The SymposiumFor I Am Holy: The Command to Be Like God
It's hard to believe we've been organizing the Symposium for a decade now. But here we are, ready for another great dialogue of love and truth where where prayer, learning, friendship, and feasting take a front seat over the course of the event.
One of the questions we are always pondering at Eighth Day Institute is, "How can we renew our culture?" And one of the answers we keep coming back to is quite simple, but very difficult to achieve: "Be holy." We hope you can join us as we ponder this command from God as a way to think about renewing our souls and cities.
The Pre-Symposium SeminarHoliness in the Bible, the Fathers, the Liturgy & Literature
If you really want to dig into the Symposium theme, come early and join us for the seminar. In addition to prayer and teaching, we'll be reading and discussing texts related to holiness and the Transfiguration from the Bible, the Fathers, the liturgy and literature.
Seating is limited to first 20 registrants. A full schedule with a list of texts will be published soon.
The Festal BanquetSt. Maximus the Confessor, Holiness & Cultural Renewal
As any past Symposium attendee will attest, one of the highlights is the annual festal banquet. In addition to the a stringed-quartet and delicious food, each year we celebrate a hero of our faith (past years include St Gregory the Theologian, St Anthony the Great, St. Athanasius, St Cyril of Alexandria, St Gregory of Nyssa, St Basil the Great, and St. Mary of Egypt) and the Symposium speakers offer reflections on cultural renewal. But the most stunning part of the evening has consistently been the Cathedral Choir's series of ancient hymns. And the desert auction has become quite the adventurous (and competitive) way to cap the evening off.
Symposium Reflections on Holiness
The Old Testament is a strange library. Sometimes we do some unhelpful things to the stranger portions of it in an attempt to domesticate it and make it fit into our paradigm of spiritual reading. The Levitical dietary code is a perfect example. Every few years or so Christian booksellers promote a new book or program promising better health by way of observing the instructions of Leviticus 11.
Let's start with the name. The name “seven deadly sins” actually has a much shorter history than “capital vices” or “capital sins,” both of which bear a more ancient and longstanding pedigree. And in a fun twist, the name seven deadly sins is typically used by Protestants, who by and large reject the distinction between venial and mortal sins, to which the word “deadly” in the name refers.
The Church was born in Holiness. In and through the holy lives and witness of the early apostles, martyrs and confessors was Christianity indelibly impressed on history. Holiness is true war, reason, and morality. And the early Christians “fought” by prayer, service, and martyrdom.
Symposium Speaker Testimonials
"The splendid Eighth Day community constitutes a vital alternative to the stale denominationalism that characterizes much of contemporary church life, as well as the flaccid secularism of the culture at large."
Ralph WoodBaylor University
"Your annual symposiums have become the stuff of legend."
James K. A. SmithCalvin College
What Attendees Are Saying
"What a tremendous conference! It set my life on a new course. I can't say that about any other conference I've ever attended."
Catholic
"I've put together lots of conferences and know what it takes. You get an A+ in my book! Everything about it was superb - the speakers, the topics, the venue, the books, the Feast! - everything exceeded my expectations."
Protestant
"Eighth Day has much wisdom to offer a world drowning in a sea of information. The Symposium and its associated journal Synaxis help stir up a think tank in the empty gutter of modern society."
Orthodox
The Speakers
Dr. David Fagerberg
David Fagerberg holds a B.A. from Augsburg College (1972), M.Div. from Luther Northwestern Seminary (1977), M.A. from St. John’s University, Collegeville (1982), S.T.M. from Yale Divinity School (1983), and M.A., M.Phil., and PhD. from Yale University (1991). He taught in the Religion Department of Concordia College, Moorhead, MN, from 1988-2001; the Liturgical Institute at Mundelein Seminary 2002-03; he has been at Notre Dame since 2003. His area of study is liturgical theology – its definition and methodology – and how the Church’s lex orandi
(law of prayer) is the foundation for her lex credendi
(law of belief). He also has interests in sacramental theology, Eastern Orthodoxy, linguistic philosophy, scholasticism, G. K. Chesterton, and C.S. Lewis.
Fr. Stephen Freeman
Fr. Stephen Freeman is an archpriest in the Orthodox Church in America and serves as pastor of St. Anne Orthodox Church in Oak Ridge, TN. He was educated at Furman University, Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and Duke University. He is author of the popular blog, Glory to God for All Things, and of the weekly podcast, Glory to God, on Ancient Faith Radio. His work has been widely translated and published in Europe and Russia.
Dr. Jessica Hooten Wilson
Jessica Hooten Wilson
is the author of three books: Giving the Devil his Due: Flannery O’Connor and The Brothers Karamazov, which received a 2017 Christianity Today book of the year award; Walker Percy, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and the Search for Influence; and Reading Walker Percy’s Novels. In 2019 she received the Hiett Prize for Humanities from the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture. She is co-editor of the volume Beyond the Soul and Barbed Wire, a collection of essays on the legacy of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Currently, she is preparing Flannery O’Connor’s unfinished novel Why Do the Heathen Rage?
for publication. She has spoken at venues across the world from high schools and universities to churches and embassies on topics ranging from the nature of suffering to the joy of poetry.
The Schedule
Wednesday 1.22.20
9:00 a.m. Third Hour Prayer at The Ladder
9:30 a.m. Pre-Symposium Seminar at The Ladder
Holiness in Bible: Song of Songs
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m.
Seminar continues until 5:00 p.m.
Holiness in Fathers: St. Maximus the Confessor
6:30 p.m.
Vespers at St. George Orthodox Christian Cathedral
Thursday 1.23.20
9:00 a.m. Third Hour Prayer at The Ladder
9:30 a.m. Pre-Symposium Seminar at The Ladder
Holiness in Liturgy: Feast of the Transfiguration
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Seminar continues until 3:30 p.m.
Holiness in Literature: "Revelation" by Flannery O'Connor
4:00 p.m. VIP Meeting with Symposium speakers for Seminar attendees & Patrons, Pillars & Olympians
6:30 p.m. Vespers at St. George
7:30 p.m. Opening Reception at Eighth Day Books
Friday 1.24.20 - at St. George
7:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy: Feast of St. Xenia, Deaconess of Rome at St. George
9:00 a.m. Third Hour Prayer
9:30 a.m. Convocation and Patristic Contemplation
10:00 a.m. Plenary Lecture I by Jessica Hooten Wilson: Laurus: A Case for Saintly Imagination
11:00 a.m. Break
11:30 a.m. Breakout Sessions
1) Fr. Stephen Freeman: Becoming Sin to Become the Righteousness of God?
2) Mary Naumenko: Heart & Nous: Man's Potential for Sharing in God's Divinity
12:30 p.m. Lunch
1:30 p.m. Plenary Lecture II by David Fagerberg: The Crucible for Holiness According to Fr Francis Libermann
6:00 p.m. Festal Banquet at St. George: Life of St Maximus the Confessor, Cathedral Choir & Plenary Speakers on Cultural Renewal
Saturday 1.25.20 - at St. George
9:00 a.m.
Third Hour Prayer
9:30 a.m. Convocation & Patristic Contemplation
10:00 a.m. Plenary Lecture III by Fr Stephen Freeman: Holiness: The Boundary of the Boundless God
11:00 a.m. Break
11:30 a.m. Breakout Sessions
1) David Fagerberg: Liturgical Mysticism
2) Jessica Hooten Wilson: Saintly Imagination in Laurus: Further Exploration with Discussion
12:30 p.m. Lunch & Book Signings
2:00 p.m. Plenary Lecture IV by Jessica Hooten Wilson: The Mimetic Search for Holiness
3:00 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. Panel Dialogue with Q& A
4:00 p.m. Great Vespers
Dinner on Your Own
8:00 p.m. Open House at Eighth Day Books
Sunday 1.26.20
10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy at St. George
Presentation Titles with Abstracts
2020 Symposium abstract for breakout session by Fr. Stephen Freeman.
2020 Symposium abstract for breakout session by Mary Naumenko.
2020 Symposium abstract for breakout session by Jessica Hooten Wilson
2020 Symposium abstract for plenary session by Jessica Hooten Wilson
2020 Symposium abstract for plenary session by Dr. David Fagerberg.
Lodging
Location and Contact
Eighth Day Books: 2838 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67214
Eighth Day Institute at The Ladder: 2836 E. Douglas 67214
St George Orthodox Christian Cathedral: 7515 E. 13th St. N. 67206
Have a question? We are here to help. Send us a message and we’ll be in touch.