Chautauqua Abrahamic
Beyond the Season
Long committed to taking the Chautauqua philosophy of life-long learning and the Chautauqua method of dialogue and engagement beyond the Season and beyond the gates, the Board of Trustees has encouraged the formation of partnerships with such organizations as Trinity Church Wall Street and the Trinity Institute, which co-hosted with Chautauqua the first of the Abrahamic Conferences, entitled “God at 2000” -- held in Corvallis, Oregon, and beamed via satellite to audience groups in more than 25 cities throughout the US. A book edited by Ross Mackenzie was subsequently published summarizing the insights of the speakers, who included such notables as Bishop Desmond Tutu, Rabbi Lawrence Kushner, Sister Joan Chittister, Seyyed Hussein Nasr, Diana Eck, Karen Armstrong, and Marcus Borg.
In 2004 Chautauqua and the Trinity Institute again collaborated on an outstanding program for hundreds gathered at Trinity Church in New York City, once more utilizing state of the art live video-streaming to audiences around the world. Titled “Naming Evil,” the conference was opened by Chautauqua President Tom Becker, keynoted by Kofi Annan, and moderated by Department of Religion Director Joan Brown Campbell and Harvard’s Michael Sandel, who led the participants in a Socratic dialogue. The conference once again included significant speakers representing the Abrahamic traditions.
Locally a relationship in the Buffalo area is being forged with a Muslim television company, “Bridges,” which is collaborating with Chautauqua in promoting interfaith dialogue among the Abrahamic communities.
It is gratifying for Chautauquans to become aware that the concept of the Abrahamic Program has now been replicated in twelve US cities, for example, in Cleveland, Indianapolis, Denver, Portland (Oregon), Boca Raton, and Washington, D.C. In 2004 the founder of the Denver Abrahamic Community offered a course at Chautauqua through the Special Studies Program called “Taking the Abrahamic Initiative Home.” Thus, like the original Chautauqua Movement, the idea of the Abrahamic Community is being carried into communities and places of worship and education nationally.
