Diversionary Hosts Panel Discussion on Faith & Family in Conjunction with NEXT FALL, 3/8,15

In conjunction with it's current production of Next Fall, Diversionary Theatre has assembled a panel of faith and secular leaders for a conversation about faith, religion, and belief and how they shape our lives and our relationships.

Geoffrey Nauffts; Tony nominated play, Next Fall explores the relationship between Adam and Luke; Adam is an atheist and Luke a deeply religious Christian. Despite their differencesm they love each other, but do they ever truly accept each other? How do their friends and family come to grips with this "odd-couple" relationship?  What is the nature of belief and how does it shape the way we view the world? 

Panel leaders include Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Executive Director of Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County (ICWJ), Rev. Dan Koeshall (Senior Pastor at Metropolitan Community Church), Jeannie Burke (Buddhist Chaplain), Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal (Rabbi at Tifereth Israel Synagogue), Chris Harris (Canon for Congregational Development at St. Paul's Cathedral), Debbie Allen (President of The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego).

 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

"A Rabbi, A Pastor and A Buddhist walk into a theatre…"  Conversations about Faith & Family.

Thurs., March 8 2012

Show @ 7:30; Panel discussion immediately following

Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Executive Director of Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of San Diego County (ICWJ). ICWJ's mission is to educate and mobilize the San Diego religious communities and people of faith to support issues and campaigns that will sustain lives with dignity for workers and their families by such means as improving wages, benefits and working conditions.

Rev. Dan Koeshall, Senior Pastor at Metropolitan Community Church. Pastor Dan arrived in San Diego from the snowy Rocky Mountains where he served 2 years as the Interim Pastor at Pikes Peak MCC in Colorado Springs and was a member of that city's new gay men's chorus. Dan graduated from Fuller Theological Seminary and was ordained in the Assemblies of God. He served at The Neighborhood Church in Escondido for 9 years and at MCCSD for 7 years where he served as Choir Director and later as Associate Pastor under Rev. Tony Freeman.

Jeannie Burke, Buddhist Chaplain at a local San Diego Hospice

 

"A Rabbi, An Episcopal and A Humanist walk in to a theatre…" Conversations about Faith & Family.

Thurs., March 15, 2012

Show @ 7:30; Panel discussion immediately following

Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal, Tifereth Israel Synagogue. Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal is a native Californian and received his B.A. from the University of California in San Diego and attended the Hebrew University in Jerusalem during his junior year. After graduating college he entered rabbinical school at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, where he received a B.L. degree. He continued his studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York where he received his M.A. and rabbinic ordination. Rabbi Rosenthal served congregations in New Jersey, Florida and Orange County, California before becoming rabbi of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego, California, where he has served for over twenty years. He is an Executive Board member of the Pacific Southwest Region of the Rabbinical Assembly and a Past President of the San Diego Rabbinical Association.

Chris Harris, Canon for Congregational Development for St. Paul's Cathedral. Worship at Saint Paul's Cathedral reveals the beauty and tradition of Episcopal liturgy in a warm and inclusive atmosphere. We thoughtfully engage the critical issues facing our contemporary world and we hold one another and these concerns in our prayers. We believe that the Holy Spirit has called us to express our openness to God and to one another through worship, prayer, learning, service and generosity of spirit.

Debbie Allen, President of The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego. The Humanist Fellowship of San Diego affirms that human experience is the fundamental source for ultimate values and concerns pertaining to all individuals and societies; that all peoples should live in a free, democratic environment that promotes individual self-determination guided by a Humanistic philosophy built upon principles of rationalism, compassion, and justice. 

 

About Diversionary

Diversionary Theatre develops new works and produces plays and musicals that explore the issues, characters and stories of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in all its complexity and diversity. Founded in 1986 to bring to light important social issues that impact the quality of life of LGBT people, the company has grown into professional theatre company producing a season of mainstage plays and musicals as well as nurturing LGBT artists in the development of new works of theatre through new play commissions, readings and workshops.  It regularly collaborates with other theatre and arts groups to present special events and co-productions of mainstage plays, thus involving a wider arts community in its mission.

Faith and Family Panel Discussion Thurs. March 8 and March 25, 2012 at Diversionary Theatre 4545 Park Blvd. San Diego CA 92116. The panel is free with admission to the show. Ticket prices are $31.00.

For tickets or information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or visit www.diversionary.org .

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