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PAGE 12 — The Georgia Bulletin, February 5, 1987 Christian Writers, Artists Are I Medjugorje Subject Of Bookstore Lectures Further Study BY CHRIS VALLEY The sign in front of the building at 2495 Lawrenceville Highway in Decatur reads, “Cokesbury Bookstore — Books and Church Supplies.” But periodically the building is transformed into more than a store. It becomes a focal point for ecumenical dialogue, as it is the home of the “Lec tures on the Christian Classics” series. Periodically, from 20 to 80 people gather in the con ference room at the bookstore on a Saturday afternoon to hear speakers and to participate in discussion on the works of major figures in literature, theology and the arts. The lectures are free and open to the public. “Our purpose is to show the richness and depth of Chris tianity, as translated by artists, poets, novelists, and not just by theologians,” says Stephen Hemphill, Cokesbury's director of educational seminars. Hemphill initiated the lecture series in the summer of 1982. He contacted Dr. Dabney Hart at Georgia State University, a scholar on Christian novelist and commen tator C.S. Lewis. Hart’s lecture launched the series. Subsequent speakers over the past four years have in cluded faculty from Agnes Scott, Emory, Georgia State, Mercer, and writers and artists from the Atlanta area. Deal Hudson, chairman of the philosophy department at Mercer University-Atlanta, works with Hemphill to identify poten tial lecturers. “We try to have a mix of Catholic and Protestant writers and composers,” Hemphill explains. Besides the lecture on C.S. Lewis, the series has included talks on Jacques Maritain, St. Thomas Aquinas, John Milton and “Paradise Lost," Catherine Evans on modern art, Flannery O’Connor, and “Christ and Poetry.'” Upcoming is a lecture by Tom Key, actor, producer and star of “The Cotton Patch Gospel” on Walker Percy (Feb. 21 at 2 p.m.), and one by Emory professor of theology Don Saliers on Bach and his music (March 14 at 2 p.m ). “Too often in the popular view, Christianity is seen as narrow and myopic in contrast to secular culture," says Hemphill. “We want to educate the public and share the richness of the Christian tradition by presenting examples such as John Donne, Gerard Manley Hopkins or Bach — ar tists and craftsmen as well as Christians." Hemphill has a long list of subjects he would like to have treated in this series. One is Danish Protestant theologian Soren Kierkegaard’s contribution to Christian literature. Another is an appraisal of the work of Julian Green, an American writing in French. Green’s novel about St. Fran cis of Assisi, “God’s Fool,” recently was published in TOM KEY, star of The Cotton Patch Gospel, will be a speaker on Walker Percy in the series of lectures at the Decatur bookstore. English by Harper and Row. Others include Dostoevsky. Tolstoy, G.K. Chesterton, and Tolkien. As a spinoff from the lecture series, Hemphill hopes to in itiate poetry readings, exhibits of visual arts such as photography, and writers’ seminars. “There are thirty-eight Cokesbury bookstores nation wide," notes Hemphill. “I see ours as a pilot project. Some day I hope to videotape our lectures and circulate the tapes among our stores in other cities." The Cokesbury bookstores are retail outlets of the United Methodist Church. The name “Cokesbury" comes from the last names of two eighteenth century Methodist “circuit- rider" ministers: Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury. Coke and Asbury rode horseback in the Northeast and throughout Georgia and Florida to bring Christianity to isolated communities. If Hemphill’s dream of videotaping and distributing the “Lectures on the Christian Classics” nationwide becomes reality, it will be a fitting tribute to the work of Coke and Asbury: a form of “circuit-rider" ministry for the twen tieth century. Of Apparitions BY JOHN THAVIS NC News Service The Yugoslavian bishops' conference is forming a new commission to study reported Marian appari tions in the country, a statement by two bishops said. At the request of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the commission will carry out “further explorations" of events at Medjugorje, a village in western Yugoslavia where the apparitions have been reported since 1981. the statement said. An earlier commission appointed by Bishop Pavao Zanic of Mostar-Duvno, the diocese that includes Medjugorje, finished its work last year and forward ed its findings to the doctrinal congregation. The con gregation has asked a new commission on a national level to continue to gather information about the ap paritions' authenticity, the bishops said. The Jan. 9 statement was signed by Bishop Zanic and Cardinal Franjo Kuharic of Zagreb, president of the bishops' conference. It was published Jan. 14 in Yugoslavia's Catholic weekly, “Glac Konhlia" (Voice of the Council.) The statement reiterated that until the church makes a judgment on the apparitions’ authenticity, church organizations should not make official pilgrimages to Medjugorje. The doctrinal congrega tion made a similar request in 1985. The apparitions to six young people reportedly began in a field outside the town and later moved to a small chapel in St. James Church in Medjugorje. Ac cording to supporters, the young people see, hear and touch Mary during regular visions in the chapel. Some have said the youths have been given secret “messages" foretelling world events. The debate over the authenticity of the visions has caused divisions among Yugoslavian Catholics. Bishop Zanic has publicly questioned the apparitions, and the earlier commission said it had found "disciplinary and theological difficulties" in the events. Others have strongly supported their authenticity, and Medjugorje has continued to be a popular pilgrimage spot. and FutureStoreThese Items Available In Stores FOOD MARKETS PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU FEB. 8TH, 1987 With Seafood Shop Only. Cocktail JAR 99 Singleton Large Cooked Singleton • Ready To Cook Peeled Jumbo 12 OZ PKG Fish Market • Frozen Cod Or Gortons Perch Fillets 49 12 OZ PKG- Fish Sticks Or Gortons Crunchy Fish Fillets Light Batter Mrs. Pauls Flounder Fillets 99 20 OZ PKG 49 9 OZ PKG Light Battered Mrs. Pauls Fish Fillets