Academic Life ~ Paddock Lectures

Paddock Lectures

The Paddock Lectures were founded in 1880 by General Seminary benefactor George A. Jarvis and named in honor of The Rt. Rev. Benjamin Henry Paddock, Class of 1852. The lectureship has featured many of the world’s leading theologians including Francis J. Hall, William Temple, Diogenes Allen and, in 2003, Rowan Greer. The General Theological Seminary, founded in 1817, is located in the Chelsea district of New York City. Plan to join the Seminary community for this fascinating series of lectures. Admission is without charge and no reservations are needed.

2007 Paddock Lectures

"Looking at the Liturgy: 'As it was...', "Is now...', 'and shall be.'"  a three part lecture delivered by Louis Weil, Hodges-Haynes, Professor of Liturgics, Church Divinity School of the Pacific

In these lectures, Professor Weil will offer a personal view of developments in the liturgical life of the Episcopal Church during the four decades in which he has been a teacher of liturgy at three seminaries of the Episcopal Church:  the Episcopal Seminary of the Caribbean , Nashotah House, and the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.  The first lecture will explore the era of Prayer Book stability represented in the 1928 BCP, ending at the threshold of prayer book renewal.  The second lecture will consider the more complex situation of liturgical worship in our own time, represented in the BCP of 1979 and in later developments, both authorized and unauthorized.  In the final lecture, Professor Weil will look at the realities on the horizon of the Church's life which will require significant evolution from within the framework of the inherited tradition.

2006 Paddock Lectures

"Secular Accomodation and Sacred Rage: Religious Radicalism and the Liberal West" a three part lecture was delivered by Lamin Sanneh,  D. Willis James, Professor of Missions and World Christianity, Yale University Professor of History, Yale College

Prof. Sanneh explored Muslim-Christian relations in relation to the dynamics of secular cultural movements.  Prof. Sanneh’s forthcoming work from Oxford University Press is A House of Many Mansions: Pillars of a World Religion.  Educated in Gambia, Britain and the United States, he taught at Harvard University before taking up his present position at Yale.  Chair of Yale’s Council on African Studies, he is an editor-at-large of the ecumenical weekly The Christian Century.  Author of more than a hundred articles on religious and historical subjects, Prof. Sanneh’s books include in this area include Piety and Power (1996), The Crown and the Turban: Muslims and West African Pluralism (1997), and Whose Religion is Christianity?The Gospel Beyond the West (2003).  He is also the author of Encountering the West: Christianity and the Global Cultural Process, West African Christianity: The Religious Impact, and Translating the Message: The Missionary Impact on Culture.

For more information on this event, please contact Chris Ballard 212.243.5150 x306 or by e-mail ballard@gts.edu .