We are living through a time when our failures in the realm of words, thoughtfulness, and ethics have roused us to re-attend to the venerable questions raised by faith and liberal learning.

One of this year’s presenters, Katherine Paterson, says that “The consolation of the imagination is not imaginary consolation.” Among other things, Paterson’s comment suggests that the shriveling of the imagination ought to concern us deeply.

But some say that a new wind is beginning to blow. Perhaps we are seeing a renaissance, a revival of interest in the old verities of the human arts.

Perhaps we are learning again that, indeed, “Life consisteth not in the abundance of things which a man possesseth” (Luke 12:15).

This year’s offerings from the Buechner Institute hope to make a contribution to this revitalization. Our visitors in 2010-2011 will attempt to broaden our horizons and challenge us to move beyond our caves of indifference and ignorance.

Fred Buechner puts it this way in Wishful Thinking: “We are much involved, all of us, with questions about things that matter a good deal today but will be forgotten by this time tomorrow-the immediate wheres and when and hows that face us daily at home and at work-but at the same time we tend to lose track of the questions that matter always, life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose, and value. To lose track of such deep questions as these is to risk losing track of who we really are in our own depths and where we are really going.”

The gift of this Buechner Institute program to you is in the opportunity to meet prophets and preachers, performers and artists, who can take us, via the imagination, into new possibility and refreshing change.

I know you are busy, fraught with the demands of a constantly jangling world. Please view these offerings as an occasion for reaching beyond the muddle. Do join us as often as you can.

Blessings, Dale Brown

Scheduled Speaker for September 13 is Shane Claiborne. With tears and laughter, Shane Claiborne unveils the tragic messes we’ve made of our world and the tangible hope that another world is possible. Shane graduated from Eastern University, and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. His ministry experience is varied, from a 10-week stint working alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta, to a year spent serving a wealthy mega-congregation at Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago. During the recent war in Iraq, Shane spent three weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team. Shane is also a founding partner of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped to birth and connect radical faith communities around the world.
Shane writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus. He is featured in the DVD series “Another World Is Possible” and is the author of the several books including The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President, and Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers.

Shane speaks over 100 times a year in a dozen or so countries and nearly every state in the US. Shane has given academic seminars at Vanderbilt University, Duke University Pepperdine University, Wheaton College, Princeton University, Goshen College and Harvard University.

Shane also speaks at various denominational gatherings, festivals, and conferences around the globe. Shane’s work has been featured in everything from Fox News and the Wall Street Journal to CNN and National Public Radio.

Scheduled Speaker for September 15 is Brian McLaren. Brian is an author, speaker, pastor, and networker among innovative Christian leaders, thinkers, and activists.

He is a frequent guest on television, radio, and news media programs. He has appeared on many broadcasts including Larry King Live, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and Nightline. His work has also been covered in Time (where he was listed as one of American’s 25 most influential evangelicals), Christianity Today, Christian Century, the Washington Post, and many other print media.
Born in 1956, he graduated from University of Maryland with degrees in English (BA, summa cum laude, 1978, and MA, in 1981). His academic interests included Medieval drama, Romantic poets, modern philosophical literature, and the novels of Dr. Walker Percy. In 2004, he was awarded a Doctor of Divinity Degree (honoris causa) from Carey Theological Seminary in Vancouver, BC, Canada.

From 1978 to 1986, McLaren taught college English, and in 1982, he helped form Cedar Ridge Community Church, an innovative, nondenominational church in the Baltimore-Washington region (crcc.org). He left higher education in 1986 to serve as the church’s founding pastor and served in that capacity until 2006. During that time, Cedar Ridge earned a reputation as a leader among emerging missional congregations.
Source: http://www.buechnerinstitute.org/