Guthrie & MN Consortium of Theological Schools Offers Special Post-play FAITH Discussions 11/10, 11/17

The Guthrie today announced that it will partner with the Minnesota Consortium of Theological Schools to offer "Reflections by Theologians and Physicians," two panel discussions following the November 10 and 17 performances of Brian Friel's Faith Healer on the McGuire Proscenium Stage. The discussions are free and open to the public, and will begin at approximately 10:15 p.m. Single tickets for Faith Healer start at $29, and are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, 612.225.6244 (Group Sales) and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

These interfaith and interdisciplinary panel discussions mark a first-time partnership between the Guthrie Theater and the Minnesota Consortium of Theological Schools, which is comprised of Bethel Seminary, Luther Seminary, St. John's, The Saint Paul Seminary and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Discussions will begin with remarks by each of the panelists on how the arts and themes found in Faith Healer intersect with theology and healing, and will then open to audience participation.

Tuesday, November 10, 7:30 p.m. (Discussion to follow performance)
Dr. Chris Armstrong, associate professor of Church History, Bethel Seminary
Dr. Frederick Gaiser, professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary
Dr. Jon Hallberg, University of Minnesota Medical School
Dr. Adil Ozdemir, assistant professor, Theology Department, University of St. Thomas
Rev. Mary E. McNamara, president, United Theological Seminary, moderator

Tuesday, November 17, 7:30 p.m. (Discussion to follow performance)
Rabbi Barry D. Cytron, Macalester College
Fr. Anthony Ruff, O.S.B., St. John's School of Theology
Martha Postlethwaite, chaplain and assoc. professor, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
Dr. Gregory A. Plotnikoff, The Penny George Institute for Health and Healing
Dr. Richard Bliese, president, Luther Seminary, moderator
Heralded by Minnesota Monthly as one of the fall theater season's "can't-miss moments," Guthrie Director Joe Dowling - known throughout the United States and Ireland as a preeminent director and scholar of Friel's work - makes his American acting debut in the title role of Faith Healer, an intimate portrait of three adults told through a series of four emotionally stirring monologues. Frank (Dowling), Grace (Sally Wingert) and Teddy (Raye Birk) each describe their own version of the personal and professional bond they share, the astonishing yet unpredictable nature of Frank's ability, and how their lives were ultimately shaped forever by a single event.

Benjamin McGovern, the Guthrie's associate director of studio programming, serves as the associate director for Faith Healer, with an artistic team that includes Frank Hallinan Flood (Set Designer), Christine A. Richardson (Costume Design), Marcus Dilliard (Lighting Designer), Scott W. Edwards (Sound Designer), Lucinda Holshue (Voice and Language Consultant), Jo Holcomb (Dramaturgy), Martha Kulig (Stage Manager) and Chris A. Code (Assistant Stage Manager).
Panelists for Tuesday, November 10 (Discussion follows performance)

Dr. Chris Armstrong, associate professor of Church History, Bethel Seminary
Armstrong came to Bethel from the managing editor's chair at Christian History & Biography magazine, a publication of Christianity Today International. He continues to write for Christian History & Biography, Christianity Today, Leadership Journal, and www.christianhistory.net. He is a member of several professional associations related to church history and the Wesleyan and Pentecostal movements. Armstrong's research foci include religion and emotion, Christianity and literature, and the Christ-and-culture conversation. His doctoral work focused on the 19th-century holiness movement, and his current research interests include the British "Inklings" authors and modern appropriations of medieval ideas and practices. He is currently finishing a book with the Working Title Patron Saints for Postmoderns.

Dr. Frederick Gaiser, professor of Old Testament, Luther Seminary
Dr. Frederick Gaiser is professor of Old Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, where he has taught since 1974. He earned his PhD at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, and served parishes in the ELCA prior to coming to Luther. Gaiser has taught often in Africa, where he was introduced to healing in very different cultural contexts. He regularly teaches a course on Healing in the Bible, and his book tentatively titled "O Lord, Heal Me": Healing in the Bible will appear next year from Baker Academic Press.

Dr. Jon Hallberg, University of Minnesota Medical School
Jon Hallberg is an assistant professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota Medical School and is the medical director of the new Mill City Clinic. Jon has served as company physician for the Guthrie for over 12 years. A graduate of Saint Olaf College and the University of Minnesota Medical School, Jon has served as the regular health and medical analyst on the regional "All Things Considered" on Minnesota Public Radio since 2003, appearing over 200 times. Jon and his family are active members of Plymouth Congregational Church.

Dr. Adil Ozdemir, assistant professor, Theology Department, St. Thomas University
Dr. Ozdemir, a native of Turkey, taught Qur'anic rhetoric at Nine September University in Izmir, Turkey, for twenty five years. Since 2003 he has been teaching courses on Islam at the University of St. Thomas. He is the co-author (with Kenneth Frank) of Visible Islam in Modern Turkey (Macmillan, 2000).

Rev. Mary E. McNamara, president, United Theological Seminary, moderator
The Reverend Mary McNamara began in the role of president at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cites on July 1, 2009. Prior to coming to United, Mary was the executive vice president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She grew up in Cambridge, Minn., is a graduate of Carleton College and Harvard Divinity School, and is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

Panelists for November 17 (Discussion follows performance)

Rabbi Barry D. Cytron, Macalester College
Rabbi Barry Cytron currently serves as Jewish chaplain and professor of religious studies at Macalester College. From 1996 until his retirement in 2009, he was director of the Jay Phillips Center for Jewish-Christian Learning, a partnership of Saint John's University and the University of St. Thomas. From 1972 until he assumed his post in 1996, he served as a congregational rabbi, first at Tifereth Israel synagogue in Des Moines, Iowa (1972-1983) and then at Adath Jeshurun Congregation in Minneapolis (1983-1996). Rabbi Cytron holds both bachelors and masters degrees from Columbia University, ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and a Ph.D. from Iowa State University. In 1996 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from his rabbinic alma mater. Active in both communal and interfaith activities, he serves on the National Council of Synagogues and participates in its regular consultations with the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. He has delivered papers twice at the national Workshop on Jewish-Christian Relations and at the Lilly/ADL Interfaith Symposium at Indiana University.

Fr. Anthony Ruff, O.S.B., St. John's School of Theology
Fr. Anthony is a monk of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, where he teaches theology, liturgical music, and Gregorian chant at St. John's University and School of Theology/Seminary. He has masters degrees from St. John's and Yale University, and a doctorate from the University of Graz, Austria. He is the founding director of the National Catholic Youth Choir. He is on the advisory board of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, and serves as chair of this organization's chant subcommittee. His book Sacred Music and Liturgical Reform: Treasures and Transformations is a 702-page study of the musical reforms of Second Vatican Council. His Responsorial Psalms for Daily Mass: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter appeared last year, and forthcoming is his chant collection, Canticum novum: Gregorian Chant for Today's Choirs. He is a frequent presenter across the U.S. on topics of liturgy and music, and he has published widely in liturgical and musical journals. He plays organ and directs Gregorian chant at the abbey, and does priestly ministry at the Stearns County jail and for the neighboring community of Benedictine sisters.

Martha Postlethwaite, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities
Martha Postlethwaite serves as chaplain and associate professor of Spiritual Formation at United Theological Seminary. She is an ordained minister in the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. She received her BA. in Religion from Carleton College, her M.Div. from Union Theological Seminary in N.Y.C., her MA. In Counseling Psychology from the Alfred Adler Institute of Chicago and her certificate in Spiritual Direction from the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Martha has worked in hospice and hospital chaplaincies as well as serving in the local parish. Her last parish appointment was as Minister of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church in Minneapolis. At United, she works individually with students in an integrated program of spiritual formation and directs the worship program. She is also the coordinator of the Lilly-funded Pastoral Residency Program in Minneapolis. The healing aspect of her work is found in deep listening.

Dr. Greg Plotnikoff, Institute for Health and Healing
Gregory A. Plotnikoff, MD, MTS, FACP, medical director of Abbott Northwestern Hospital's Penny George Institute for Health and Healing, is a board-certified internist and pediatrician who has received international honors for his work in cross-cultural and integrative medicine. A graduate of Carleton College, Harvard Divinity School, and the University of Minnesota Medical School, Dr. Plotnikoff returned to Minnesota in 2008 after six years in Tokyo, Japan where he was an associate professor at Keio University School of Medicine. In Japan he was active in East-West medical integration issues with the Japanese Society of Oriental Medicine, National Geographic and the World Health Organization. While in Japan, he received several international awards for research and teaching as well as the Early Career Distinguished Achievement Award from the University of Minnesota Medical School.

Dr. Plotnikoff is well known for his work in interventional nutrition, herbal medicines and spirituality in clinical care. He has additional training as a hospital chaplain, in medical acupuncture, in mind-body skills and as a practitioner of Traditional East Asian Medicine. He is the author of 14 textbook chapters and 50 articles in the medical literature including six in Japanese. He is a Fellow of the United States-Japan Foundation Leadership program, the Bush Foundation Leadership Program and of the American College of Physicians.

Dr. Richard Bliese, president, Luther Seminary, moderator
Richard H. Bliese joined the Luther Seminary faculty as academic dean and associate professor of mission in July 2003. He was elected president of Luther Seminary in 2005. Previously, Bliese served as the director of graduate studies and Augustana Heritage associate professor of global mission and evangelism at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). He is an experienced pastor, missionary, teacher, administrator and scholar who has served in America, Germany, Zaire and Rwanda. He is also particularly experienced in missiology, the study of the mission of the church. After earning his master of divinity degree from Christ Seminary-Seminex, St. Louis, Mo., in 1981, Bliese accepted his first call as an ordained pastor at St. Stephanus Lutheran Church in Herne, Germany. After serving four years, he accepted a position with the United Evangelists Missions in Germany as director of continuing education program for pastors and evangelists in Zaire and Rwanda. From 1986 to 1990, he ministered to a small urban congregation in Bukavu, Zaire and focused on directing continuing education programs at the Centre D'Accueil Protestante Ecumenical Center (C.A.P.), School for Evangelists in Zaire and Rwanda. He established C.A.P. schools of music, evangelism and language and co-founded a regional development office for research and technical assistance. After ten years overseas, he returned to the U.S. and earned a master of theology in 19th and 20th century theology (1992) and a Ph.D. in confessional theology (1995) from LSTC. While studying and teaching at LSTC, Bliese served as a part-time pastor at St. Andrews Lutheran Church in Glenwood, Ill.

About the Guthrie
The Guthrie Theater, founded in 1963, is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Guthrie is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. Led by Director Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie opened its new three-theater home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis in June 2006.

The Guthrie is located at 818 South 2nd Street (at Chicago Avenue), in downtown Minneapolis. To purchase tickets or season subscriptions call the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224 or toll-free 877.44.STAGE. For more information, or to purchase tickets online, visit www.guthrietheater.org.

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