New Covenant Community • 210 West Mulberry Street • Normal, IL • 61761 • 309.454.7362

Dear Friends,

New Covenant Community is pleased to announce the inaugural lecturer of the *"Jim and Gwen Pruyne Lectureship in Progressive Christianity." Rev. Dr. Robin Meyers will be in Normal, Illinois the weekend of October 29 and 30, 2010 to discuss ways that the modern church can become more biblically responsible, intellectually honest, emotionally satisfying and socially significant.

Dr. Meyers, senior minister of Mayflower Congregational UCC Church in Oklahoma, is also a professor of rhetoric in the Philosophy Department at Oklahoma City University. The author of five books, including Why the Christian Right is Wrong, and Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshipping and Start Following Jesus, Dr. Meyers is a member of the Jesus Seminar and has appeared on Dateline NBC, numerous public television programs, and as a commentator on National Public Radio.

As our inaugural speaker, Dr. Meyers will be giving a free public lecture on the evening of Friday, October 29, 2010 entitled “Jesus: Galilean Sage or Supernatural Savior,” which will focus on material from his latest book, Saving Jesus from the Church. On Saturday, October 30, 2010 pastors and lay-leaders are invited to attend Dr. Meyers’ workshop, entitled “The Underground Church: Raising the Body by Corrupting the Empire.” Saturday’s dynamic workshop will allow local pastors to work with their lay people in designing a church that serves all. Open-ended and interactive, participants will brainstorm about the kind of church that could provide thoughtful people with the opportunity to live out a vision for peace and justice that is anti-imperial without being anti-intellectual. Registration is required for this workshop.

Dr. Meyers is especially looking forward to working with ministers from the area and hearing your ideas on how to make these ideas a reality. Dr. Meyers also personally encourages local pastors to bring with them lay people from their churches so that ideas may be shared freely and taken back to the church community for implementation.

Please see the links below for more information, and for workshop registration.  Both events will take place at Heartland Community College, Normal, IL

Sincerely,

The Lectureship Committee

Betty Rademacher, Scott Bolbock, Chrissy Cataldo, Caroline Fox, David Hirst, Pam Lubeck, Susan Ryder, Mary Beth Taylor, Charlene Watts

Click here for printable BROCHURE with complete information about the lecture and workshops.

Click here for FLYER and workshop registration form.

*The Jim & Gwen Pruyne Lectureship in Progressive Christianity was founded by New Covenant Community in 2010 to honor the Pruynes' more than half a century of campus ministry and advocacy of progressive theology. More than $50,000 dollars was raised to support the Lectureship, thanks to generous donations from members of New Covenant Community, the congregation founded by Jim in 1992, as well as from friends of the Pruynes from around the world.  At a time when fundamentalist theology dominates the media and the public square, we intend to offer an alternative vision of Christianity: inclusive, compassionate, and open to contemporary scholarship.