Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., is hosting a Vesper Service at Christ Church Cathedral on Sun., Oct. 5 at 4 p.m., two days prior to the Town Hall Presidential Debate in the Curb Event Center on the Belmont campus. President Robert Fisher of Belmont will be presiding. Reverend David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, will deliver the homily on Poverty & Debate08. Bread for the World is a citizens’ anti-hunger movement that focuses on education about hunger and influencing public policies on hunger and poverty.
Also officiating at the service are:
• Reverend Vashti Murphy McKenzie, the first female bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church
• Very Reverend David R. Perkin, Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Nashville
• Reverend Dr. Todd Lake, Vice President for Spiritual Development at Belmont University
Reverend Anne Stevenson of Christ Church Cathedral is serving as host. Music will be provided by Belmont’s College of Visual and Performing Arts under the direction of Dr. Jane Warren.
The Office of Spiritual Development has put together a comprehensive schedule of events that focus on spirituality’s place in the world of American politics. Highlights of the Debate08 Faith & Politics Speaker Series include:
• Dr. Tony Campolo – “Citizenship and Faith”
• Dr. Stanley Hauerwas – “The American Empire and the Kingdom of God”
• Barbara Bradley Hagerty – “The Media and Religion”
• Shane Claiborne – “Jesus For President”
• Dr. Vaughn May – “Faith-Informed Political Science”
• Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner – “How Would Jesus Vote?”
• Melissa Rogers – The New President and the Politics of Faith
“We are in the midst of an election year in which all of these issues are dominating news coverage,” Dr. Todd Lake, vice president of Spiritual Development at Belmont, said. “As a Christian institution we encourage students to discern how their passions and talents best fit the world’s needs. We feel a great responsibility to provide programming that gives us a forum to wrestle with conversations about social and political issues and how they relate directly to faith.”
The Vesper Service is open to the public and the media in Nashville for the Town Hall Presidential Debate. Refreshments will be served following the service. For more information, contact Benita Walker at (615) 460-6628 or walkerb@mail.belmont.edu.
About the 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate
The 2008 Town Hall Presidential Debate at Belmont University is made possible through the generosity of our lead sponsors, Hospital Corporation of America, Jack C. Massey Foundation, The Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County and the State of Tennessee. Additional support is provided by AT&T; Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell and Berkowitz; Bank of America; Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee; Bridgestone Americas; Pat and George Bullard; Dell, Inc.; Dollar General Corporation; Earl Swensson Associates, Inc.; Enterprise Electric, LLC; Fifth Third Bank; First Tennessee Bank; The Frist Foundation; Gaylord Entertainment; Ingram Industries; Interior Design Services, Inc.; Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce; Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau; Nissan North America; Partnership for Chronic Disease; Purity Dairies, Inc.; R.C. Mathews Contractor; Reliant Bank; Sherrard & Roe; SunTrust Bank; The Tennessean; Tractor Supply Company; Walker, Tipps & Malone; Waller, Landsden, Dortch & Davis; and Zycron, Inc.
