By Kevin Greer
Lakeside Communications Manager
The Religious Life Pillar had many of the familiar programs Lakesiders are accustomed to attending. With a few additions to the Sesquicentennial schedule, total attendance was 35,272, up 20% from 2022.
“The Religious Life program was very well received this past summer,” said Rev. Dr. Charles Yoost, Lakeside’s Senior Director of Religious Life & Pastoral Care. “The 150th Anniversary gave it an extra interest.”
As usual, Lakeside hosted a diverse Preachers of the Week lineup. Yoost promoted Fr. Gregory Boyle’s return almost a year in advance in the Lakesider newspaper, and the community responded.
Boyle is the Founder of Homeboy Industries, the world’s largest gang-intervention, rehabilitation and re-entry program, which is based in Los Angeles. A congregation of nearly 900 walked through the Hoover Auditorium doors for the Sunday morning Chautauqua Worship Service, the highest total of the season.
Faith for Living was so popular that it had to be moved from Orchestra Hall to Hoover Auditorium, with a whopping 1,175 attending over the four days. Two graduates, Ivy and Jesse, made the trip with Boyle and shared their stories of overcoming addiction through his program.
“Fr. Boyle was far and away the most popular Preacher of the Week,” Yoost said. “We ran out of bulletins Sunday morning. Bringing Ivy and Jesse was powerful, and their stories were well received by Lakesiders.”
Many preachers came with interesting topics. Rev. Dr. Simangaliso Kumalo, from South Africa, brought a global perspective. He talked about the challenges of the church in Africa, which are a lot like the challenges here in the United States, with increasing secularization and people not joining the church as much as they used to.
Rev. Dr. Brian McLaren, who has appeared on several national television news programs, led off Memorial Day weekend as guest preacher. His sermon focused on “Being Peacemakers in a Divided Time” and hosted a book signing.
Rev. Zac Hess, from Grace Polaris Church in Columbus, brought some of his congregation with him. Hess and family have come to Lakeside every summer and always enjoy their visits.
Rev. Katherine Willis Pershey, an author and Pastor at First Congregational Church of Western Springs, Illinois, also grew up in Lakeside. One of the topics she discussed was artificial intelligence.
Rev. Magrey deVega, Senior Pastor of Hyde Park United Methodist Church in Tampa, Florida, brought a Hispanic perspective to Lakeside and Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, Senior Pastor at the Foundry United Methodist Church in Washington, has senators and congressmen and in her congregation, but focused on the spiritual life, not political matters.
Bishop David Wilson is the first Native American elected to serve as a bishop in the history of The United Methodist Church. He brought a unique perspective and challenged Lakesiders with the idea that the elders in the Native American tradition think about seven generations and what’s going to happen seven generations from now. His message was very similar to the Chautauqua Movement.
“It was interesting that Lakeside Chautauqua was founded about seven generations ago,” Yoost said. “Those folks seven generations ago did something that’s impacting us today. We need to be thinking about seven generations from now, and how what we’re doing and saying will impact folks not just next week or next year, but seven generations or 150 years from now, which gives us a lot of things to think about.”
Dr. Valerie Bridgman is the Dean of The United Methodist Seminary in Delaware, Ohio, and led an encouraging worship service. Rev. Luke Witte closed out the Chautauqua season with an inspiring message and ran a youth basketball camp. Witte is a former Ohio State University basketball player who also played with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There were three programs this summer that were related to the 150th Anniversary. Over 400 Lakesiders attended the Camp Meeting under a tent on the Hotel Lakeside Lawn that was much like the original Camp Meeting would have been in 1873. There were messages, special music and the evening closed with a candlelight walk to the Dock.
“Of all the programs we did this summer in Religious Life, the Camp Meeting is the one that folks are asking to be repeated,” Yoost said. “It may become an annual event.”
For over 70 years, all the United Methodist pastors in Ohio were ordained on the stage of Hoover Auditorium. There was a commemoration in August, and several recalled their own ordination and some of the circumstances surrounding it. Jennifer Wertz portrayed Phoebe Palmer and talked about the early days of Methodism.
Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths were represented in an Interfaith Dialogue. Tom Elvin, former Dean of the Upper Room Ministries and Ecumenical Relations in Nashville, was the moderator for 90-minute sessions Aug. 14 and 16. Guest panelists were Rabbi Enid Lader of Beth Israel – The West Temple in Cleveland; Rev. Dr. Hugh Burtner, professor emeritus, Department of Religious Studies at Baldwin Wallace University in Cleveland; and Dr. Amjad Hussain, professor emeritus of cardiothoracic surgery, College of Medicine and Life Sciences, and professor emeritus of humanities, College of Arts and Letters at the University of Toledo.
Orchestra Hall was full both days.
Dan Moulton has done Christian Biographies for the last several years and are very popular with Lakesiders. This season, he led sessions about people who have been to Lakeside, including Phoebe Palmer, Howard Thurman and Georgia Harkness. Norman Vincent Peale was researched and presented by David Blank.
Kristin Kobes DuMez, a New York Times bestselling author and professor of history and gender studies at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, talked about her book Jesus and John Wayne, the Christian nationalism and the concern people have about the overmixing of politics and religion.
It was also a big summer for the youth programs. Bradley Temple, home of God Squad with Chip Richter, underwent a major renovation that included a stage resembling a Lakeside front porch, props, lighting and many technical upgrades. Richter’s “Once Upon a Porch” season starts in January 2024 and will be available on Lakeside Online.
John and Bonnie Wilkie celebrated the 20th Anniversary of Middle Grade Madness. They added MGM Extend, which were four field trips to local businesses and tied each with Bible verses. The Underground also enjoyed a resurgence with more programs and activities for Lakeside teens.
Yoost is pleased with how the 150th season went and is looking forward to 2024. He has already booked another diverse group of Preachers of the Week for the entire season. He continues to look for enhancement of the Sunday music program by bringing in guest artists to perform with Michael Shirtz and the Chautauqua Choir. With activities for all ages, the pillar continues to grow.
“I think folks continue to be excited about the direction that the Religious Life program is going, “Yoost said. “We’re attracting major speakers and collaborating with other pillars to have a Lakeside experience that relates to the broad spectrum of people who come here in the summer.”
