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Keynote Address |
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Rev. Chris Buice is minister of the Tennessee Valley
Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a graduate of
the Earlham School of Religion, a theology school associated with the
Society of Friends (Quakers.) He is the author of the books A Bucketful of
Dream: Contemporary Parables for all Ages and Roller-skating as a
Spiritual Discipline and Other Meditations. |
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Keynote address: “Answering the Call : Répondre à
l'appel”
Religion is an attempt to respond to
fundamental existential questions, “Who am I? Why am I
here? What is my purpose?” On one level, we can answer
these questions with our words. On a deeper level we can
answer them with our life choices. The decisions we make
and the actions we take determine how we “answer the call”
as individuals, congregations and as a national and
international faith community. In 2008 Chris attended our
Annual Conference Meeting on a sabbatical trip with his
son Christopher and daughter Sarah. Chris returned to his
church from his sabbatical to face the most challenging
year of his ministry.
On July 27th a gunman
opened fire in his church killing two people and wounding
6 others and traumatizing an entire community. In a
manifesto in his own handwriting the assailant said he was
motivated by his hatred of “liberals.” Chris will share
how his experiences in Canada helped prepare him for the
pastoral work of trauma recovery and the public ministry
of speaking out for a more just and peaceful society. He
will ask us to reflect on the deeper meaning of what it
means to be a part of a faith tradition where we discover
together who we are, why we are here and what our larger
purpose in the world is meant to be. |
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