Rector's Update on CS Lewis Institute
Our first week at the Oxbridge 2008 conference is just about over. Today we transition to Cambridge for the second week. John is a member of the Institute (C.S. Lewis Institute) Chorale and they have sung in concert several times and were our choir for the opening and closing services at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. That is the church that was the site of the heresy trial of Thomas Cranmer, which resulted in his being burned at the stake 2 blocks away on Broad Street (a place marked by a cross in the middle of the street). The director of the Chorale is Dr. Stanley L. Roberts, the director of the Mercer College Choir. The Chorale has sung a wide variety of music from Baroque to African American spirituals. John has been busy every afternoon with rehearsals, but has made new friends and contacts.
The overall theme of the conference is the Imago Dei - The Self and the Search for Meaning. We have heard presentations by Dana Gioia (Chairman, Natl. Endowment for the Arts), Francis Collins (Director, National Human Genome Research Institute), authors Micheal Ward (Planet Narnis), Diana Glyer (The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community), Richard Mouw (President, Fuller Seminary), John Guest (Anglican priest and evangelist), and others. In the afternoons we have attended elective seminars. I am participating in the Science and Theology Symposium entitled, What Does It Mean to be Human? From the Self to the Person and Beyond. It has been a busy, challenging and edifying experience.
Busy as it has been, we have been able to literally squeeze in a little time for touring/visiting. I connected with Melanie Jeschke, a Virginian and the author of The Inklings. Yesterday she gave a guided tour of Oxford based on her novels to several participants. It was an interesting insider's look at the University.
With all the information being collected, it will take some time to assimilate it all into a coherent whole; and, of course, we still have another week to go! Thanks for your prayers. I pray for you all evey morning at chapel about 2 a.m. EDT.
Yours in Christ,
Chuck+