Divinity School, University of Chicago
1025 East 58th St.
Chicago IL 60637
May 20, 2014
Dear SSCS Colleagues,
At the end of the academic year I’m writing you about two important issues in the life of the SSCS for the remainder of 2014: the annual meeting of the Society, and the ongoing search for a new editor for Spiritus.
I. November SSCS/AAR/SBL Program
As one of the related Scholarly Organizations of the American Academy of Religion, the SSCS will, as usual, meet in conjunction with this year’s AAR/SBLAnnual Meeting in San Diego from November 21 to 25. The program committee (Elisabeth Koenig, Barbara Quinn, Glen Scorgie, and Anita Houck)deserves our gratitude for the work they have done in putting together a rich and rewarding group of sessions. Our thanks also go to Tim Robinson and Glenn Young, the Co-Chairs of the AAR Christian Spirituality Group, for all their work on the sessions jointly sponsored with the AAR.
Our two pre-AAR/SBL sessions will be held on the campus of the University of San Diego. As always, all are welcome to our sessions, so please invite your colleagues to join us.Please check our website and listserv in the months to come for further details about the sessions, dinner arrangements, and shuttle bus service to and from campus. If you’re not yet on our listserv, please consider subscribing, eitherthrough our website or by contacting Anita Houck at .
- Friday Afternoon Experiential Session (3:00-5:00 p.m.): A Contemplative View of Ecology.We will begin our session with a walking tour of the canyon that lies behind the USD campus. Dr. Michael Mayer, chair of the USD Department of Biology, will help us reflect on the changing conditions of the land and challenge these changes present to us. We will then move to a conversational reflection on The Blue Sapphire of the Mind: Notes For a Contemplative Ecology led by author Douglas Christie.
- SSCSDinner (5:30-6:45 p.m.): Members and their guests are invited to share a catered dinner on campus (cost approximately $30-$35, advance reservations required). The campus dining hall and pub are open to the public and available for more casual dinners, and some off-campus restaurants are within walking distance.
- Friday Evening Session (7:00-9:00 p.m.): Contemplation in the World: The Socially Transformative Effects of Practice. We are deeply grateful to Louis Komjathy of the University of San Diego and the AAR Contemplative Studies Group for his collaboration.
- Reception (9:00-10:00 p.m.): Light refreshments provided.
Saturday Morning Session (9:00-11:30 a.m.)
This will include my Presidential Address, “The Future of Past Spiritual Traditions,” to be followed by the annual SSCS Business Meeting presided over by our new President, Lisa Dahill.
Sessions of the Christian Spirituality Group of the AAR
a. The Bible and Climate Change: The Twentieth Anniversary of Bill McKibben’sThe Comforting Whirlwind of God: God, Job, and the Scale of Creation (1994) (Saturday 1:00-3:30 p.m.)
Presider: Barbara Rossing (Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago)
Panelists: Ched Myers (Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries); Kathryn Schifferdecker (Luther Seminary); Theodore Hiebert (McCormick Seminary)
Respondent: Bill McKibben
b. Christian Spirituality and the Cognitive Sciences: An Emerging Conversation (Sunday 9:00-11:30 a.m.)
Presider: Claire Wolfteich (Boston University)
Presenters:
Remya Nair (California Institute of Technology), Andrea Beckum (Fuller Theological Seminary), Michael Spezio (Scripps College), Mark Graves (Fuller Theological Seminary), Warren Brown (Fuller Theological Seminary), Kevin Reimer (Azusa Pacific University)
Community of the Downwardly Mobile: Scientific Study of Kenotic Habitus in L’Arche
Mark Graves (Fuller Theological Seminary), Andrew Dreitcer (Claremont School of Theology), Remya Nair (California Institute of Technology), Kevin Reimer (Azusa Pacific University), Brent Field (Princeton University), Michael Spezio (Scripps College)
Heartfulness as Mindfulness: Imitatio of Affectivity and Perspective in Christian Contemplative Practice
Sam Hole (University of Cambridge)
The Significance of John of the Cross’s Account of Contemplative
Ascent for a Theory of the Loving Transformation of the Emotions
Andrea Hollingsworth (Berry College)
The Architecture of Apophasis: Exploring Options for a Cognitive Scientific Interpretation of the Via Negativa
Business Meeting: Glenn Young (Rockhurst University), presiding
c. Perspectives on Spiritual Direction: Historical and Contemporary (Sunday 3:00-4:30 p.m.)
Presider: Janet Ruffing (Yale Divinity School)
Presenters:
Janna Gosselin (University of Southern California)
Julian of Norwich as a Spiritual Director: Julian’s Theodicy of Soul
Growth
Christopher Johnson (University of North Dakota)
The Role of Spiritual Direction in Mediating a Contemplative Classic: Fr. Nikon Strandtman, Gerald Palmer, and the English Philokalia
David Crawley (Laidlaw College)
Co-Authoring Stories and Faith and Hope: Narrative Approaches to
Spiritual Direction
II. Search for a New Editor for Spiritus
The Ad-Hoc Search Committee for a new Editor for Spiritus has five members: B. McGinn (Chair), L. Dahill, S. Chase, P. Sheldrake, and W. Wright. After our initial letter to the SSCS membership (2/15/2014), the Committee received two self-nominations and ten nominations by other members over the course of two months. The persons nominated by other members for the most part respectfully declined to have their names go forward. Over the past month the committee has pursued discussions with several candidates. These negotiations are proceeding, but some important issues remain under review, especially concerning the amount of institutional support the new editor may be given by his or her institution. We sincerely hope to be able to present a name to the Governing Board and the Editorial Board of Spiritus before the November meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you in San Diego,
Sincerely,
Bernard McGinn, President
Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor Emeritus
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