Perhaps no subject is so central to the Christian life and so little understood as death. We will spend a week thinking, talking and writing about many aspects of death -- ours and others'. And we will share our essays, poems, hymns, sermons and other writing with each other as we affirm that we cannot understand our own life if we don't understand our own death.
We will explore Christian belief, such as the difference between the doctrine of the resurrection of the body and the old Greek idea of the immortality of the soul. We will unpack our own experiences with death, from our earliest memories of family and friends dying to our current hopes and fears about our own death. And we will sample some of the most moving and memorable literature on the subject as a way of inspiring us to write about the subject in ways that will help others integrate the idea of their own death into a joyful and fulfilling life.
The course leader is an award-winning journalist, author, Presbyterian elder and veteran Ghost Ranch instructor who has written about many aspects of death for decades, including in his new book, They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust. He will use that experience to help class participants explore the mysteries of death in their own writing.
July 12 - 18, 2010 Ghost Ranch Abiquiu
Registration fee: $350 + housing & meals Before May 15: Save $100
Bill Tammeus, Kansas City, MO Bill is the former Faith section columnist for The Kansas City Star, where he also served as a reporter and editorial page columnist. He now writes a monthly column for The Presbyterian Outlook and a daily "Faith Matters" blog for the KC Star's web site. Bill has won awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists, which he has served as president, and the American Academy of Religion. He won the 2005 Wilbur Award for the best religion column in the country and received the David Steele Distinguished Writer Award from the Presbyterian Writers Guild in 2003. He's author of A Gift of Meaning, and co-author of They Were Just People: Stories of Rescue in Poland During the Holocaust. He's married to Marcia Tammeus, a Ghost Ranch board member. Between them they have six children and six grandchildren. For more information, see http://billtammeus.typepad.com.
Online Registration Form - payment required.
Abiquiu 2010 Registration Form 128.55 Kb - fill in and submit by regular mail.
