Philocrites: Theology at the UUA General Assembly.

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Saturday, May 21, 2005

Theology at the UUA General Assembly.

Now that I have a printed program for the upcoming General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations —June 23 through June 27 in Fort Worth, Texas — I’m calling attention to a few programs I find especially noteworthy.

If you’re interested in liberal theology, what does the General Assembly program have to offer? Here’s my highly selective guide:

"Liberal Theology's Tensions: Getting in Our Own Way"
Paul Rasor, author Faith Without Certainty: Liberal Theology in the 21st Century [UUA Bookstore]
Friday, June 24, 9:45 am
"James Luther Adams and the Transformation of Liberalism"
George K. Beach, author of Transforming Liberalism: The Theology of James Luther Adams [my review; UUA Bookstore]
John Buehrens, author of Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals [UUA Bookstore]
Robin Lovin, dean of Perkins School of Theology and author of Reinhold Niebuhr and Christian Realism and Christian Ethics: An Essential Guide
Friday, June 24, 12:30 pm
"Exploring the Concept of Religious Naturalism"
Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depths of Nature [my review]
Saturday, June 25, 2:00 pm
"Remembering Process Theologian Charles Hartshorne"
Rebecca Parker, co-author of Proverbs of Ashes: Violence, Redemptive Suffering, and the Search for What Saves Us [UUA Bookstore] and president of Starr King School for the Ministry
Monday, June 27, 10:15 am

And what other theological or quasi-theological programming is scheduled?

Universalist theology:

“Is Hitler in Heaven?” (Edmund Robinson; Friday 8:00 am)

“Universalist Principles Place Us at a Cutting Edge” (Charles J. Stephans; Friday 9:45 am)

Humanist theology:

“Unitarian Universalism: A Place for Atheists” (Marilyn Westfall, Mel Lipman, and James Haught; Friday 6:45 pm and Sunday 3:00 pm)

“Reverence Without Theology: Universal Humanism?” (Paul Woodruff; Saturday 3:45 pm)

Ecological and nature theology:

“Animal Worship: Blessing, Honoring, and Memorializing All Species” (LoraKim Joyner and Jackie Ziegler; Friday 9:45 am)

“Theology of Sustainable Agriculture: Land, Water, Food, and Place” (Thandeka and Robert Eller-Isaacs; Friday 12:30 pm)

“Pantheism: Using Nature as Spiritual Path” (Paul Harrison; Saturday 9:45 am and Monday 10:15 am)

Feminist theology:

“Feminist Theology Rising” (Misty Sheehan; Saturday 4:45 pm)

“Women Open a Window on the Bible” (Rosemary Matson and Laurie James; Sunday 7:15 pm).

Liturgical and aesthetic theology:

“The Congregation of Abraxas Thirty Years Later” (Beth Casebolt, James Casebolt, Stephan Papa, Erik Walker Wikstrom; Friday 8:00 am)

“Spiritual Practice for Unitarian Universalists” (Laurel E. Hallman; Saturday 11:30 am)

“Image, Mystery, Mind: The Lure of Buddhism” (Orlanda Brugnola; (Saturday 11:30 am)

“Art and Religion: Twin Manifestation, Same Spirit” (John Tolley and Matthew Tittle; Saturday 2:00 pm and Sunday 3:00 pm)

Other programs:

“Fideology: Faith as Trust” (Richard Boeke; Friday 9:45 am)

“Omnipotence and Other Theological Mistakes: Remembering Charles Hartshorne” (UU Process Theology Network; Friday 12:30 pm)

If you find a theology program that I've overlooked, please let me know.

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3 comments:

Steve Caldwell:

May 23, 2005 05:42 AM | Permalink for this comment

Two examples of embodiment theology in GA programming are provided by these two programs:

#4049 -- Our Whole Lives - What It Means to Me (Sunday, 7:15 PM - 8:30 PM)

#5019 -- Our Whole Lives Lecture and Celebration (Monday, 10:15 AM - 11:30 AM)

Kat Liu:

June 5, 2005 03:54 AM | Permalink for this comment

Thanks for compiling the list!

Don't know if you overlooked these or weren't interested, but I've added them to mine:

Friday, 6:45 pm - "Texas Zen" (UU Buddhist Fellowhip; Ruben Habito and Barbara Kohn)

Saturday, 9:45 am - "What Humanism Offers the World and Why It's Needed" (American Humanist Assoc.;Tony Hileman and Mel Lipman) Also, Sunday, 7:15pm.

Monday, 10:15 am - "Hosea Ballou's Treatise at 200" (UU Historical Society; Mark W. Harris)

Philocrites:

June 5, 2005 08:30 AM | Permalink for this comment

Kat and Steve, not that it matters, but I didn't include sessions that seemed to function as introductions to theological subcommunities within Unitarian Universalists or sessions in which one could find theological dimensions but where the theological dimensions weren't primary; I also left out historical commentaries -- including Elaine Pagels, this year's keynote speaker (aka the "Ware Lecturer"). Otherwise my list would just go on and on! I tried only to identify sessions that were focused on ways of doing theology in a Unitarian Universalist context.

But thanks for adding more to the list!

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