Annual Lecture to Focus on Progressive Christianity
The 105th annual Earl Lectures of Pacific School of Religion will take place Jan. 24-26 in Berkeley next year, carrying the general title of “Gathering the Beloved Community: Voices of Faith for the Public Square.”
The lectures will focus on the meaning and potential of progressive Christianity at a time when public discourse is dominated by the Christian right, according to a public announcement made on the event.
One of the featured lecturers will be James Forbes Jr., senior minister at Riverside Church in New York City, who joined with other progressive religious leaders in an interfaith effort to counter religious-right groups during the 2004 Presidential campaign.
He will speak on “Creating Space for Grace” at the Earl Lectures, presented by the multidenominational Pacific School of Religion, which is part of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
“I believe the religious right abandoned a strong commitment to the poor and abandoned a sense of inclusion of those who are different,” Forbes told Newsweek magazine.
In addition to Forbes, four other prominent scholars whose work focuses on religion in public life will deliver lectures or sermons: holocaust scholar Hubert Locke; media and religion scholar Diane Winston; feminist theologian Kwok Pui Lan; and Pacific School of Religion Dean Emeritus Delwin Brown.
A special event during the 2006 Earl Lectures will be the launch reception on Jan. 24 for The Progressive Christian Witness: A Ministry of Pacific School of Religion. This Internet-based resource aims to strengthen progressive Christian voices in public discussion across America.
