4/14 to 4/16/2009 - The Art of Parables
 Charles McCollough
4/14 to 4/16/2009
Tues 6:30 Dinner thru Thurs lunch
$325
This event will explore the parables of Jesus using images, lectures and discussion. Parables have been repeated over and over since Jesus’ time; but most often they were interpreted as private moral teachings that ignored their context of political/economic oppression.
Using PowerPoint projections of original sculptural images and the author’s recently published book, The Art of Parables, McCollough makes presentations and leads discussions on the meanings of the parables, Jesus’ main teaching tool. He will illustrate how to use the book and CD in worship and educational settings. A special focus of his interpretation is the political/economic context of Roman occupation of Palestine and how similar meanings apply to our post colonial world today. The rule of violence and fear in the Roman empire is not limited to Jesus’ time. This approach to the parables will show how non-violence and courage in God’s Empire (the central focus of the parables) contrasts sharply with Roman rule and the powers of our day.
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McCollough has a Ph. D in theology and is also a sculptor. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and has worked on the national level of the UCC in the areas of adult education and social action. He now works full time as an artist frequently teaching in seminaries and churches and completing sculpture commissions.
McCollough is a visiting lecturer at Drew Theological where his 12 sculptures for the walls of the school will be installed this fall to be used in teaching the Hebrew Bible. Also, this fall he will be teaching in Germany and the Czech Republic. In the academic year of ’09-’10 he will be artist in residence at New Brunswick Theological Seminary. He is frequently on book tours presenting his new book The Art of Parables, his seventh published book.
For a full write-up of this program suitable for posting, please click here.
After Charles McCollough completed college at the University of Texas, seminary at Southern Methodist University, and his PhD in at Drew University (NJ), he served as a local church pastor and teacher. He worked nationally for 17 years as the director for adult education for the United Church of Christ (UCC) in Philadelphia and New York. Next he was based in Washington, DC, serving for 14 years on the national staff of the UCC as an advocate for the environment, peace, and social justice. He also has taught art and social ethics in colleges and seminaries.
At the same time, McCollough pursued his love and talent for art, studying sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Johnson Atelier, the Princeton Art Association, and Mercer College. He has served as resident artist at three seminaries, all of which have his works on permanent display. He has had numerous solo exhibits in Washington, New York, Boston, and the Princeton, NJ area, winning many commissions and awards. Currently Charles is Visiting Lecturer at Drew University and in 2009 will teach at New Brunswick Seminary (NJ).
McCollough is the author of seven books: Morality of Power, Heads of Heaven/Feet of Clay, Lifestyles of Faithfulness, To Love the Earth, Resolving Conflict with Justice and Peace, Faith Made Visible, and The Art of Parables (2008).
He sculpts, writes, and lectures while living on an old farm in central New Jersey.
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