I’d hoped to write this post sooner (sorry!), but let me start by thanking all of you who attended our Free to Be Faithful event last week either in-person or remotely. The response has been overwhelming, as has your enthusiasm for what’s next!
Rest assured, we have been working behind-the-scenes to plot next steps. In fact we have so many things brewing, I’ll share just a couple of them here, with more to follow.
First, many of you who weren’t able to attend requested a link to the video. Here you are:
For a glimpse, here’s a short, from Nick Wolterstorff. My greatest delight in this event was hearing Nick’s wisdom, and getting a chance to share just a bit of that with a wider audience.
Here’s just a small sense:
Nick and I both shared about our upbringings and our faith formation, and we commented as well on our contemporary political situation. Here’s a short clip on that:
While we have a number of upcoming events planned, I want to highlight just two initial ones here.
The first is a webinar tomorrow evening in which Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat and Rev. Leonard Vander Zee draw on their extensive scholarship and pastoral work to explore how biblical interpretation has shaped—and sometimes distorted—contemporary debates of gender and sexuality.
Here’s more:
Participants will be introduced to the complex hermeneutical issues involved in reading Scripture on these topics. Keesmaat and Vander Zee will model an approach to Scripture that seeks to embody the welcoming, redemptive character of God revealed in the biblical story.
Serving both as an independent exploration and a preparation for deeper study in the upcoming course, this webinar invites all who seek a more generous, theologically grounded engagement with the pressing questions of sexuality in the church today.
Then, looking ahead to later this summer, I’ll be hosting a “Summer Read” book club with my friend Bruce Berglund, a historian of Eastern Europe and Russia (and also of global hockey, but that’s not immediately relevant here). We’ll be discussing Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny, a book I’ve mentioned numerous times on this Substack. It’s a very short book and can be read in one sitting, so even if you’re not a reader, don’t hesitate to sign up. (Plus, it comes in graphic novel form!)
The precise date is yet to be determined, but we’re planning for July. We’ll be leading an online component, but we’d love for you to gather your own “book club”—neighbors, friends, colleagues—to discuss with those in your own community the implications of this important work. Trust me, it will be a good conversation starter.
More details will follow, but if you want to receive updates on the Summer Read specifically, sign up here:
Again, we have many other plans in various stages of preparation, and I’ll share occasional updates here, but the best way to stay in touch is to sign up for the ICS Substack directly. (It’s free, and also a wonderful way to meet other scholars and writers who are part of this movement.)
What we hope to do going forward is create spaces for deep reflection, to build networks of kindred spirits, to introduce new voices and share resources, and to find strength and solidarity with one another in the days ahead—to discover, and to create with one another—the beauty of Beloved Community.
P.S. To those of you who want to skip the chit chat and just *do* something, we hear you. More on that to come, too.
Thank you, Kristin. Your work is so important. I’m looking forward to supporting you all in the future.
We loved seeing Nick sharing his wisdom with us all. He has been a close family friend since the early 80's. I feel that need to move a little faster. Reading about Tyranny while it is happening makes me feel like my hair is on fire ! I feel it about more than being free to be faithful but that we have to somehow be a loud voice speaking for democracy and love as described in the Bible. Love for all. The new pope gives me a lot of hope. He is already speaking out . Thank you for what you are doing but I just feel we have to " git it on " ! Thanks.