Chautauqua Abrahamic
Vision and Goals

The “Abrahamic Initiative” -- so named because it had tested the possibilities for a new experience of interfaith dialogue -- initially took shape in the form of an annual Abrahamic Week beginning in 2000, the year when Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell assumed the position of Director of Department of Religion. Chosen, among many reasons, for her commitment to Interfaith Dialogue, Reverend Campbell further positioned Chautauqua to move ahead and to broaden the Abrahamic agenda. In 2002 Chautauqua Theologian-in-Residence Karen Armstrong, an internationally respected theologian of world religions, offered a Season-long series called “Understanding Islam,” and a broad spectrum of Muslim scholars were invited to present lectures that have since been used by seminaries and congregations around the country as teaching aids and discussion starters. In 2003, the decision was made to change the name of the program, the “Abrahamic Initiative,” to “Building the Abrahamic Community,” because what had begun as an initiative had then become part of the mission of the Department of Religion and an integral part of the vision of the Chautauqua Institution.

Because Chautauqua has been a religiously plural community for most of its history, and because Chautauqua’s Christian history has called us to be “neighbor” to all, Reverend Campbell and the Board of Trustees recognized that building the Abrahamic Community meant deepening that reality through the presence and participation of Muslims on the grounds and beyond. Partnerships have been formed, therefore, with Muslims from the US and from around the world who have helped, along with national and international Christian and Jewish scholars and clergy, to plan and to carry out the annual themes that have and will continue to shape the Abrahamic Program: 2000 – “No World Peace without Religious Peace”

  • 2001 – “God, Human Nature, and the Insights of Science”
  • 2002 – “Paths of Transformation”
  • 2003 – “Sacred Science”
  • 2004 – “Building a Global Neighborhood: The Abrahamic Vision”
  • 2005 – “The Law in Religion and Society”
  • 2006 – “Belief in America”
  • 2007 – “Sacred Texts in Context: Literalism and Interpretation”
  • 2008 - "Faith in Public Life"