The Beecher Lectures: Robin R. Meyers
The 2013 Beecher Lectures were given by Robin R. Meyers, whose three-part series was entitled “UNDONE: Faith as Resistance to Ego, Orthodoxy, and Empire.” Meyers is Senior Minister of Sr. Minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC church of Oklahoma City and a professor of rhetoric at Oklahoma City University.
Robin R. Meyers preached on resistance, calling those who lead churches to repent of their illusions of ego and self-sufficiency, urging them instead to become “undone.”
“The church of Jesus Christ should be as it once was,” said Meyers in his first lecture, “an embodied force opposed, a beloved community of noncompliance, a collection of joyful dissenters from what the Bible calls principalities and powers, both within us and outside of us.
>Watch Meyers’ first lecture – “UNDONE: Faith as Resistance to Ego”
>Watch Meyers’ second lecture – “UNDONE: Faith as Resistance to Orthodoxy”
>Watch Meyers’ third lecture – “UNDONE: Faith as Resistance to Empire”
The Berkeley Pitt Lecture: Berkeley Divinity Dean Joseph H. Britton
The 2013 Convocation activities kicked off on Tuesday, October 22 with the Berkeley Pitt Lecture given by Dean of Berkeley Divinity School Joseph H. Britton entitled “The Phenomenon of Piety.”
“Piety directs us outward, away from ourselves, towards God,” explains Britton “to a sense of obligation and responsibility, to an attitude of reverence for one another and reverence for God’s own image when we see it in one another and a reverence for God’s creation.”
>Watch Dean Britton’s Pitt Lecture
Poetry in the Round: Christian Wiman and Peter Hawkins
In a conversation that wove together topics of love, sexuality, Christ, death, and the afterlife, Professor of Religion and Literature Peter Hawkins and Senior Lecturer in Religion and Literature Christian Wiman talked on October 23 about the intersection of literature and theology.
“I’m still just absolutely baffled by where poetry comes from,” said Wiman, “I can’t explain it, I can’t predict it, can’t control it, it seems to me I have less understanding of it now than I did twenty years ago.”
>Watch “Poetry in the Round” with Hawkins and Wiman
John Collins - The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography
On October 24, Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation John J. Collins gave a lecture on his most recent book The Dead Sea Scrolls: A Biography (Princeton University Press, 2012).
“They found this trove of the world’s biggest jigsaw puzzle,” explained Collins recounting the story of the discovery of the caves containing the Dead Sea Scrolls, “all these manuscripts decayed into little fragments. This would keep people busy ever since.”
>Watch John Collin’s lecture on the Dead Sea Scrolls
The State of School Address: Dean Gregory Sterling
Speaking before a crowd of alumni and current students gathered in Marquand Chapel, Dean Gregory Sterling delivered the annual State of the School Address.
“It’s a real sign of your generosity,” Sterling thanked alumni after announcing that the Annual Fund had raised $443,706, exceeding its goal by 112 percent, “Our alumni give back at a higher percent than any of our peer institutions and that speaks to your experience here and also our current students’ experience.”
In addition to the successful annual campaign, record-breaking admissions numbers, and improved student body diversity, Sterling highlighted several new initiatives including new interfaith courses focusing on the contemporary religious landscape, eco-friendly on-campus housing to replace the old apartments, and collaborative courses in innovative leadership.
“When I think about Christianity in the US, I realize that the Christianity I’ve known all my life is going to change and change significantly,” explained Sterling, “So the question becomes: how do we prepare our students to lead? We need to inspire our students to be creative in their leadership.”
Portrait Unveiling of Dean Harold W. Attridge
Following Sterling’s address, the community gathered in the YDS Common Room for the portrait unveiling of Sterling Professor of Divinity Harold Attridge commemorating his service to the school as dean from 2002-2012.
On campus to celebrate was former YDS Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and professor African-American religion and theology Emilie Townes. “You helped me understand that administration can be—and should be—a ministry,” said Townes, who was recently installed as dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School, “for that I am always grateful.”
Attridge’s portrait was painted by Peter E. Poskas III, a celebrated painter of still life’s and harbor landscapes of Connecticut and Maine. Due to injury, Poskas was sadly unable to attend the unveiling, but his father, Peter Poskas Jr., attended the event and offered a few remarks, including a few anecdotes about his wife, Janet Tanner ’98 M.A.R. who passed away earlier this spring after leaving a generous legacy to YDS. “We are all connected in various ways we don’t expect,” concluded Poskas Jr.
The common room erupted with applause when the portrait was unveiled. “Who knew to be framed and hung could be such a pleasure?” joked Attridge, who also viewed the portrait for the first time.
Faculty Conversation: Challenging Unjust Laws in Church and Society
Professor emeritus and ethicist Thomas W. Ogletree and assistant professor and theologian Linn Tonstad met in Neibuhr Hall on Wednesday, October 23, to kick off the morning faculty presentations with a conversation about same-sex relationships in the Christian Church. Ogletree is currently facing charges from the United Methodist Church because he officiated at his son’s same-sex wedding. The two discussed Ogletree’s story and the theological and ethical resources for thinking well about same-sex relationships in the Church.
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