Columbia Theological Seminary Coloquium 2015 Speakers Announced

[RCCAtl]

Columbia Theological Seminary announced the speakers for its Colloquium 2015 to be held on April 20–22. Titled “The Church Facing the Future: Memory, Hope, and Obedience,” it will feature a lineup of some of its most well-known and well-loved faculty emeriti. The annual event will provide both clergy and laypersons with relevant reflection on God’s mission in the world today.

Walter Brueggemann, the William Marcellus McPheeters Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and a prolific author of such books as The Prophetic Imagination and Truth Speaks to Power, will lead off with his new presentation, “Remembering and the Temptation to Amnesia” to be followed later in the event by “Remembering and the Temptation to Nostalgia.” Brueggemann is widely considered to be one of the most influential Old Testament scholars of the last several decades.

Other top scholars will discuss what God has done, is doing, and will do at the seminary:

• Erskine Clarke, Professor Emeritus of American Religious History and best known for his books Dwelling Place and By the Rivers of Water, will speak on “Columbia Theological Seminary: A Story of Memory and Hope.”
• Catherine Gunsalus González, Professor Emerita of Church History and the first woman to preach on The Protestant Hour (now called Day1), will ask “What Is God Up To Now?”
• Justo González, a leading voice in the growing field of Hispanic theology and renowned for his work The Story of Christianity, will address the topic “Remember the Future.”

William Yoo, the seminary’s new Assistant Professor of American Religious and Cultural History, will be part of a panel with other Columbia Seminary faculty and local church leaders representing a diversity of generational and ethnic perspectives.

“With transitions taking place here at the seminary, in the church, and around the world,” stated Randy Calvo, director of Alumni/ae and Church Relations, “remembering is a critical discipline in identifying where we are in the present and where God may lead in the future. We may be tempted to live in the past, or to leave it all behind. At Colloquium 2015, we will explore where past, present and future are inter-related and mutually informative.”

Columbia Theological Seminary is committed to "educating imaginative, resilient leaders for God's changing world." As an educational institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Columbia is a community of theological inquiry and formation for ministry in the service of the Church of Jesus Christ. Columbia offers seven graduate degree programs and dozens of courses and events as a resource for church professionals and lay people through the Center for Lifelong Learning. For more information, please visit http://www.ctsnet.edu