Wallenberg Lecture On Religious Reform Planned; Tribute To Honor Seamans
The Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (IJCU) of Muhlenberg College cordially invites the public to the annual Wallenberg Tribute Lecture, Sunday, March 16, 3 p.m., in Miller Forum, Moyer Hall. This year, James Carroll will speak on the topic of “The Critic from Within: The Courage to Reform in Religious Communities.”Tuesday, February 25, 2003 03:32 PM
The Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding (IJCU) of Muhlenberg College cordially invites the public to the annual Wallenberg Tribute Lecture, Sunday, March 16, 3 p.m., in Miller Forum, Moyer Hall. This year, James Carroll will speak on the topic of “The Critic from Within: The Courage to Reform in Religious Communities.”
A regular columnist for The Boston Globe, Carroll is widely known as a perceptive and thoughtful commentator on the social and spiritual circumstances of our time. He is the author of a dozen books of fiction and non-fiction, among them a National Book Award winner, several Notable Books of the New York Times and a top-five pick of the Christian Science Monitor. Most recently, his 2000 reflection on the church’s anti-Semitic heritage, “Constantine’s Sword,” was a New York Times bestseller and gained wide recognition for both its erudition and personal tone and style. His insights carry significance well beyond the Roman Catholic church, Christianity and even the Jewish-Christian relationship, and he speaks to a world in which religion itself must answer for its role in history.
Later that day, the IJCU, with support from the Jewish Federation of the Lehigh Valley and the Jewish Chautauqua Society, will honor local community leaders William and Jeanette Seaman at its annual Wallenberg Tribute, Sunday, March 16 at a 4:30 p.m. reception and 5:30 dinner in Congregation Keneseth Israel, 2227 Chew Street. Reservations for the Wallenberg reception and dinner can be made by contacting the Institute at 484-664-3470 or [email protected] by March 7.
The Wallenberg Tribute recognizes the Seamans’ moral action and advocacy on behalf of Lehigh Valley residents. Jeanette’s work has focused especially on people with disabilities and those who live in poverty. On the Interfaith Disabilities Coalition, at the Center for Independent Living and at the Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties, as well as in board and council leadership at Good Shepherd, she has helped both the Christian and Jewish Communities to implement their concern and compassion for the disable by organizing and leading conferences and educational programs, training staff and providing direct services. At the Interfaith Coalition on Poverty, she helped develop and lead a program to give social and mentor support, especially through Jewish and Christian congregations, to families seeking their way into the mainstream of working American society.
As executive director of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches, William Seaman was committed to engaging the energies and imaginations of many faith communities. The regular participation of Congregation Keneseth Israel at a local soup kitchen is only one example of the results. Reflecting a deep Christian respect for all human virtues, he ensured that the staff of the Conference was representative of the area’s wide diversity, religiously as well as ethnically. His integrity and effectiveness in these efforts has been recognized since his retirement, and he has been called upon by local religious leaders to organize and facilitate Christian-Muslim dialogue.
The Institute for Jewish-Christian Understanding seeks to build an understanding of both the common roots and the diverse expressions of Judaism and Christianity, creating connections between Jews and Christians. For more information about the Wallenberg Tribute and other IJCU programs, contact the Institute at 484-664-3470 or visit www.ijcu.org.
