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The Cairo Lectures
The Cairo Lectures
is a program hosted by St. John’s Church, located in Maadi, Cairo,
Egypt. Inaugurated by the church in the fall of 2003. The Cairo
Lectures program, is an established lectureship, that brings to
Cairo, an individual of academic, artistic, literary or
religious
distinction to give a central lecture/presentation to an international
audience on a subject with a spiritual theme
relating to building bridges between the Middle East and the West,
and/or encouraging and deepening the faith of both Christians and others
in Egypt. Around the central event, the guest speaker gives other
presentations and talks to both Western and Egyptian audiences.
Forthcoming Lectures
The next guest speaker for the Cairo Lecture is
Reza Aslan.
 Reza
Aslan, an internationally acclaimed writer and scholar of religions,
is a contributing editor at the Daily Beast (www.thedailybeast.com).
Reza Aslan has degrees in Religions from Santa Clara University, Harvard
University, and the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as
a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa, where he was named
the Truman Capote Fellow in Fiction. He is a member of the Council on
Foreign Relations, the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities, and the
Pacific Council on International Policy. He serves on the board of
directors for both the Ploughshares Fund, which gives grants for peace
and security issues, Abraham's Vision, an interfaith peace organization,
and PEN USA.
Aslan's first book is the New York Times Bestseller,
No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, and Future of Islam, which
has been translated into thirteen languages, short-listed for the
Guardian First Book Award in the UK, and nominated for a PEN USA award
for research Non-Fiction. His most recent book is How to Win a Cosmic
War: God, Globalization, and the End of the War on Terror, followed
by an edited anthology, Words Without Borders: Writings from the
Middle East, which we will be published by Norton in 2010.
Aslan is Cofounder and Chief Creative Officer of BoomGen
Studios, the first ever motion picture company focused entirely on
entertainment about the Greater Middle East and its Diaspora
communities, as well as Editorial Executive of Mecca.com. Born in Iran,
he now lives in Los Angeles where he is Assistant Professor of Creative
Writing at the University of California, Riverside. See
www.rezaaslan.com
Past Lectures
Winter 2010
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The Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Dr. Richard Chartres, Bishop of London
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The guest speaker for The Cairo Lecture
in late January 2010 was The Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Dr
Richard Chartres, Bishop of London. Richard John Carew
Chartres became the 132nd Bishop of London in November 1995.
He was educated at Hertford Grammar School and studied
history at Trinity College Cambridge. Before ordination he
taught Ancient History at the International School in
Seville. He was ordained in 1973 and served as a curate in
St Andrew’s Bedford. In 1975 he was appointed Chaplain to
Robert Runcie, then Bishop of St Albans, and from 1980-84 he
served as the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Chaplain. He moved
to St Stephen’s Rochester Row in the Diocese of London in
1984. During eight years in the parish he also served as
Director of Ordinands for the Central Area and as Gresham
Professor of Divinity. He was consecrated Bishop of Stepney
in 1992. |
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After his move to the see of London, he was appointed
Dean of HM Chapels Royal in 1996 and a Privy Counsellor. This accounts
for the curious fact that the Bishop of London is the only bishop who
bears the title ‘Right Honourable’ in addition to the usual ‘Right
Reverend’. He is an ex officio member of the House of Lords.
He is an Honorary Bencher of the Middle Temple, Chairman
of the Ecumenical “London Church Leaders,” a director of Coexist
Foundation - a charity promoting interfaith understanding - and is
associated with numerous other London organisations. He is responsible
on behalf of the Archbishop of Canterbury for relations with the
Orthodox Churches.
He founded St Ethelburga’s Centre for Reconciliation and
Peace is currently the Chairman of the Trustees. His publications
include the book Tree of Knowledge, Tree of Life and many
articles and essays especially on religion and the environment.
He serves on the foundational executive committee of the
C-1 World Dialogue, a new high-level forum of global stature, dedicated
to exploring the love of neighbor, with an emphasis on inter-religious
and interfaith relations, that will carry on the work of the World
Economic Forum’s C-100 unit. He is married to Caroline, a freelance
writer, and they have four children – Alexander, Sophie, Louis and Clio.
His presentation for the Cairo Lecture, titled “Harmony
in Four Dimensions,” immediately preceded the opening of the 2010
Caravan Festival of the Arts at St. John’s Church, which Bishop
Richard officially opened for the Cairo community.
(Click here for Bishop Richard's lecture--Harmony
in Four Dimensions)
Spring
2009
— Thomas Cahill
 The special guest
speaker for the Spring 2009 Cairo Lectures April 1-4, was Thomas
Cahill, the author of the best-selling books, How the Irish
Saved Civilization: The Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role
from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe, The Gifts
of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way
Everyone Thinks and Feels, Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The
World Before and After Jesus, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the
Greeks Matter, and Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise
of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe.
These books comprise Volumes I, II, III, IV, and V
respectively of "The Hinges of History," a prospective seven-volume
series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western
civilization. Thomas Cahill is best known, in his books and lectures,
for taking on a broad scope of complex history and distilling it into a
remarkably accessible, illuminating and entertaining narrative. He
writes history, not in its usual terms of war and atrocity, but by
inviting his audience into an ancient world to commune with some of the
most influential people who ever lived.
A lifelong scholar, Thomas Cahill has studied with some
of America's most distinguished literary and biblical scholars. Born in
New York City to Irish-American parents, he studied Greek and Latin
literature, as well as medieval philosophy, scripture and theology, at
Fordham University, where he completed both a B.A. in classical
literature and philosophy, and a pontifical degree in philosophy. He
went on to complete his M.F.A. in film and dramatic literature at
Columbia University. He studied scripture at New York's Union
Theological Seminary, and recently spent two years as a Visiting Scholar
at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he studied Hebrew
and the Hebrew Bible in preparation for writing The Gifts of the
Jews. He also reads French and Italian. In 1999, he was awarded an
honorary doctorate from Alfred University in New York.
Thomas Cahill has taught at Queens College, Fordham
University, and Seton Hall University, served as the North American
education correspondent for the Times of London, and was for many years
a regular contributor to the Los Angeles Times Book Review. Prior to
retiring to write full-time, he was Director of Religious Publishing at
Doubleday for six years. He and his wife divide their time between New
York and Rome.
Thomas Cahill’s speaking schedule for The Cairo
Lectures entailed:
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April 1 at 5:30 PM---a lecture at The American
University of Cairo, titled “Close Encounters with People of the
Past” (an overview of Thomas Cahill’s Hinges of History
series)
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April 4 at 7 PM--The Cairo Lecture at St. John’s
Church/Maadi, titled “Mysteries, Myths and Truths: The Beginning
of the Modern World” (on his recent book, Mysteries of the
Middle Ages).
Winter
2009
—
Phillip Yancey
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On February 7-8, 2009, the special guest speaker
was Philip Yancey, the internationally acclaimed
best-selling US Christian author.
A native of Atlanta, Georgia, Philip Yancey
earned graduate degrees in Communications and English from
Wheaton College Graduate School and the University of
Chicago. He joined the staff of Campus Life Magazine in
1971, and worked there as Editor and then Publisher for
eight years.
In 1979 Philip Yancey became a full-time
writer. More than 700 of his articles have appeared in 80
different publications, including Reader’s Digest,
Publisher’s Weekly, National Wildlife, Christian Century and
The Reformed Journal. |
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He writes articles and a monthly column for
Christianity Today magazine, which he serves as Editor at Large, and
co-chairs the Editorial Board of Books and Culture, a publication
of Christianity Today.
His twenty books include Where Is God When It Hurts,
The Student Bible, and Disappointment with God. These books
have won twelve Gold Medallion Awards from the Evangelical Christian
Publishers Association and have sold more than fifteen million copies
and been translated into 33 languages. Three of those books (Fearfully
and Wonderfully Made, In His Image, and The Gift of Pain)
were co-authored with Dr. Paul Brand. Christian bookstore managers
selected The Jesus I Never Knew as the 1996 Book of the Year, and
What’s So Amazing About Grace won the same award in 1998. His
most recent books are Rumors of Another World and Prayer: Does
It Make Any Difference?
Philip Yancey lived in downtown Chicago for many years
before moving to a very different environment in Colorado. He enjoys
hiking, wildlife, and all the other delights of the Rocky Mountains.
Philip Yancey’s speaking schedule on his Cairo visit for
St. John’s Church entailed the following:
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A lecture at St. John’s Church on January 7, 2009
--Title of Lecture: “Thoughts on Prayer.”
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A lecture at All Saint’s Cathedral in downtown Cairo
on January 8, 2009—Title of Lecture: “What’s So Amazing About
Grace?”
Winter
2008 —Ambassador David Rawson
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Ambassador David
Rawson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Republics of Rwanda
(during the genocide) and Mali, is currently Professor of
Political Economy at Spring Arbor University and Distinguished
Visiting Professor of Political Science at Hillsdale College.
Coming from the Quaker tradition, David Rawson has been United
States Ambassador to the Republic of Mali from 1996-1999, and to
the Republic of Rwanda from 1993 to 1996 (during the genocide).
He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1971, serving in Rwanda,
Mali, Senegal, Madagascar, and Somalia as well as various
postings in the United States. A graduate of Malone College
(B.A.) and American University (M.A. and PhD), Ambassador Rawson
is a long-time student and practitioner of international
affairs. Under a grant from the United States Institute for
Peace, he is now exploring the Rwandan case in international
humanitarian intervention.
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He has been Chair of the UN Advisory Group on the West
African arms moratorium and consultant to the Partnership to Cut Hunger
and Poverty in Africa. Ambassador Rawson and his wife Sandra reside on
the family farm in Rollin Township, south-central Michigan.
Ambassador Rawson’s speaking schedule for The Cairo
Lectures entailed the following
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A lecture at
The Al Ahram Center for Political and
Strategic Studies--Title of Lecture: “Dealing Diplomatically with
Genocide. ”
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The Cairo Lecture at St. John’s Church on
January 29, 2008--Title of Lecture: “ Peacekeeping: Christ's
Mandate and the Real World”
(Click here for Ambassador Rawson’s lecture--Peacemaking)
Fall 2007—Anne
Lamott
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From November 1-3,
2007 the scheduled special guest speaker for The Cairo
Lectures at St. John’s Church was
Anne Lamott,
New York Times best-selling US author of Bird by Bird, Traveling Mercies, Plan
B, and Grace (Eventually).
Anne Lamott
is the author of six novels including, Hard Laughter, Rosie,
Joe Jones, All New People, and Crooked Little Heart
(the sequel to Rosie), as well as four best-selling books
of non-fiction, Operating Instructions, an account of
life as a single mother during her son’s first year and Bird
by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, a guide to
writing and the challenges of a writer’s life, Traveling
Mercies, a collection of autobiographical essays on faith,
and Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith.
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She has been
honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and has taught at U.C.
Davis, as well as at writing conferences across the country.
Lamott’s biweekly Salon Magazine “online diary” Word by Word was
voted The Best of the Web by Time magazine. Filmmaker Freida
Mock (who won an Academy Award for her documentary on Maya Lin)
has made a documentary on Lamott, entitled “Bird by Bird with
Annie” (1999). Anne Lamott’s most recent essay collection is
entitled Grace (Eventually): Thoughts on Faith (March
2007).
Her public
lectures/presentations took place at:
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The American
University of Cairo (AUC) on Thursday,
November 1, 2007.
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At St. John’s Church/Maadi at 7 PM on Saturday,
November 3, 2007.
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Fall 2006—William
Dalrymple
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From November
16-18, 2006 the scheduled special guest speaker for The Cairo
Lectures at St. John’s Church was
William
Dalrymple,
internationally acclaimed British writer, historian and
broadcaster. Born in Scotland and brought up on the
shores of the Firth of Forth, he wrote the highly acclaimed
bestseller In Xanadu when he was only twenty-two.
The book won the 1990 Yorkshire Post Best First Work Award and a
Scottish Arts Council Spring Book Award; it was also shortlisted
for the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. In 1989 Dalrymple
moved to Delhi where he lived for six years researching his
second book,
City of Djinns,
which won the 1994 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award and the Sunday
Times Young British Writer of the Year Award. |
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From the Holy Mountain, his acclaimed study of the
demise of Christianity in its Middle Eastern homeland, was
awarded the Scottish Arts Council Autumn Book Award for 1997; it
was also shortlisted for the 1998 Thomas Cook Award, the John
Llewellyn Rhys Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. A collection of
his writings about India,
The Age of Kali, won the French Prix de
l’Astrolabe in 2005.
White Mughals was published in 2003, and won the
Wolfson Prize for History 2003, the Scottish Book of the Year
Prize, and was shortlisted for the PEN History Award, the
Kiryama Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. His most
recent book, published by Bloomsbury in October 2006, is The
Last Mughals: The Eclipse of a Dynasty, Delhi 1857.
William Dalrymple
is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Royal
Asiatic Society. In 2002 he was awarded the Mungo Park Medal by
the Royal Scottish Geographical Society for his ‘outstanding
contribution to travel literature’. He wrote and presented
the television series Stones of the Raj and Indian Journeys,
which won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Series at
BAFTA in 2002. His Radio 4 series on the history of British
spirituality and mysticism, The Long Search, won the 2002
Sandford St. Martin Prize for Religious Broadcasting and was
described by the judges as “thrilling in its brilliance... near
perfect radio”. In December 2005 his article on the madrasas of
Pakistan was awarded the prize for Best Print Article of the
Year at the 2005 FPA Media Awards. June 2006 he was awarded the
degree of Doctor of Letters honoris causa from the University of
St Andrews "for his services to literature and international
relations, to broadcasting and understanding."
Dalrymple’s
interests include Asia, India, the Middle East, the Crusades,
Mughal rule, as well as the world of Islam and early Eastern
Christianity. He is an active opponent of what he describes as
“the rise of Islamophobia in the West,” and has written articles
and spoken in favor of a less extreme approach to the
contemporary issues involving Islam. William divides time
between London and Delhi.
His public
lectures/presentations in Cairo included:
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Islam
and Christianity: Clash or Clasp of Civilizations—at the
American University of Cairo (AUC) on Thursday,
November 16, 2006.
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From The
Holy Mountain—A Journey in the Shadow of Byzantium—an
illustrated talk on the demise of Christianity in its Middle
Eastern homeland. Held at St. John’s Church/Maadi on
Saturday, November 18, 2006.
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Spring 2006—Archbishop
Elias Chacour
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From May 4-6, 2006, the special guest for
The Cairo Lectures was
HE Elias Chacour, Archbishop of Galilee, renowned “Ambassador for Peace
and Reconciliation” and Nobel Peace Prize nominee for his outstanding
work of reconciliation between Palestinians, Israeli Jews, Druze,
Christians and Muslims.
Elias Chacour, the Melkite
Archbishop of Galilee, was born in the village of Biram in Upper Galilee
in Arab Palestine, to a Palestinian Christian family. At the age of
eight years, he experienced the tragedy of his people. He was evicted,
along with his whole village, by the Israeli authorities and became a
deportee and a refugee in his own country, the Palestine of his birth.
Because he remained in the country of his forefathers, he was granted
citizenship of Israel when the state of Israel was created in 1948.
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As a young priest in the village of Ibillin, Galilee, he had a vision of
a school for all the children of Israel –Christians, Muslims, Druze,
Palestinians and Israelis. Today, this vision has become a reality in
the Mar Elias Educational Institutions that has nearly 4,000 students
from kindergarten through to university, serving Palestinians, Israelis,
Christians, Muslims, Jews, and Druze students who learn together with
the goal of building peace in the Middle East.
Elias Chacour has
become a global ambassador for peace and reconciliation, not only
speaking on, but also living, the Sermon on the Mount. Many
international groups and institutions have honored Elias Chacour for his
outstanding work of reconciliation and peace. He has been nominated for
the Nobel Peace Prize on three occasions. Other awards he has received
are the prestigious World Methodist Peace Award (presented in the past
to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the late Egyptian President
Anwar el-Sadat), the Japanese Niwano Buddhist Peace Prize award, the
Italian Dante Alighieri Human Rights Award, and the Mediterranean Peace
Award. He has also received numerous honorary doctorates, including
those from Emory University and University of Indianapolis. He is the
author of two best-selling books, Blood Brothers and We Belong to the
Land.
Archbishop Chacour’s speaking schedule for The Cairo
Lectures entailed the following:
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A lecture at the American
University of Cairo (AUC)—sponsored by the School of Humanities and
Social Sciences. Title of Lecture: “The Future of Palestine—A Way
Forward: A look a some of the sociopolitical issues and where they may
lead”
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A presentation to the high school students and faculty at
the Cairo American College/Maadi.
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THE CAIRO LECTURE at
St.
John’s Church--Title of Lecture: “Blood Brothers: Living the Haunting
Words of the Man from Galilee—“Blessed are the Peacemakers”.
Fall 2005—Terry
Waite
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From November
10-12, 2005,
Terry Waite,
hostages’ negotiator, humanitarian and author was the special
guest to deliver for The Cairo Lectures.
Terry Waite has
led a remarkable life as a diplomat and a humanitarian. A world-renowned
agent of peace, he is a testament to the power and resilience of the
human spirit.
Long devoted to
humanitarian causes, inter-cultural relations, and conflict resolution,
Waite garnered international recognition in the 1980s when, serving as a
special envoy to the Archbishop of Canterbury, he successfully
negotiated the release of hostages in Iran and Libya. |
In the mid-80’s he often traveled to
Beirut, Lebanon, to seek the release of Western hostages. It was during
shuttle diplomacy between London and Beirut in January of 1987 that he
was taken hostage by Shiite Muslims. For the next five years or 1,763
days, Waite, 47, was confined by his captors. In captivity (four years
of which were in solitary confinement), he was chained to a wall, often
left in darkness, beaten and subjected to a mock execution.
Since
his release in September 1991, Waite has campaigned tirelessly to
humanitarian causes, lecturing, writing and making appearances all over
the world. He has been awarded an MBE and CBE in the United Kingdom and
been given numerous honorary degrees from universities. He is also
involved with many charities, including Emmaus. In his lectures, Waite
will provide audiences a perspective of world affairs founded on open
communication, cooperation and a deep understanding of diverse cultures,
with a particular focus on his experiences both as a hostage negotiator
and hostage.
Mr. Waite’s speaking
schedule for The Cairo Lectures entailed the following
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A lecture at American University of
Cairo (AUC)--Title of Lecture: “Terrorism--Root Issues: An Examination
of some of the root questions which give course to violent action”
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A presentation to the high school students and faculty at the Cairo
American College/Maadi.
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THE CAIRO LECTURE at St. John’s
Church--Title of Lecture: “Survival in Solitude”--- A talk of his own
experiences in solitary confinement in Beirut for almost five years.
Spring 2005—Dr.
Os Guiness
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From April 13-16, 2005, the
special guest speaker for The Cairo Lectures was
Dr. Os Guinness,
an author and cultural commentator who lives in the Washington
DC area, and the great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the
Dublin brewer. He completed his undergraduate degree at the
University of London and his D. Phil in the social sciences from
Oriel College, Oxford.
Dr. Guinness has written or edited more than twenty books. His latest
book, prior to his lectures in Cairo, was Unspeakable: Facing up to Evil
in a World of Genocide and Terror, and was published by Harper San
Francisco in January 2005. |
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He has been a Guest Scholar at the
Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies and a Guest Scholar and
Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution. From 1991 until 2004 he
was a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. A frequent speaker and seminar
leader at political and business conferences in both the United States
and Europe, he has also lectured at many universities, including Oxford
and Cambridge, Harvard and Stanford, and has spoken at the White House,
Capitol Hill and other public policy arenas around Washington. His deep
concern is to bridge the chasm between academic knowledge and popular
knowledge, especially as they concern matters of public policy.
Dr. Guinness’ speaking schedule for
The Cairo Lectures entailed the
following:
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A Lecture at American University of Cairo (AUC) as part
of the “Dean's Seminar Series,” and sponsored by the School of
Humanities and Social Sciences together with the Comparative Religion
section. The title of Lecture: “Making the World Safe for
Diversity—Living with our Deepest Differences in an Age of Exploding
Pluralism”
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A presentation titled “The Call – Finding and
Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life” for an English-speaking
gathering in Maadi hosted by St. John’s Church.
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THE CAIRO LECTURE
at St. John’s Church — Title of Lecture: “Unspeakable—Facing up to Evil
in an Age of Genocide and Terror”.
Fall
2004—The Rt
Revd Michael Marshall
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From
September 16-18, 2004, The
Rt. Revd. Michael Marshall, Assistant Bishop
of London and Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Sloane Street, Chelsea, was
the special guest speaker for The Cairo Lectures. Bishop Marshall, an
outstanding communicator, is a scholar and biographer of St. Augustine
of North Africa, and a renowned concert pianist.
His visit to
Cairo entailed:
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A lecture on the faith and life of “St. Augustine of North Africa”
at St. John’s Church.
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Three performances of “Reflections from the
Keyboard”—a special presentation of lecture and piano recital on the
life of faith from the music of Mozart, Bach, Chopin, Schubert,
Beethoven, among other composers--exploring faith through words and
music.
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