Dick Staub, pastor of the Orcas Island Community Church, is inviting islanders as well as “international creatives – those for whom the transcendent or God is of paramount importance” to KindlingsFest 08, a “celebration of art andideas where they intersect with the spiritual.”
KindlingsFest ‘08 will explore being “fully human” from July 17 to 20 with morning lectures at Orcas Island Community Church, and evening “cafes,” also at the church. The event is free, but those wishing to attend must register in advance, and Staub says that the 300-person maximum capacity is filling fast.
The event’s overall theme will be “C. S. Lewis and the Art of Being Fully Human.” Lewis, a popular 20th-century religious and moral writer, and University lecturer at Oxford and Cambridge Universities, is perhaps best well-known as the author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” a seven-volume allegory of Christian philosophy. His spiritual autobiography is entitled, “Surprised by Joy.”
Lewis and his friends, including Dorothy Sayre, mystery writer, and J.R.R. Tolkien, author of the “Ring” trilogy, were avid conversationalists who met in an Oxford pub each week. Staub described the group as “endlessly friends.” His own “Kindlings” network uses the connectivity of the Internet to encourage similar “conversations and disputations, all in an “imaginative and hospitable atmosphere.”
Staub, a nationally known broadcaster and commentator who’s been described as a combination of Studs Terkel, Jon Stewart and Charlie Rose, combines his love of conversation and appreciation of Orcas Island in bringing the first-ever conference based on his “Kindlings” website, interviews and podcasts to the island.
On the Internet, The Kindlings Muse features a live audience and a round-table conversation of “thoughtful philosophers and gadflies discussing ideas, beliefs and values shaping life today.”
KindlingsFest ‘08 is designed to contain minimal programming, so island visitors “can relax and enjoy the beauty and slower pace of life on Orcas Island,” said Staub.
Morning lectures are planned at 10 a.m. each day with Dr. Jerry Root, C.S. Lewis expert and editor of “The Quotable Lewis.” Box lunches can be ordered, and the only other planned event is the Bag End Cafe each evening at 8 p.m. with Nigel Goodwin, British actor and arts advocate.
The lecture topics are as follows:
Thursday, July 17: Fully Human and “The Great Divorce,”– Caught in the Balances
Friday, July 18: Fully Human and “The Abolition of Man” –Adjusting the Scoliosis of the Soul to Reality
Saturday, July 19: Fully Human and “The Weight of Glory” – Unity is the Road to Personhood
Sunday, July 20 at 8:30 or 10 a.m.: Fully Human and “Prince Caspian” – The King for the Kingdom.
A Sunday evening event is also planned. One of the main objectives of the weekend, Staub says, is to help the local economy by bringing in visitors who will frequent restaurants, lodging places and other local businesses.
The “Fully Human” theme of KindlingsFest ‘08 derives from Staub’s focus on the artistic community of Christianity. Staub says the real aim of spiritual life has been missed; it’s not about an identity, or membership in a club, but about “how to become a human.”
Staub is a veteran talk show host and author. He moved with his family to Orcas Island last year, after teaching as an adjunct professor at Seattle Pacific University.
Staub says that he grew up wanting to be a forester, but was influenced by his brother’s brain damage. It led Staub to questioning his faith, and he attended Simpson University and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to seek out answers to his questions. He has also attended the University of Washington and Harvard Divinity School. His studies led him to the humanities, which he describes as “the arts and literature as a way of understanding humanity.”
He discovered C.S. Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” and became intrigued with exploring why “humans have such a tremendous capacity for the arts.”
Lewis felt that “we should concentrate on our local relationships and not try to be involved in things we couldn’t affect,” said Staub. “He was an outdoorsman who loved walks and hikes – and he loved to teach. He would have loved Orcas Island.” Staub finds Orcas Island a very intellectual community – “curious, educated, spiritual, diverse and artistic, with the mentality of wanting to be human with each other in community.”
Staub learned early on that he was “a communicator and interpreter of ideas.” He cites author Deborah Tannen’s “The Argument Culture,” saying that few discussions are aimed at finding common ground.” Staub intends to foster creative conversations that stem more from imagination than from reason, following the lead of C.S. Lewis’ writings, which evolved from “aplogogies” or explaining his ideas by reason, to exploring them with imagination. In his study of the humanities, Staub found fiction as “a place where people could work out what mattered to them ….in a way that connects the reader’s beliefs with the author’s beliefs.”
Staub became dedicated to “trying to hear each others’ journeys and learn from them.” He has been particularly attentive to literary fiction as a gauge of our culture’s condition and has interviewed most National Book Award winners in the fiction category since beginning his broadcasting career.
He originated “The Dick Staub Show” on Seattle’s KING Broadcasting in 1987, moving it to Chicago and national syndication in 1991.
Staub is also an author, writing “Too Christian, Too Pagan,” in which he argues that to truly follow Jesus means you will seem too irreligious to your religious friends and too religious for your irreligious friends; and his most recent book, “The Culturally Savvy Christian: A Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite.”
To register for KindlingsFest ‘go to www.thekindlings.com, and to the KindlingsFest 08 tab. There is no registration fee for KindlingsFest lectures and Bag End Cafe evenings. Dave Richardson contributed to this article.
