Oregon State University until his retirement in 2007. Details of the weekend are still being finalized.
The speaker series is made possible by a Scientists in Congregations grant from the John Templeton Foundation. The program calls for a sustained, creative collaboration between scientists, science educators and pastors.
For more information, contact the church. Read the Toledo Blade article: Lectures to explore creationism, evolution.