Tag Archives: Joan Brown Campbell
The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, Chautauqua’s pastor and director of the Department of Religion, will preach on “The Case for Ambiguity.”

Campbell gives season’s final sermon

August 25, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“We are living in an age of certainty, and I want to make the case for ambiguity,” said the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, director of the Chautauqua Department of Religion.

Campbell will be the preacher for the final Sunday of the 2012 Chautauqua Season at the 10:45 a.m. Service of Worship and Sermon. Her text is I Corinthians 13:4-13, and her title is “The Case for Ambiguity.”

“Even though the Scripture reading will be from the New Revised Standard Version, I will be preaching from the King James Version. I believe that we do see ‘through a glass darkly.’ That old translation is more poetic, but it is also more helpful in a time that is rooted in certainty,” she said. “I believe that it is in times of uncertainty, when we question our thoughts and decisions, that God can enter our lives. Chautauquans are leaving to go to an election burdened with certainty when we can only see anything partially.”

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Religion
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Images of fingers point the way to important passages in the 511-year-old Koberger Bible recently donated to Chautauqua’s Department of Religion. Photo by Michelle Kanaar.

Chautauquan donates 511-year-old Bible for Institution’s book collection

August 23, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 2 Comments

The Bible is one of the world’s most read books. People turn through its pages in moments of despair or elation. The holy text is present at baptisms, weddings, funerals and the moments that punctuate life in between.

The Department of Religion of Chautauqua Institution recently received a Bible that has seen many such moments. Earlier this month, Judith Burrows, a retired Episcopal priest, gave a 511-year-old Bible to the institution.

“This wonderful institution was built on a religious foundation. It’s right for it, it’s where it should be,” Burrows said.

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Hunter: ‘God is not confined by institutions’

August 21, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“There are some odd couples who can date but who should never marry,” said the Rev. Joel Hunter at the Monday morning 9:15 a.m. Devotional Hour. His topic was “Odd Couples: Church and State,” and his text was Romans 13:1-4.

“There are some couples who can date but should never marry. This is true of the church and the state. This is why Jefferson referred to the wall of separation between church and state,” Hunter said. “Keep this picture in mind. The state is a well-intentioned bully. He knows strength and force. The church is a bipolar church lady. She tries to help people across the street, but if you make her angry, she will hurt you. The nature of the relationship between church and state is one of continual dialogue, but they should never marry.”

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The Rev. Joel Hunter delivers his sermon, titled “Searching for Complements.” Hunter is senior pastor at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Central Florida, and Week Nine chaplain-in-residence. Photo by Lauren Rock.

Hunter: ‘We need to find people who irritate us, who won’t always agree with us’

August 20, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“It was my first day at the insane asylum. I was just 25, and I was working on my doctorate and signed up for a year of clinical pastoral education,” began The Rev. Joel Hunter, Week Nine chaplain at Chautauqua.

Hunter is the senior pastor at Northland, A Church Distributed, in Central Florida. His title was “Searching for Complements,” and his text was Genesis 2:15, 18-23.

“It was in Indianapolis and a place for the criminally insane. It was all ancient brick and it felt like every Alfred Hitchcock movie I had ever watched. I was overwhelmed. As I went looking for the administration building, I passed a parade of attendants leading some of the patients.

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Religion
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Rabbi Arthur Waskow speaks with the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, director of Chautauqua’s Department of Religion, about social issues Friday afternoon in the Hall of Philosophy. Waskow insists that every generation has to struggle for freedom from oppressors. Photo by Eric Shea.

Waskow dialogues on radically renewing, transforming the world

August 19, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

Rabbi Arthur Waskow is a radical, a pioneer; he has been one for a long time and has no intention of giving up anytime soon.

On Friday, Waskow sat down for an intimate conversation with the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell in the Hall of Philosophy for the final lecture on the Week Eight theme, “Radicalism: Burden or Blessing?”

In a discussion titled “Radicals, Radishes and the Spiritual Root of Social Action,” the two touched on the fight of the radical, Waskow’s work with the Jewish renewal movement, the inspiration behind his interfaith action and the new radical movement both Waskow and Campbell belong to: the U.S. Council of Elders.

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Interfaith Lecture Recaps
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Three Chautauqua stars tread the boards for ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ dramatic reading

August 9, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

Geof Follansbee acquiesced to play George Holly in the Chautauqua Women’s Club dramatic reading of Tennessee Williams’ play Suddenly Last Summer at 4 p.m. Friday in Fletcher Music Hall despite the fact that his last theatrical appearance was as a fifth grader.

“I’m just pleased to be able to support the CWC fundraiser,” he said.

He is joined by Institution Vice President and Director of Programming Marty Merkley as Dr. Cukrowicz, and Director of the Department of Religion the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell as Sister Felicity. The three agreed they were happy to “tread the boards” to support the CWC. They play minor but important roles in the production and, regardless of Follansbee’s caveat, are all comfortable on stage.

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Community
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Butts: ‘Everything that is good for humankind has its genesis in love’

August 7, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“If I am beside myself this morning, it’s because I see the train coming, and I want you to get off the tracks,” said the Rev. Calvin Butts at the 9:15 a.m. Devotional Hour. “If I am beside myself, I believe that the lack of preaching about Jesus Christ is the cause of so many of our problems. We can begin a new spiritual history and participate in the new creation that is in Jesus Christ.” His text was 2 Corinthians 5:11-17, and his title was “A New Creation in Christ.”

“I am trying this morning to reach those who are seeking a new beginning. Now, I am trying to lose a little weight, touch up the gray, exercise and eat better,” Butts said. “But in a truly new creation, everything old has passed away, and everything is made new. The love of Christ, Paul tells us, constrains us, and, at least one translation says, that means it urges us on. The love of Christ propels us, pushes us, urges us on.

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The Rev. Calvin Butts preaches “Lord I Want To Be A Christian In My Heart,” describing how important it is for him to be a Christian Sunday morning in the Amphitheater. Photo by Lauren Rock.

Butts: ‘Blessed are those who know they need help’

August 6, 2012 by The Chautauquan Daily 0 Comments

“Like King Agrippa, I need to persuade you to be Christian quickly. I am going to witness to my own Christian walk and tell you why I say I love the Lord with all my heart,” said the Rev. Calvin Butts at the Sunday morning 10:45 a.m. Service of Worship and Sermon. “As a Christian, I can take from life everything it has to offer. I am joyful and ecstatic, because I am a child of God through Jesus Christ.”

“If you see some Christian who walks around sad all the time, looking for the day of the Lord when the moon will run red with blood, get away from him or her as fast as you can,” he said. “There is joy in the Lord, and it is wonderful to dance, laugh, sing, to listen to good music and poetry, to enjoy the beauty of the earth and to be glad to be alive.

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