A New Lifelong Learning Program

Presbyterian and Reformed

History & Theology  

columbia has just launched a program in Presbyterian and Reformed History and Theology —a seminary-wide venture led by the Center for Lifelong Learning and the John Bulow Campbell Library. Columbia is developing its new program in cooperation with the Montreat Conference Center and the Friends of the Montreat Historical Society. 

Shaping the vision for the new program in Presbyterian and Reformed history and theology is Erskine Clarke, professor of American religious history. An alumnus and a member of the seminary faculty since 1973, Clarke is the author of the award-winning history Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic.

“There is no one better suited than Erskine to shape the vision for this new program,” says Cam Murchison, dean of the faculty and executive vice president. “He has arranged a diverse, interesting series of events for 2007.” Along with the new program, Columbia has begun its stewardship and development of the Montreat Collections, which includes archival, library, and museum materials from the Presbyterian Historical Society’s Montreat, NC, branch.

2007 Events

Presbyterian and Reformed History and Theology

September 27

Art as a Window into Southern Religious Culture

At the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA. Lecture by Erskine Clarke, professor of American religious history. The event also includes a guided tour and lecture by a museum curator. This outstanding museum on the Riverwalk is dedicated to the art and artists of the American South. Admission to the museum and lunch are included. $50 for Atlanta-area participants (includes round-trip coach bus; seating limited to 50 participants). $25 for Augusta-area participants. Bus departs from the seminary campus at 9:00 a.m. and returns early evening. Museum experience begins with lunch at noon. Advance registration is required by September 14. 

October 3 

Norman Shanks Lecture

Lunch and a lecture by Norman Shanks, pastor in the Church of Scotland and former leader of the Iona Community. 12:30 p.m. Register by September 26. $15 (includes lunch).

November 12 

Eberhard Busch Lecture

Lunch and a lecture by Eberhard Busch, a professor from the University of Göttingen and an expert on the theology of Karl Barth and the Reformation. 12:30 p.m. Register by November 5. $15 (includes lunch).

November 11 and 18 

Religion and Slavery:  White Southerners, Good Intentions, and Difficult Choices

Sunday Soup and Seminar with Professor Erskine Clarke, author of the award-winning book Dwelling Place: A Plantation Epic. A two-session study of three young white Southerners, each belonging to an affluent, slave owning family in the 1830s. All three committed themselves to Christian faith and discipleship. All three understood slavery as an oppressive system and a fundamental part of their inheritance. Seeking to live a life of Christian discipleship, each followed a different path. What complex factors influenced their decisions? What complex factors influence our decisions as we seek to live Christian lives in our own contemporary and divisive U.S. culture and church? Register by November 2. 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. $75 (includes 2 soup suppers).

Events are on campus unless noted otherwise. For more information or to register online or to download a registration form, go to http://www.ctsnet.edu/lifelong/calendar/index.asp. Then click on the dates of the courses and events you wish to attend. You may also call the registrar, Pat Roper, at 404-687-4587, for more information or to register by phone.

Note: The first event for Columbia’s new program in history and theology was Religion and the South, July 23-27 at Montreat College. Slated speakers for free lectures, one each day, included Pulitzer Prize winner Dan Carter, seminary professors Erskine Clarke and Marcia Riggs, plus Sam Hill and Mary McClintock Fulkerson. This event was sponsored in cooperation with the Montreat Conference Center and Montreat College. Planning is underway for next year’s event: Religion and Appalachia.