Washington Adventist University Presents its 36th G. Arthur Keough Lectureship April 10-11
Two Lectures Will Explore the Concept of Liminality
Takoma Park, MD (March 24, 2015) Washington Adventist University’s 36th G. Arthur Keough Lectureship will be held on campus April 10-11, and it is open to the public. The lectureship will feature two presentations on the topic of liminality by Zdravko Plantak, Ph.D., who is the former chair of the Washington Adventist University Department of Religion. Both lectures will be held in the Richards Hall Chapel, lower level of Building 10, which is located next to the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church at the corner of Flower and Carroll avenues in Takoma Park, Maryland.
In the lecture on Friday, April 10 at 6 p.m., Plantak will present “Radical Liminality: Re-Imagining and Re-Performing our Faith on the Thresholds of Life.” Plantak describes liminality as “finding ourselves between doorposts, on a threshold of life. We experience such liminal moments in our personal lives, in the ecclesiastical life, and in the culture and world in which we live. A solution for such ‘in-between’ times is to creatively and radically reimagine new possibilities and different ways, and then start performing afresh our faith in such vulnerable and marginal moments.”
The lecture on Saturday, April 11 at 4 p.m. will cover “Liminal Radicality: The Mission of the Church through the Embodied Proclamation.” In Plantak’s words, “The church lacks sufficient radicality in its mission to the world. The church’s role is to be the body of Christ in the ‘in-between’ time. We must be rooted (and therefore truly radical or sourced) in the mission that is not just talking the talk (evangelizing with words and doctrines) but especially walking the walk (being the community that represents the kingdom of God through incarnational embodied ministry).”
Plantak currently serves as the Professor of Ethics at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. A native of Croatia, Plantak received his bachelor’s degree in theology from Newbold College in England, followed by a master’s degree in theology from Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He earned his Ph.D. in theology and Christian Ethics from King’s College, University of London.
During his early career, Plantak served as a pastor in Croatia and England, in addition to leading youth ministries and presenting at numerous conferences and lectureships. During his 16 years with Washington Adventist University, Plantak served in a variety of positions in addition to that of chair of the Department of Religion. He directed a master’s program and developed several online undergraduate and graduate courses on such topics as ethical leadership, public service ethics, and ethics in the modern world. He also led a number of educational tours of the Holy Land and Europe. Until recently, he chaired the Board of the Center for Metropolitan Ministry (Washington, DC), is a past president and current member of the Adventist Society of Religious Studies, and is a member of the Board of Ministerial and Theological Education for the North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (BMTE) and the World Church (IBMTE).
Plantak is also a member of the Board of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and has professional affiliations with the Adventist Peach Fellowship (APF), the American Academy of Religion (AAR), the American Philosophical Association (PA), Society for Biblical Literature (SBL), Society of Adventist Philosophers (SAP), and the Society of Christian Ethicists (SCE). Due to his expertise in the topic of Christian ethics, Plantak serves on the Internal Review Board of Washington Adventist Hospital and the Institutional Biohazards Committee for research on human subjects for Washington Adventist Hospital and other Montgomery County, Maryland hospitals. He has been published in professional journals and religious magazines, and has produced a book on human rights and social justice.
This year’s Keough Lectureship was organized by Mikhail Kulakov, D. Phil., professor of the Washington Adventist University Department of Religion and director of the WAU Bible Translation Institute.
For more information about the lectureship, contact Danielle Barnard at 301-891-4033. Washington Adventist University is Metro accessible, and there is plenty of free parking in lots both behind the building (off Greenwood Avenue) and across Flower Avenue.
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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s eight graduate and 32 undergraduate programs. The 2014 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.
Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-891-4134, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wu.edu