John Shelby Spong, the retired American bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, New Jersey, and popular Christian writer, will visit Atlanta September 16-19, 2010. In cooperation with other institutions, Trinity will host Bishop Spong at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, as part of a larger series entitled, “Building a New Christianity for a New World.”

Thursday, September 16
7 p.m. | Trinity Presbyterian Church, 3003 Howell Mill Road, NW

Why Traditional Christianity is Dying: The Religious Challenges of Our Generation
Available Supper (space is limited) 5:45 p.m., call 404-237-6491 ($7)
Registration 6 p.m.

Friday, September 17
7 p.m.| The Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road, NW

Redefining God in Today’s Scientifically-Oriented World
Registration 6 p.m.

Saturday, September 18
9 a.m. | The Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road, NW

Rethinking the Role of Jesus In Today’s Post-Darwinian World
Registration, Coffee, 8 a.m.

10:45 a.m.| The Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road, NW
The Role of Christians In a Scientific, Multi-Cultural and Multi-Faith World

Sunday, September 19
4 p.m.| Morehouse College Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel, 830 Westview Drive SW

Religious Victimization: Are Sexuality and Gender the Basis of a New Segregation?
Registration 3 p.m. No charge.

Fee for entire series is $60 per person. (Trinity Lecture alone is $20). Book signings to follow each lecture.

About Bishop Spong
A popular progressive Christian theologian, Bishop Spong is a lecturer for more than 200 events each year across the United States and Europe, and he is the author of more than 20 books about Christianity. Bishop Spong is a native of Charlotte, NC, and a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of North Carolina. He received his Master of Divinity from the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Alexandria, Virginia. A recipient of honorary doctorates from his Episcopal Seminary and six other institutions of higher learning, he has studied and taught at leading institutions such as Union Theological Seminary in New York, Yale University Divinity School, Harvard University, Harvard Divinity School, and the storied universities of Edinburgh, Oxford and Cambridge.

Bishop Spong has also been a strong proponent of racial equality, feminism and gay rights, within both the church and society at large. Towards these ends, he has called for a new Reformation, in which Christianity’s basic doctrines should be reformulated in dramatically new ways. Some of his most recent books are A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying and How a New Faith is Being Born, The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love, Jesus for the Non-Religious, and Eternal Life: A New Vision: Beyond Religion, Beyond Theism, Beyond Heaven and Hell.

Bishop Spong’s books have sold more than a million copies, and his public lectures are widely acclaimed. Because seating is limited at some programs, including the one at Trinity, registration is required, and early registration is recommended. The deadline for registration is September 10. A fee of $20 per person for the Trinity program will be used to defray the cost of bringing Bishop Spong to Atlanta. A brochure describing each of the five programs, and, providing more information on Bishop Spong, is available online. This information and instructions for registering by mail or online may be found at www.stphilipscathedral.org by selecting “Calendar” and “Bishop Spong Conference.” Questions can be directed to 404-365-1007 or to SpongSeriesAtlanta@gmail.com.