History

Speakers and Topics 2007 – 2022        

May 2022Beyoncé Mass Seattle | Created / Curated by Rev. Yolanda Norton, hosted in collaboration with area churches and justice organizations. A worship service using the music and life of Beyoncé as a tool to cultivate an empowering conversation about Black women—their lives, bodies, and voices—and create an experience of story, scripture, and song that calls for the liberation of all people

Fall 20202020: All This Joy, All This Sorrow | A Zoom speaker series reflecting on the deep grief of 2020 and transformative joy that comes out of such sorrow.  Where can we find hope now? Featuring Rev. Michael Ramos, Church Council of Greater Seattle; Dr. John J. Thatamanil, Union Seminary; Rev. Yolanda Norton, Beyonce Mass; Rev. Traci Blackmon, United Church of Christ

Feb 2019Rev. Dr. Jim Antal | Denominational leader, climate activist, author and public theologian
Climate Church, Climate World: How people of faith must work for change

Oct 2018Dr. Sharon Jacob and Dr. Sharon Fennema | Pacific School of Religion
Prophets and Passions: Race, Resistance and Prophetic Imagination

June 2018Paul-Gordon Chandler | Middle East activist, author and Episcopal Canon | In Search of a Prophet: A Spiritual Journey with Kahlil Gibran

March 2018David Vasquez-Levy | President, Pacific School of Religion | Faith on the Move: Changing the National Conversation on Immigration | with Bob Ferguson, WA State Attorney General (Friday)

Nov 2017Bernard Brandon Scott | Darbeth Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Phillips Theological Seminary
Jarmo Tarkki | Senior Pastor of Finnish Lutheran Church of California and Texas, and Adjunct Professor of Theology at California Lutheran University
The Legacy of the Reformation (A Westar Institute JSOR event)

March 2017John Dominic Crossan | Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois | How to Read the Bible and Still be a Christian | Celebrating 10 years of The Lecture Series

Oct 2016Stephen J. Patterson | George H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University, and Author of several books | The Lost Way: How Two Forgotten Gospels Are Rewriting the Story of Christian Origins

Feb 2016Alastair McIntosh | Scottish writer, broadcaster and activist on social, environmental and spiritual issues, and author of several books | Spiritual Activism, Climate Change and Liberation Theology for our Time

Oct 2015Diana Butler Bass | Author, speaker, independent scholar | Grounded: The Spiritual Revolution All Around Us

July 2015Jessica Jackley | Co-Founder, Kiva / Author, Clay Water Brick
Author reading, co-presented with Mwanzo Proud Farmers

March 2015Lauren Winner | Episcopal priest, author, professor, Duke University | Wearing God: Clothing, Fire, Laughter and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God

Feb 2015Robin Meyers | Senior minister of Mayflower UCC church Oklahoma City | Beloved Community of Spiritual Resistance

Oct 2014Pamela Eisenbaum |Associate Professor of Biblical Studies and Christian Origins, Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, and affiliate faculty member of the Center for Judaic Studies, University of Denver
Stephen J. Patterson |Geo. H. Atkinson Professor of Religious and Ethical Studies at Willamette University
Prostitutes, Virgins, and Androgynes: Sex and Gender in Early Christianity (A Westar Institute JSOR)

June 2014Marcus Borg | Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon
John Dominic Crossan | Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois
Sister Joan Chittister | Member, Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania
A Panel Discussion and Lecture | The Dream of God: A World of Justice and Non-Violence

Feb 2014Lauren Winner | Episcopal priest, author, professor, Duke University | Mudhouse Sabbath

Oct 2013Gretta Vosper | Pastor, West Hill United in Scarborough, Ontario | Amen: What Prayer Can Mean in a World Beyond Belief

July 2013Reza Aslan | Author, speaker, Middle-East expert, founder of Aslan Media | Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

May 2013Thomas Reynolds | Associate Professor of Theology, Emmanuel College in Victoria College of Toronto University, Toronto Canada | Outside Inclusion: A Case for Care-Full Hospitality in the Church

Feb 2013Miroslav Volf | Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology / Founding Director, Yale Center for Faith & Culture | Allah: A Christian Response

Oct 2012John Bell | Preacher, teacher, liturgical composer, Scotland
Spirituality and Music

Feb 2012Marcus Borg | Speaking Christian

Oct 2011Robin Meyers | Senior minister of Mayflower UCC church Oklahoma City | How I Became a Heretic With Help from Jesus

Oct 2011Diana Butler Bass | Chabraja Fellow Seabury Western Theological Seminary | Christianity After Religion

May 2011John J Thatamanil | Associate Professor of Theology and World Religions, Union Theological Society | Eucharist Upstairs, Yoga Downstairs

Feb 2011J. Phillip Newell | Formerly Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland |A New Harmony

Oct 2010John Shelby Spong | American Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Ret. |Eternal Life:  A New Vision

April 2010Walter Brueggemann | William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary |The Drama of Rehabilitation

Feb 2010Amy Jill Levine | Vanderbilt University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies Jesus | Judaism and Jewish Christian Relations

Oct 2009John Dominic Crossan | Paul:  An Appealing or Appalling Apostle?

Feb 2009Marcus Borg | Mysticism and the Christian Path

Feb 2008John Dominic Crossan | Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois | God and Empire, Celtic Christianity

Feb 2007Marcus Borg | Canon Theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon
A Tale of Two Christianities