I am thrilled to have joined the John Albert Hall organizing committee as co-chair and to participate in curating conversations on topics of mutual concern to the Diocese of Islands and Inlets and the Centre for Studies in Religion and Society at the University of Victoria. I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Ian Alexander for his leadership and service to the John Albert Hall lectures over the last few years.
Last year, the pandemic forced a shift to offering the John Albert Hall events online. Lectures from across disciplines and locations culminated in a “dinner table” conversation related to the “values for a new world.” This year, the lectures will be offered in person but will also be livestreamed.
This year’s John Albert Hall events will engage with the theme of climate change. There is arguably no greater concern facing our communities than the changing climate, its effects and the innumerable crises that it will create.
In the fall semester, join us on Thursday, December 2, as we welcome Cynthia Moe-Lobeda, professor of theological and social ethics at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Cynthia will offer a short lecture and will be joined by David Seljak, chair of religious studies at the University of Waterloo, who will engage her in conversation on the themes of climate, structural evil, economics and ethics. Cynthia and David will invite us into a conversation regarding interrelated concerns that either justify inaction or catalyze change and are essential to consider.
A group from across the diocese read Cynthia’s Resisting Structural Evil: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation through the season of creation. The group members were challenged by her analysis of our current situation and were inspired to expand their notion of neighbour love and to face structural evil with concrete action.
On Saturday, December 4, Cynthia will be offering a workshop to allow participants to engage further with her on the themes of her lecture and on what a faithful response looks like. You can register for the workshop on the diocesan website: www.bc.anglican.ca/events/resisting-structural-evil/
We are grateful to the John Albert Hall endowment for the legacy and contribution to our communities at the intersection of faith and contemporary thought. We look forward to these events and once again seeing you in person!
For more information about the John Albert Hall lecture series, visit www.uvic.ca/research/centres/csrs/events/john-albert-hall/index.php
