VERITAS FORUM
AT UC SANTA BARBARA

ADMISSION FREE


"SEEKING RECONCILIATION"

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Erwin McManus

Thursday, Apr. 11, 2002, 7:00 pm Chem 1179

Are you searching for significance? We all value the need to live significant lives. The question remains, however, "Does God value humanity enough to attempt to redeem it?" Find out how man being created in the image of God unlocks the divine imprint that exists within us all.

Erwin McManus serves as founder and pastor of Mosaic Ministries in Los Angeles. Erwin serves as a national and international speaker engaging such issues as: globalization, leadership, cultural transformation, post-modernism, and church growth and is the author of An Unstoppable Force - Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind.

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Brian Cox

Monday, Apr. 15, 2002, 7:00 pm Multicultural Center Auditorium

September 11 not only presented a crisis for the U.S. and Europe in terms of security and vulnerability, but it presented a far more fundamental crisis in the Islamic world…a crisis of identity. Who are we? Brian Cox will explore the application of the Abrahamic tradition to the issue of Islamic identity and the paradigm of faith-based reconciliation as the key to security in the 21st Century. Brian Cox will describe his recent experiences in Kashmir and Sudan, offering an alternative to violence by terrorism.

The Reverend Canon Brian Cox is Rector of Christ the King Episcopal Church in Santa Barbara, Vice-President of the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy (ICRD) of Washington, D.C., President of the Reconciliation Institute of Santa Barbara, and Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu. He is currently involved in ICRD projects in Kashmir and Sudan and has been one of the pioneers and practitioners of faith-based diplomacy and of integrating the spiritual and political/diplomatic dimensions of reconciliation.

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Repairing the Breach:
8-Biblical Principles of Reconciliation

Raleigh Washington

Wednesday, Apr. 17, 2002, 7:00 pm Isla Vista Theater

Denomination, race, class and gender divide the Church of Jesus Christ. We will explain a foundational cause for this breach and unveil eight Biblical principles to repair the breach.

Raleigh Washington has served Promise Keepers as Executive Vice-President of Global Ministries since 1999. Previously, he served as Vice-President of Reconciliation and was a member of the Promise Keepers Board of Directors. Dr. Washington is the founder and pastor emeritus of Rock of our Salvation Evangelical Free Church in Chicago, IL, an urban church reaching across racial barriers within the inner city. In 1993 he was voted "Pastor of the Year" by the Greater Chicago Sunday School Association. He co-authored, Breaking Down Walls: A Model of Reconciliation in an Age of Racial Strife, which received the 1994 Gold Medallion Award from the Christian Booksellers Association.

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Confronting the Historical Roots
of Our Ecologic Crisis:
Science, the Bible, and an Ethic of Responsible Environmental Action

Calvin DeWitt

Thursday, Apr. 18, 2002, 7:00 pm Isla Vista Theater

"The Historical Roots of Our Ecologic Crisis" are rooted in the soil of the famous "dominion passage" of the Bible, Genesis 1:28, according Lynn White’s widely reprinted 1967 paper. This verse is the "proof text" that lays the blame for environmental degradation on Jews and Christians and is now widely accepted. While it looks like we now know who is to blame for the environmental mess, we now have to get beyond blame to do the difficult work ahead of us. Calvin DeWitt examines this and other biblical texts, and shows how such analysis can move us beyond blame to get on with the practical, challenging, and vitally necessary tasks of environmental reconciliation.

Calvin DeWitt is Director of the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies and Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received the Capitol Community citizen’s award for Land Use Planning for the Town of Dunn, the Wisconsin Wetlands Association Award for Wetlands Research and Preservation, and was named Environmentalist of the year by the Madison Audubon Society. He is the author of Earth Wise—A Biblical Perspective.

 

 

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"SEARCHING FOR TRUTH THROUGH THE ARTS"
FALL QUARTER, 2001

"TALES OF TOLSTOY"
BRUCE KUHN, actor
Tuesday, October 23, 2001, 7:30 pm
Campbell Hall, UCSB

Two of Tolstoy’s stories, "What Men Live By" and "Two Old Men," will be featured and told in context of an actual incident in Tolstoy’s life, a night when he had to deal with his own sin and weakness in the face of his ethical ideals.

Bruce Kuhn was on Broadway in Les Miserables as Montparnasse until he joined the National Tour of the Broadway musical Chess. He also toured with the Off-Broadway hit, The Cotton Patch Gospel, Chapin’s one-man musical. Mr. Kuhn received his classical training and MFA from the University of Washington’s Professional Actor Training Program where he also taught fencing and stage combat for two years.

 

"GOSPEL OF LUKE"
BRUCE KUHN, actor
Wednesday, October 24, 2001, 7:30 pm
Campbell Hall, UCSB

In this one-man show, Bruce Kuhn dramatizes the ancient story of Christ, telling it word for word from the book of Luke, King James translation. In a compelling ninety minutes, wearing modern casual clothing, without props, sets, or special effects, Kuhn dramatizes the tale of the most influential man in human history, the story that changed the world, telling it as an eyewitness might have told it almost 2000 years ago.

 

"JAZZ VESPERS FOR THE SOUL"
NORMAN FREEMAN, Episcopal priest and professional musician
Sunday, October 28, 2001, 6:30 pm
Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall, UCSB

Vespers, one of the two main hours of the Church’s Daily Office, has roots extending into the evening prayers of ancient Israel. Jazz Vespers emerges as a synthesis of traditions, a blending of an age-old liturgy with the unique musical language we call jazz. With a freshness that is open to God’s Spirit, this musical tradition sounds the hopes, dreams, joys, frustrations, and pain that express human experience, while exploring a musical vocabulary that transcends the limits of the written or spoken word.

The Reverend Norm Freeman has earned Bachelors and Masters of Music Degrees from the Julliard School. His musical career includes performances with the New York Philharmonic, The Metropolitan Opera, Barbra Streisand’s 1994 Concert Tour, The Moody Blues, Lionel Richie, and Rosemary Clooney. Norm is a Grammy Award winning percussionist, and for the last ten years has been Percussion Dept. Chair at the Mannes College of Music. At present he is the Episcopal Chaplain to the UCSB and Vicar of St. Michael’s and All Angels Episcopal Church in Isla Vista.

"TRUTH IN ART?"
DAN CALLIS, Biola faculty, artist
Sunday, October 28, 2001, 8:00 pm
Lotte Lehmann Concert Hall, UCSB

What is assumed in the question, "truth in art?" Does it refer to truth in a rationalist or empirical sense? What is the relationship between the art object/image and the idea of truth? How is this relationship informed by a biblical worldview?

Artist Dan Callis is Professor of Drawing and Painting at Biola University. As an artist he has been professionally active in the art community since 1983 and exhibits regionally as well as nationally on an ongoing basis. He received his MFA from Claremont Graduate University in 1986.

"IMPACT OF FILMS ON OUR VALUES"
HAL CONKLIN/DENNY WAYMAN
Santa Barbara News-Press film critics
Monday, October 29, 2001, 7:30 pm
Isla Vista Theater 1, 960 Embarcadero del Norte

Good cinema is not just entertaining, but often shows people struggling with the deeper issues of life. Movies today impact the values throughout the world in a way never before possible. A presentation of several film clips explores the values portrayed in contemporary films and how they impact our own values.

Dr. Denny Wayman is Senior Pastor of the Free Methodist Church of Santa Barbara. A Doctor of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling, Rev. Wayman brings the training of both theology and psychology to the cinematic experience. During his graduate education at both Asbury Seminary (Mdiv) and Fuller Seminary (Dmin) Dr. Wayman studied film and its impact on a culture.

Hal Conklin is the President of the California Center for Civic Renewal. He served in local government office for 18 years, including Mayor of the City of Santa Barbara. In his business career, he serves as the Director of Public Affairs for the Southern California Edison Co.

"CONCERT IN MIME"
TODD FARLEY, mime
Tuesday, October 30, 2001, 7:00 PM
UCen Hub, UCSB

A series of vignettes performed in mime becomes a "concert"
Todd Farley’s mime performance repertoire includes numerous pieces exploring Biblical passages, personages, and spiritual truths such as Moses, Watch the Lamb, The Champion, Lazarus, and My Father’s Chair.

Farley is recognized internationally as a Master in mime, having graduated from Marcel Marceau’s prestigious school in Paris. He is an ordained minister, and, together with his wife, Marilyn, directs MIMEistry, a non-profit religious arts organization based in the Los Angeles area.

"CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS"
SCOTT YOUNG, Chair, City of Angels Film Festival
Tuesday, November 6, 2001, 7:00 PM
Chemistry 1179, UCSB

Director Woody Allen’s Crimes and Misdemeanors is a thriller about the dark nights of the soul. It is also a comedy in which irony subverts traditional moral pieties. It is a dramatic inquiry into art, professional life, relationships, religion, and ethical horror. Crimes and Misdemeanors is a mirror in which we can all see the truth of ruthless selfishness reflected in the actors and the viewers.

Rev. Scott Young is the 2001 Chair and Co-Founder of the City of the Angels Film Festival. He is the director of Faculty Ministry for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in the Southern California region. Rev. Young is an instructor at Fuller Theological Seminary and the Art Center: College of Design in Pasadena. He is the director of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture Photographic Exhibit, The Soul of L.A.

"BACH, A PREACHER?
I THOUGHT HE WAS A COMPOSER?"
ROBIN LEAVER, Professor of Sacred Music
Wednesday, November 7, 2001, 7:30 pm
Corwin Pavilion, UCSB

Theology is verbal, and therefore, the basic assumption is that any proclamation of the Gospel must always be verbal. But the composer Johann Sebastian Bach—together with a good many other composers—frustrates this pervasive view, because in his music he demonstrates again and again that it is possible to preach through music. Indeed, Bach was able to express theological concepts in his music in a way that would be totally impossible with words alone. This presentation will explore some notable examples of this musical preaching in Bach’s music.

Robin A. Leaver is Professor of Sacred Music, Westminster Choir College of Rider University. Dr. Leaver, who initially studied in England then received his doctorate from the Rijksuniversteit, Groningen, the Netherlands, is an internationally recognized hymnologist, musicologist, liturgiologist, Bach scholar, and Reformation specialist. He has written or edited four books on Bach and is currently the president of the American Bach Society.

 

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"Whatever Happened to Jane Roe?
The Norma McCorvey Story"
Norma McCorvey
March 11, 2001, 7:30 PM
Isla Vista Theater, 960 Embarcadero del Norte

"An Integrative Model of Adjustment to Abortion"
Dr. Brenda Major, Professor of Psychology, UCSB
March 20, 2001
Girvetz Theater

"The Feminist Case Against Abortion"
Serrin Foster, Feminists for Life
April 24, 2001, 7;30 PM
Corwin Pavilion, UCSB

"The Pro-Life Feminist Movement and the Challenge to Feminism"
Dr. Laury Oaks, Assistant Professor
Women's Studies, UCSB
May 1, 2001
Girvetz Theater

Despite the polarizing nature of the abortion debate in the past, it is the sincere hope of the Veritas Forum planning committee that everyone will benefit from the free and open exchange of ideas and opinions expressed at these events. The most important message the Veritas Forum wishes to convey is the full forgiveness of sins through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus for those who have had abortions and for those who have acted out of hatred toward those who are pro-abortion.

Love requires freedom of choice. Choices are best made in an atmosphere wher both hearts and minds are open to the will of our Creator and Redeemer. It is our hope that God's will may be revealed in these dialogs.

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OUR JOURNEY:
ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS

Featuring

Lee Irons
"The Days of Genesis:
Literal Chronology or Figurative Framework?"
April 30, 2000, 2:30 PM, Isla Vista Theater, UCSB

 

Panel of UCSB and Westmont Scholars:
Jeffrey Schloss, Bruce Tiffney, Alan Wallace
"The Journey: Searching for Our Origins"
Sunday, April 30, 2000, 7:30 PM, Isla Vista Theater, UCSB

 

Walter Bradley
"Our Origins: The Just-So Universe"
Monday, May 1, 2000, 7:30 PM, Isla Vista Theater, UCSB

 

Os Guinness
"The Journey: A Thinking Person's Quest for Meaning"
Tuesday, May 2, 2000, 7:30 PM, Corwin Pavillion, UCSB