WEST ROXBURY READS "MARCH" SERIES CONTINUES
WITH EVENTS AT THEODORE PARKER CHURCH
Emerson and Parker: Two Prophets of Transcendentalism
Reading and Discussion Sessions
Session I: Emerson’s Nature Essay, April 22, 12:00-1:00 PM, Parish Hall, 70 Corey St.
Session II: Parker’s sermon on The Transient and the Permanent in Christianity, April
29, 12:00-1:00 PM, Parish Hall, 70 Corey St.
In this two session adult religious education class led by ministerial student Bruce
Taylor, participants will explore the continuing impact of Transcendentalism on
the Unitarian Universalist faith tradition through the writings of two of its leading
lights: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Theodore Parker. For the first session (April
22), we will read and discuss Emerson's famous essay, "Nature", which provided
an early manifesto for the Transcendentalist movement. For the second session
(April 29), we will review Parker's sermon, "The Transient and Permanent in
Christianity", which helped to dislodge Unitarianism from its purely Christian
roots. Participants are encouraged to read the two articles in advance. They can
be found on the web at the following addresses:
www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/naturetext.html
www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/parker/transient.html
“A Celebration of Theodore Parker”
April 22, 1:30 –2:00 PM, Theodore Parker Church Sanctuary
A reading of “A Celebration of Theodore Parker,” a short play written by
Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Robert Haney, will take place at the
Theodore Parker Church on April 22, from 1:30-2:00 PM. The script offers a
colorful introduction to Parker and his contemporaries created from the actual
letters, speeches, and journals of the historical characters. Through the voices of
his admirers, foes, and the man himself, we gain vivid a portrait of the
extraordinary Parker—radical theologian, beloved pastor, abolitionist firebrand.
The reading will be presented by the senior youth group of Theodore Parker
Church, including Caitlin Colgrove, Julia Gallogly, Lynn Gallogly, Meredith
Gallogly, Jane Newbold, Colin Swanson, and Meridith Richardson. The author,
Robert Haney (1934-2005), who served the Theodore Parker Church as minister
for 20 years until 2001, was an avid scholar of Boston's 19th century Unitarian
and Transcendentalist figures. The Theodore Parker Church is a Boston historic
landmark and a West Roxbury treasure housing breathtaking Tiffany windows as
well as artifacts from Theodore Parker's life.
The West Roxbury Reads "March" Series
These three events are being performed in conjunction with the two-month long
West Roxbury Reads "March" series, sponsored by the Friends of the West
Roxbury Branch Library. The Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Geraldine Brooks
features a protagonist modeled on educator and philosopher Bronson Alcott,
father of novelist Louisa May Alcott ("Little Women") and friend to Parker, as
well as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and many of the Brooke
Farm Transcendentalists.