The 2006-07 Wittenberg Series continues with two important events in the next week.
First, Wittenberg welcomes the Rev. Callon W. Holloway, Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, as the keynote speaker at the Festival Choral Eucharist for the Reformation at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 29, in Weaver Chapel. The next night, the Kenneth H. Sauer Luther Symposium will feature theologian Martin Marty, Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His presentation, titled “The Future of American Lutheranism,” is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30, also in Weaver Chapel.
Holloway, formerly the pastor of Westwood Lutheran Church in Dayton, Ohio, has served as the Bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod since 1996. A Gettysburg College alumnus, Holloway earned a Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. In addition, he has received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Wittenberg University and an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from Capital University.
The Festival Choral Eucharist for the Reformation is an annual Wittenberg event commemorating Martin Luther’s posting of the 95 Theses, which he wrote in 1517 as challenges to abuses in the church of his time. The event includes performances by university music ensembles, including the Wittenberg Handbell Choir, the Wittenberg Brass Choir and the nationally recognized Wittenberg Choir.
Marty is a distinguished scholar who has written more than 5,000 articles and 50 books concerning religion, including The Righteous Empire, Modern American Religion and The One and the Many: America’s Search for the Common Good. Marty is also a recipient of the National Book Award and the first religion scholar to win the National Humanities Medal.
Marty is the former president of the American Academy of Religion, the American Society of Church History and the American Catholic Historical Association. Described by colleagues as the “leading commentator on American religions and spiritual trends,” Marty provides an expert perspective on the nation’s history of religion.
The Sauer Symposium was endowed in Kenneth Sauer’s honor when he retired in 1996 as bishop of the Southern Ohio Synod, ELCA. A 1952 graduate of Wittenberg and a graduate of the Hamma School of Theology, Sauer has served as director of the Institute for Mission in the United States at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus since 1996.
Every year, the Wittenberg Series brings distinguished lecturers and performing artists of national and international prominence to the campus and local community. For more information about the Wittenberg Series, visit the university’s Web site at www.wittenberg.edu. To make special arrangements, reserve a series poster or become a friend of the Wittenberg Series, contact Phyllis Eberts at (937) 327-6116, or via e-mail at aroundthehollow@wittenberg.edu.
