Schedule of Events

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If you still wish to attend Convocation 2012 you may register at the door.

The Reverend Karen Ward

An ordained Episcopal priest and missioner entrepreneur, Reverend Ward is a leader of the post-denominational, emergent church movement. Rev. Ward sucessfully started a brand new emerging mission church called Church of the Apostles in Seattle, where she served as pastor for nine years.

Now director of the Episcopal Village, she provides trainings nationally and internationally that support communities seeking a renewed faith and reinvigorated sense of mission. She also curates a brand new 'fresh expression' church ministry called All Souls, PDX also know as 'PopUpChurch', in Portland, Oregon.

For Reverend Ward, the emergent church is a place in which liturgical beauty, the beauty of everyday life, and the beauty of humanity are connected.

Dr. Steven Lewis

Dr. Lewis is Academic Dean at Bangor Theological Seminary. He holds a Ph.D. from St. Louis University and is the author of Landscape as Sacred Place: Metaphors for the Spiritual Journey(Cascade Books, 2005); and Contextualizing the Gospel” in Next Steps to Ministry: Entering a Life in Christian Ministry, (Warner Press, 2006).

As an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church, Dr. Lewis has worked closely with judicatory leaders and congregations from Mainline and Evangelical traditions. He continues to consult with new ministry starts in the U.S. and Germany. His interests include: the various forms of 21st century ministry and the impact of ministry; body art as spiritual expression; theology in film; and the current preference for the spiritual over the religious.

All Steve’s activities and interests feed a passion for exploring and charting the intense relevance of Christian expression in the 21st century.

Rev. Eric Elnes, Ph.D.

Dr. Elnes is Senior Minister at Countryside Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska. He received his Ph.D. in Biblical Studies from Princeton Theological Seminary and served as Senior Pastor of Scottsdale Congregational United Church of Christ in Scottsdale, Arizona from 1995 to 2008.

He is internationally recognized for creating multi-sensory, experiential worship that transcends classification as “traditional” or “contemporary.” His books include Igniting Worship: The Seven Deadly Sins (Abingdon, 2004) and Asphalt Jesus: Finding a New Christian Faith Along the Highways of America (Jossey-Bass, 2007). He was the lead author and editor of the Phoenix Affirmations – a popular, ecumenically developed set of twelve principles that are becoming an important theological backbone of the progressive Christian movement. 

Featured Musician, Chuck Marohnic, director of Music for Darkwood Brew.

Bill Friederich, BTS Class of '97

Bill performs professionally in diverse styles of music from rock to blues, big band to polka, and has performed with large symphonic and concert bands. He continues to offer instruction lessons to beginners through adult learners as well. "Rhythms of Our Lives, Rhythms of Our Worship" is the theme for Wednesday morning worship, focusing on the interrelatedness between the Arts and Spirituality, especially through music.

Noel Paul & Betty Stookey

Recognizing Love as the common calling to many different faiths, Betty and Noel's presentation continues to evolve by referencing expressions of the Divine from a myriad of spiritual leaders and literature of many cultures. The program shifts dynamically from the spoken word to the sung word and back again, with Betty reading and Noel singing.

Monday: Eric Elnes & Chuck Marohnic
"On Faith. Online. Interactive. Transcending Traditional Worship with Darkwood Brew"

"You may not like it." That's the invitation to check out Eric Elnes' Darkwood Brew experimental web television worship program.

DWB calls itself a "renegade exploration" of "Christian practice for the emerging faith of our world today." Blend ancient liturgical and spiritual practices (like lectio divina) with contemporary interactive technology (like Twitter and Skype), add some world-class music, arts, biblical scholarship, and special guests from around the globe (via Skype), and you have Darkwood Brew.

Monday evening's Convocation experience (7:30 pm) will give you some taste of an emerging expression of spiritual practice for the 21st Century. We won't re-create Darkwood Brew in Bangor. We do think you will learn and be stirred by our local version of something different, if not "renegade." You'll be stretched, touched by the Spirit, enjoy fine refreshments and fellowship, and you'll have fun!

Tuesday: The Novel Jazz Septet
"Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn: Sacred & Secular - A Life Mix"

Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn are ranked as two of the most influential composers of the 20th century, between them composing over three thousand works. While many are aware of their popular secular music, most don't realize that they wrote deeply-moving sacred music, as well. The Novel Jazz Septet has been on a long mission to explore the many works of Ellington and Strayhorn through researching original musical manuscripts held in the Smithsonian's "Ellington Collection" in Washington, D.C.

Don't miss this chance to hear selections from the vast sacred and secular repertoire of Ellington and Strayhorn, and reflect on a musical legacy expressive of the range of human experience and emotion, an anthology which hints at the persistent presence of God, through the grounding bass notes and drum beats, anchoring the lush harmonies and swinging melodies that give voice to our life stories.

Monday

9:00 am

Registration

10:00 am

President’s Welcome

10:15 am

Opening Worship with Kate Winters & Joel Krueger

11:00 am

Steve Lewis – “Surveying the 21st Century Spiritual Landscape”

12:00 pm

Lunch

1:30 pm

Karen Ward – “Church as Abbey – Third Place & Spiritual Space for Mission”

3:00 pm

Break

3:30 pm

Betty & Noel Paul Stookey – “One Light, Many Candles: A Multifaith Presentation in Word and Song”

7:30 pm

Eric Elnes & Chuck Marohnic “On Faith. Online. Interactive. Transcending Traditional Worship with Darkwood Brew”
Campus Center - Peabody Hall

Tuesday

9:00 am

Opening Devotion with Karen Ward

9:30 am

Karen Ward – Part Two: “Church as Abbey - Worship”

10:45 am

Break

11:00 am

Steve Lewis & Karen Ward: "From Lectern to Living Room"

11:45 am

Lunch (Alumni/ae Association Meeting)

1:30 pm

Eric Elnes – “When Hell Freezes Over: Confessions of a Reformed (and Reforming) Technophobe”

3:00 pm

Break

3:30 pm

Worship with Eric Elnes & Chuck Marohnic

7:00 pm

Concert in Gracie Theatre - “Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn: Sacred & Secular - A Life Mix”—The Novel Jazz Septet

Wednesday

9:00 am

Steve Lewis – Lecture: “Navigating the 21st Century Spiritual Landscape”

10:30 am

Break

10:45 am

Closing Worship with Bill Friederich & Paul Sullivan - “Rhythms of Our Lives, Rhythms of Our Worship”