2012 Fr. John vonHolzhausen Lecture

Bishop Seraphim Sigrist on his book
A Life Together: Wisdom of Community from the Christian East

Bishop Seraphim Saturday, March 24, 2012

Great Vespers: 5pm
Dinner: 6pm
Lecture: 6:45pm

About this book

“What if humanity came together in the light and spirit poured out at Pentecost? Would it not be possible to become of one heart and mind and to discover a unity? Can we live together, and together touch the Divine?”

Written in the tradition of the Orthodox East’s “desert tradition” of short meditations on spiritual themes, Bishop Seraphim’s new book is the Eastern Church’s answer to Bonheoffer’s great reflection on similar themes. Here, Bishop Seraphim explores the Russian understanding of the term Sobornost, a word for “community” first introduced in the 19th century, which has taken shape as a key concept for exploring what community means and how unity between human beings is truly possible. This uniquely Eastern perspective on a topic of interest to people everywhere will appeal to anyone hungering for a new understanding of community that can inspire daily life. The book will also leave readers with the happy awareness that the history of the Church is not something closed and complete, nor is Christianity an exhausted creed which has run its course. Instead, Christianity is young and ever new, and the Church is just beginning to discover the inwardness that is implicit in the Gospels.

John McGuckin, editor of The Encyclopedia of Eastern Orthodox Christianity, offers this commendation: "Bishop Seraphim’s elegant and wise book is full of riches. He excavates the nature of love that builds up the mystery of the human being in and through community.”

Related Links: Bishop Seraphim's Biography