Dimensions of Faith

Rev. John Dear is one of the most well-known teachers and voices for peace and nonviolence in the world. In 2008, Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize saying, “John Dear is the embodiment of a peacemaker. In 2020, he founded “The   Beatitudes  Center” where he currently offers zoom workshops and free podcasts on peace and the nonviolence of Jesus. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Sun, National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” and elsewhere. For eight years, he wrote a weekly column for the National Catholic Reporter and Huffington Post and is featured regularly on the national radio show “Democracy Now!” He is the author of hundreds of articles on peace and nonviolence, and over thirty five books, including The Beatitudes of Peace, Praise Be Peace, They Will Inherit the Earth, Living Peace, The Nonviolent Life, Radical Prayers, Lazarus Come Forth, The God of Peace, Jesus the Rebel, Disarming the Heart, Peace Behind Bars, The Questions of Jesus, You Will Be My Witnesses, Our God Is Nonviolent, The Sound of Listening, Seeds of Nonviolence, Walking the Way, Thomas Merton Peacemaker, Transfiguration, Mary of Nazareth, and his autobiography, A Persistent Peace. He has received many awards, including the Pacem in Terris award and the Courage of Conscience award.

In this lecture, Dr. Schrader Polczer outlined her argument (published in the Harvard Theological Review) that the character Martha of Bethany may be a second-century addition to the Gospel of John. After surveying dozens of ancient manuscripts with textual instabilities – especially Papyrus 66, the world’s oldest copy of the Raising of Lazarus – she suggests that the Lukan character Martha may have been added to John’s Gospel to discourage the ancient position that Lazarus's sister Mary should be identified as Mary Magdalene. In particular, Martha’s presence in John ensures that John 11:27's crucial Christological confession is not on Mary's lips.

How to Be Brave
In this lecture, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde invited us to consider the arc of our lives and to consider the spiritual significance of those decisive moments that have taught us what it means to live by faith. Drawing from examples from Scripture, literature, historical figures and her own life, Bishop Budde helped us recognize when it’s time to go, to stay where we are, or to start moving toward a destination that lies beyond our sight. She explored how acceptance of what we would never choose manifests itself in acceptance, and how we respond when situations present themselves and we don’t have time to think. Finally, she reflected on how we all must learn to make our peace with emptiness (the long stretches when nothing seems to be happening), the messy middle in the processes of change, and how to live lives of quiet, steady perseverance.

NATURES BEST HOPE
In this talk, Douglas Tallamy, the bestselling author and environmental activist explained his simple and practical idea of landscaping your home’s property to support the local ecosystem is a way that contributes to a sustainable future. Tallamy says, “our landscapes must do the things that enable ecosystems to produce the life support we and every other species requires.” Here are the four functions landscape must perform: "1) They must support a diverse community of pollinators throughout the growing season. 2) They must provide energy for the local food web. 3) They must manage the watershed in which they lie. 4) They must remove carbon from the atmosphere where it is wreaking havoc on the earth’s climate.” 

CONTAINING MULTITUDES
In this talk, Silas House will look at the many facets that have made him: being raised rural and working class; his deep love for the natural world; being a gay person in a hateful world, and being an artist in a time when art is negated. House will explore the way those elements--thought by many to not mesh easily--have allowed him to survive while also challenging him, and the way they have all made his faith stronger.

Kentucky native, Silas House is the nationally bestselling author of the novels--Clay's Quilt, 2001; A Parchment of Leaves, 2003; The Coal Tattoo, 2005; Eli the Good, 2009; and Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, and Southernmost (June 2018)--as well as a book of creative nonfiction--Something's Rising, co-authored with Jason Howard, 2009; and three plays.  His new novel, Lark Ascending, was published on September 27, 2022. House is a former commentator for NPR's "All Things Considered".  His writing has appeared recently in Time, The Atlantic, Ecotone, The Advocate, Garden and Gun, and Oxford American.  House serves on the fiction faculty at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing and as the NEH Chair at Berea College. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the recipient of three honorary doctorates, and is the winner of the Nautilus Award, an EB White Award, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Storylines Prize from the New York Public Library/NAV Foundation, the Lee Smith Award, and many other honors, including an invitation to read at the Library of Congress. House was an executive producer and one of the subjects of the documentary Hillbilly, which is now available on Hulu. The film won the Audience Award from the Los Angeles Film Festival and the Media Award from the Foreign Press Association. As a music journalist House has worked with artists such as Kacey Musgraves, Kris Kristofferson, Lucinda Williams, Jason Isbell, Senora May, Leann Womack, Charley Crockett, John R. Miller, and many others.  House is also host of the popular podcast "On the Porch".  In 2021 he was the recipient of the Governor's Award from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear for his service to the arts in his home state.   

Steve Crump is an American journalist, documentary film producer, and television reporter for WBTV. He is most known for his regional Emmy Awards for stories ranging from apartheid in South Africa to civil rights in the American South. Crump was named the “2016 Journalist of the Year” by the National Association of Black Journalists. He was joined by panelists Annette Turner, Executive Director at Archdiocese of Louisville; Andre Kimo Stone Guess, President and CEO Fund at the Fund for the Arts; Lee Fletcher St. Matthew’s Librarian and Archivist. 

Mayfield writes primarily about issues of Christianity, faith, and inequality.  She is the author of three books and has written for numerous freelance publications. She is also the co-host of two podcasts, The Prophetic Imagination Station (on evangelical pop culture) and The Faith and Justice Network podcast (theology and spiritual practices).

Markham is the dean and president of the Virginia Theological Seminary, which is just outside of Washington D.C. In 2019 he made national headlines by announcing a $1.7 million reparations fund for the descendants of slaves who built the seminary, making VTS one of the first American institutions to take this step. Markham has held positions at institutions of higher learning and has authored numerous books.

 Nadia first hit the New York Times list with her 2013 memoir—the bitingly honest and inspiring Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint followed by the critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Accidental Saints in 2015. A former stand-up comic and a recovering alcoholic, Bolz-Weber is the founder and former pastor of a Lutheran congregation in Denver, House for All Sinners and Saints. 

The Rev. Martin Smith is well known throughout the Episcopal Church as writer, spiritual director, retreat leader, and teacher exploring contemporary spirituality.

Sarah is an acclaimed blogger, writer and speaker. Her writing has appeared in Huffington Post, The High Calling, Conversations Journal, ChurchLeaders.com, and many other places. Her books included Out of Sorts – Making Peace with an Evolving Faith and Jesus Feminist – An Invitation to Revisit the Bible’s View of Women.

Tracey has spent the better part of her career working for social and environmental justice, interfaith relations, sustainable urban development, arts and culture, and progressive theology. For 17 years (2000-2017), Tracey served as Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, a thriving and diverse urban congregation in Cleveland. 

Amy-Jill Levine is the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Department of Religious Studies, and Graduate Department of Religion.

Vibraphonist Dick Sisto has been a mainstay of the Louisville jazz scene for many years, as a musician, jazz educator, and radio host. He spoke about Thomas Merton on The Jazz Monk. 

The Rev. Scott Gunn is an Episcopal priest and self-confessed technophile. He's the Executive Director of Forward Movement in Cincinnati, whose mission is to "reinvigorate the life of the church.” 

Rachel Held Evans is an award-winning author and popular blogger. Her first book, Evolving in Monkey Town: How A Girl Who Knew All the Answers Learned to Ask the Questions, explores the relationship between faith and doubt and recounts the challenges of asking tough questions about Christianity in the context of the Bible Belt. In her book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, takes on the traditionalist resurgence that has left many women questioning their roles at home and church.

Nora Gallagher is the author of five books in the tradition of Dorothy Day, George Orwell and Thomas Merton: the daily living out of faith and doubt rather than abstract “belief.” The author of two memoirs, Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith and Practicing Resurrection, and a novel, Changing Light, Gallagher leads retreats, gives readings, teaches workshops, presents at clergy days, and delivers keynote addresses and lectures. 

Marcus J. Borg, internationally renowned Jesus scholar, Biblical expert and author, has been described by the New York Times as a “leading figure in his generation of Jesus scholars.” A fellow of the Jesus Seminar, he is Canon Theologian of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, and Hundere Distinguished Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State University. He is the author or co-author of 19 books, many of them best-sellers. 

Otis Moss, Jr. has been an advocate for education, social justice, civil and human rights all his adult life. He was a board member and Regional Director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was Co-pastor with Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.
Dr. Moss’ work for reconciliation and non-violent social change in the international community has been recognized around the world.

Sara Miles, founded The Food Pantry at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco in 2000, and wrote about her work in Take This Bread. The Food Pantry provides free groceries to over 800 hungry families every week, buying between eight and ten tons of food each week, for just pennies a pound, and offers it free to everyone who comes. 

John Dominic Crossan is a Irish-American religious scholar and former Catholic priest known for co-founding the Jesus Seminar. The author of over a dozen books, Crossan is a leading scholar on the history of early Christianity. 

Bishop Spong was a liberal Christian theologian, religion commentator, and author. He advocated for a fundamental rethinking of Christian belief away from theism and traditional doctrines.