at Gettysburg Seminary
Thursday, March 10, 2011
"Hearing the Word:
The Global Christian Community Reads the Bible Together"
The topic in 2011 will address global and ecumenical approaches to biblical interpretation. The Bible is not an exclusive word; those it addresses are given to each other as fellow hearers. Other Christians around the world have important and valuable ways of experiencing the Bible that can inspire and instruct Lutherans in the United States. At the same time, U.S. Lutherans can share our experiences of the text so that together as Christians living around the globe we might follow our vocation to share and test all we hear. In 2011, Hein-Fry will give us this opportunity to enter into dialogue concerning biblical texts and their interpretations with a variety of Christian scholars beyond U.S. Lutheranism.
2011 Lecturers
Dora Arce-Valentín
Surekha Nelavala
The Rev. Dora E. Arce-Valentín is a professor of New Testament at the Seminario Evangelico de Teologia (SET) in Mantanzas, Cuba. She also serves as the Vice-Director of the program High Studies in Religious Sciences as well as a special lay program of SET in Havana, Cuba. Her previous studies include a Civil Engineering degree (1982) and a Master’s Degree in Theology (2002). Her current educational endeavors include participation in a Master’s degree program at the University of Havana in Gender Studies. A native of Santa Clara, Cuba, Rev. Arce-Valentín followed in the footsteps of her Presbyterian pastor father and teacher/lay leader mother and was commissioned as a minister for Word and Sacrament in 1994. She currently serves as pastor at Luyano Presbyterian Church in Havana, Cuba. Her other church related duties include being the Director of the Program and Mission Department for the Presbyterian-Reformed Church (IPRC). In the ecumenical movement in Cuba, she is a member of the Advisory Team for the program Faith, Economy and Society of the Latin American Council of Churches and part of the Task Force in dialogue with CEC (the Council of the European Churches). Along with her church and scholarly responsibilities, Arce-Valentín is also the mother of two adult sons.
The Rev. Dr. Surekha Nelavala is a 2008 graduate of Drew University’s Ph.D. program in Biblical Studies. She has cultivated inter-cultural and inter-contextual perspectives as a biblical scholar through her international experience, exposure and participation in various forums. Her teaching interests are in Biblical hermeneutics and integrated courses of cultural studies, feminist studies and postcolonial studies. She is committed to the cause of bringing scholarship and people together in developing praxis-oriented liberating hermeneutics of the Bible. Dr. Nelavala is also actively involved in activities for gender justice and in anti-casteism in India. She has been a visiting lecturer at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg and previously served as an Assistant Professor in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute in Chennai, India. In addition to her teaching and advocacy, Dr. Nelavala is an ordained Lutheran minister from India and approved for rostering in the ELCA as an ordained pastor.
Hein-Fry lectures are free and open to the public.
An optional reserved lunch is available for $7.00 by calling 717-334-6286 ext. 2194 by February 28, 2011
Questions? Call 717-334-6286 ext. 2231
Schedule for the day
9:30 a.m.—Registration
9:45 a.m.—Welcome and Introduction
10:00 a.m.—Lecture I: Dora Arce-Valentín
11:30 a.m.—Break
11:55 a.m.—Chapel Worship
12:15 p.m.—Lunch
1:30 p.m.— Lecture II: Surekha Nelavala
2:30 p.m. —Conversation/Questions
3:00 p.m.—Conclusion and Prayers
3:00-5:30pm is the opening reception for the exhibit "Repetitions" featuring Camp Hill painter and printmaker Brenton Good. Come to the Pioneer Room in the A. R. Wentz Library following the Hein Fry Lectures for a glass of wine and an opportunity to view the works and meet the artist. For details click here.