This year’s annual Taylor Religious Heritage Lectures at Chowan University will feature prolific preacher, Dr. Will Willimon. Scheduled for September 29th in Turner Auditorium at 11:00 am, the Taylor Religious Heritage Lectures were established in 1994 by Dr. and Mrs. Hargus Taylor to provide strong Christian role models for generations of Chowan students and community members.

“I’ve heard about the good work that the college does in reaching out to students and to giving a wide array of students a chance to succeed,” remarked Dr. Willimon. “Speaking on the challenge of being and thinking like a Christian in today’s world, the Christian faith is a very different way of looking at who is in charge, where we are all headed, who God is and what our lives mean.”

Dr. Willimon has held such notable posts as the Dean of the Chapel at Duke University for the past 20 years, the United Methodist Church’s Bishop of the North Alabama Conference and is currently the Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School. Dr. Willimon is a prophetic writer, master-storyteller and has been regarded as one of the most influential preachers of our time. Willimon’s sixty books have sold millions of copies including Worship as Pastoral Care which was selected as one of the 10 most useful books for pastors by the Academy of Parish Clergy. Willimon is also editor-at-large for The Christian Century.

“Will Willimon is a gifted communicator. His humor, lively engagement and encouragement to ministers continue to make him one of the most widely-read and looked-to preachers,” said Rev. Drew Phillips, Associate Minister to Chowan University. “He encourages and challenges, very much like the Jesus to whom he’s pointing.”

If you and your congregation are away from campus and cannot attend the lecture this year, Chowan University will be livestreaming a broadcast online so patrons can still join in on the event. Follow along with the live feed at https://new.livestream.com/chowan/taylor-religious-heritage-lectures-2014 on September 29th at 11:00 am.

In addition to the lecture and a side venture to meet with the Hawks football team, Dr. Willimon will also be the featured guest speaker at Chowan University’s Fall Dinner Meeting of the Chowan Christian Service Association scheduled for that same night, Sept. 29th, in the Chowan Room of Thomas Dining Hall. The cost of the meal is $12 per person. Please send your RSVP by September 22nd to Director of Church and Community Relations, Lou Ann Gilliam, at gillil@chowan.eduor (252) 398-6317.