Duke Divinity School and the Center for Reconciliation (CFR) will welcome Dr. Allan Aubrey Boesak to campus on March 8. Boesak will preach at 11:25 a.m. and give a lecture at 2:00 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public and will take place in Goodson Chapel.

Boesak’s sermon is titled “Cry Restoration” and will draw from Psalm 126. His lecture, “Radical Reconciliation: Beyond Political Pietism and Christian Quietism,” shares its title with a book he co-wrote with Rev. Dr. Curtiss DeYoung and published in 2012. Ellen Davis, interim dean and Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, will moderate the lecture. Esther Acolatse, assistant professor of the practice of pastoral theology and world Christianity, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, a writer and activist who resides in Durham, N.C., will offer responses to the lecture.

Born in South Africa, Boesak is a theologian, humanitarian, prolific author, and tireless advocate for social justice. Since 2013, he has served as the Desmond Tutu Chair of Peace, Global Justice, and Reconciliation Studies at Christian Theological Seminary and Butler University. Boesak earned his doctorate in theology from the Protestant Theological University in Kampen, the Netherlands. He worked alongside Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela to lead efforts against apartheid and promote reconciliation. A prolific writer, Boesak has authored 18 books and edited or co-edited four, in addition to publishing numerous articles on theology and politics.

Boesak’s lecture is the second in the Reconciliation Conversations: Parts of the Whole lecture series, which commemorates the 10-year anniversary of the founding of the Center for Reconciliation. The goal of the series is to explore the idea of reconciliation and what it means in the life of a Christian from a variety of perspectives, as well as to open up important conversations at Duke Divinity School and in the broader Durham community. The lectures are co-sponsored by Duke Divinity School groups including Asian Theology Group, Hispanic House of Studies, the Department of Ministerial Formation, Project BriDDDge, and Students Thinking Theologically about Reconciliation.

Additional CFR anniversary events include two more lectures, an exhibit of photos commemorating important aspects of the center’s work, and a reception in June with CFR co-founders Fr. Emmanuel Katongole. and Chris Rice.