Lenten Conversations
Wednesdays in Lent
March 12, March 19, and April 9
5:30 - 7:30pm in Legacy Hall
This year’s Lenten table conversations will center around “Made Flesh,” a curated visual art exhibit in the Bradford Gallery. Each week we invite you to join us for a meal and guided conversation from guest speakers including Wesley Vander Lugt, Professor of Theology at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and Elissa Weichbrodt, Associate Professor of Art and Art History at Covenant College. RSVP for dinner each week using the links below.
Lenten Conversation #1
Wednesday, March 12
With Guest Speaker Wesley Vander Lugt
Wes is a pastor, theologian, writer, educator, nonprofit leader, and arts advocate with a passion for beauty, slowness, cultivation, kinship, and theodramatics. Wes currently works as the Acting Director of the Leighton Ford Center for Theology, the Arts, and Gospel Witness and Adjunct Professor of Theology at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina.
His newest book, Beauty is Oxygen: Finding a Faith That Breathes, demonstrates how beauty can breathe life back into us. Beauty Is Oxygen weaves together theological reflection, poetry, cultural criticism, and Scripture. Throughout, Vander Lugt shows how beauty can break us out of self-centered malaise, promote healing and hope for our broken world, and reenchant our lives.
Lenten Conversation #2
Wednesday, March 19
Our evening on Wednesday, March 19 will be led by Andrew Peterson as we continue reflecting on the theme of "Made Flesh." Andrew Peterson, Christian songwriter and founder of The Rabbit Room joins us to share an evening of song and story. Dinner is not offered as part of this evening's program, but we do ask you to register to help us plan. This event was previously scheduled in February and was rescheduled due to icy road conditions.
Lenten Conversation #3
Wednesday, April 9
With Guest Speaker Elissa Weichbrodt
"A Tender Regard: How Looking at Art Can Change Us"
How does the art we see change us? How can art shape and reshape our imaginations and the way we move our bodies in the world? Using examples from traditional and contemporary art, this talk explores how art can make us more tender towards the possibilities of creation, the tension of incarnation, and the hope of resurrection.
Weichbrodt is associate professor of art and art history at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. As a biracial Japanese-white woman, she has navigated the joys and tensions of a hybrid identity. She is also the author of Redeeming Vision: A Christian Guide to Looking at and Learning from Art.
We are formed by the images we view. From classical art to advertisements and from news photos to social media, the images we look at mold our ideas of race, gender, and class. They shape how we loved God and our neighbor.
Weichbrodt provides a practical guide for Christian viewing, offering tools for closely looking at and learning from images we encounter in the media and art around us.