wfn.org | Martin Marty to Address Religion Communication Congress 2000

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Contact: Kelly Martini
Promotions Co-Chairperson
Religious Communications Congress
kmartini@gbgm-umc.org
212/870-2985; FAX 212/870-3578

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Martin Marty to Address Religion Communications Congress
by Suzy Heydel

         (New York, NY) Dr. Martin E. Marty, writer, theologian and 
distinguished authority on American religious tradition, will be a featured 
speaker at the Religion Communication Congress (RCC) 2000.
         This international, multifaith gathering will be held in Chicago, 
March 29-April 1, 2000 and is expected to draw more than 1,500 religion 
communicators from around the globe.
         According to RCC 2000 chairperson Shirley Whipple Struchen, "As 
the author of 50 books on theology, ethics, history and culture, Dr. Marty 
is eminently qualified to draw upon his scholarly perspective of the past 
to inspire religion communicators to see the possibilities of the new 
millennium."
         Marty  is a contributing editor to the weekly Christian Century 
and the newsletter Context, which examines the interaction of religion and 
culture.
         Born in Nebraska in 1928, Marty was ordained in the ministry in 
1952. He served for a decade as a Lutheran pastor before joining the 
University of Chicago faculty in 1963. He recently retired from the 
university after a 35-year career teaching in the schools of divinity, 
medicine and arts and sciences. The university named him the Fairfax M. 
Cone Distinguished Service Professor and established the Martin Marty 
Center in his honor to promote public religion endeavors.
         Marty is the past president of the American Academy of Religion, 
the American Society of Church History and the American Catholic Historical 
Association.
         His academic awards include 56 honorary degrees, the National 
Humanities Medal (1997), the National Book Award (1972) and the Medal of 
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1995).
         Among friends and colleagues, Marty is as well known for his 
quirks and quips as for his professional achievements. His 10-minute "power 
naps" have become part of the campus lore at the University of Chicago, and 
it's said that he began his long tenure with a warning to his secretary not 
to call an ambulance if she noticed him stretched out on the floor. Marty 
freely admits to his colleagues at Claretian Publications that he does most 
of his research for the Context newsletter while he's in the bathtub.
         The theme of RCC 2000 will be "Faith Stories in a Changing World" 
and will focus upon sharing the faith through spoken, electronic, 
cyberspace, written and artistic stories. This once-in-a-decade forum will 
include state-of-the-art communications exhibits, more than 70 workshops 
geared to both beginning and veteran communicators, expressions of faith, 
banquets, denominational and interfaith meetings and awards presentations. 
The goal of the event is to broaden the perspectives of professional 
communicators of religion.  Past congresses have featured presentations and 
greetings from such esteemed communicators as Bill Moyers, Pauline Webb of 
the BBC and Pope John Paul II.
      For more information about RCC 2000, or to request a copy of the 
registration booklet, contact the Congress office at 212/870-2985 (phone) 
or 212/870-3575 (fax); visit the website www.RCC2000.org to register online 
and receive an update on workshops and other conference activities.

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