Mercy Seminar 2025

Praying for the peace of Jerusalem

With Father David Peck
and Professor Randall Zachman

Entirely on Zoom

After the October 7th attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, we begin a study on the biblical narratives of exile and return, which later in the year addresses the experience of the Christians, Muslims and Jews of antisemitism, colonialism and islamophobia in the medieval and modern world.

In the first term, we will read Bible stories of the exile of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to Egypt and their return to Israel up to and including the building of the Temple in Jerusalem; the exile of Judah to Babylon and their return to Judea and the rebuilding of the Temple; and finally the narratives in Josephus regarding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans, and the response of the Rabbis to the long exile from Jerusalem that begins with that event.

In the second term, we will study Christian views of the exile of the Jews, Jerusalem under Christians and Muslims during the Crusades, the Jewish Enlightenment and the quest for a Jewish homeland in the light of persistent anti-Semitism, culminating in the creation of the State of Israel. We will also consider Christian responses to the State of Israel. As we do so, we can pay attention not only to the primary theme of the quest for a home for the Jewish people but also to how history, hate and hope relate to our narratives of faith.

Classes meet on six consecutive Thursday evenings via Zoom from 7:00 to 8:30 PM EST. Each term stands alone but, when taken together, offers a layered understanding as our knowledge of the issues increases. All sessions are recorded and available to participants for asynchronous viewing.

Term 1, March 6 - April 10: Narratives of Exile and Return in Scripture

Term 2, May 8 - June 12: Life in Exile: Anti-Judaism, the Crusades & Zionism

Term 3, September 25 - October 30: The Palestinian Catastrophe:
Palestinian and Christian Responses to Zionism

Each session will be recorded in Zoom and available for viewing for those who have completed their registration.

Cost: $75/term, includes access to course readings, recorded sessions for
asynchronous viewing, instructor office hours and podcasts.

Scholarships are available; please email Nancy LeVasseur for more information.

Click here to register for Term 2
Click here to register for Term 2

Each weekly meeting and lecture with you and Father David has truly given me a totally new outlook and peace towards my daily life as well as my ongoing thoughts of where we are and how we became and what we are to be in our lives.

Happily I will never see things the same way again.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and making these seminars not only working towards enlightening us but making it fun.

A Mercy Seminar Participant

2025 Term 1 Course Readings
Session 1: Reading I.1
Session 2: Reading I.2
Session 3: Reading I.3
Session 4: Reading I.4
Session 5: Reading I.5
Session 6: Reading I.6

2025 Term 1 Opening Comments
Session 1: Opening Comments 1.1
Session 2: Opening Comments 1.2
Session 3: Opening Comments 1.3
Session 4: Opening Comments 1.4
Session 5: Opening Comments 1.5
Session 6: Opening Comments 1.6

 

Father David Peck

The Rev. David W. Peck is the twenty-third rector of Saint James. Prior to his arrival in 2008 from the United Kingdom, he served the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace as his Secretary for International Development. In this role he focused on building partnerships with church leaders, UN agencies and international non-governmental organizations in order to provide food and education in post-conflict zones in sub-Saharan Africa.

Born in Indiana, David was educated in the United States and England, earning his Theology and Ministry degrees from Cambridge University and Westcott House.

David’s prior peace building and reconciliation work led him to study in Jerusalem in 2013. There he began a new focus on how the rich theology of mercy could help Jews, Christians and Muslims explore their own and each other’s texts and traditions more deeply.

His work in Africa and the Middle East and his completion of a 30-day Ignatian silent retreat at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, PA drew him more deeply into the practice of contemplative prayer. Since then he has taught meditation in school, hospital, hospice and prison settings. He lives with his wife Dr. Cordelia Moyse, a church historian, and their daughter.

Prof. Randall Zachman

Randall Zachman is Professor Emeritus of Reformation Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in theology for twenty-six years, and is currently an adjunct instructor in theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary. He is a lifelong Episcopalian. Randall received his undergraduate degree in religion at Colgate University, his Master of Divinity at Yale Divinity School, and his PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School.

He is the author and editor of several books on Martin Luther and John Calvin, and has also published articles and chapters on the theology of Søren Kierkegaard and Karl Barth. He has spent his career teaching the history of Christian theology, including seminars on the Old and New Testaments.

For the past fifteen years, he has been a member of the International Theology Conference at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem in which Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars study and dialogue together. He lives in Lancaster with his wife, The Rev. Dr. Carrie Call, who is the Transitional Conference Minister of the Penn Central Conference of the United Church of Christ. Their son Johnny lives in Austin, Texas.

The Urban Well is a registered trademark of Saint James Episcopal Church.
Executive Director, Kate Brossman

Term 1 Readings

Opening Comments
Session 1: Opening Comments II.1
Session 2: Opening Comments II.2 
Session 3: Opening Comments II.3 
Session 4: Opening Comments II.4 
Session 5: Opening Comments II.5
Session 6: Opening Comments II.6

Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem

Pricing available later in 2021
Dates to be determined
The Mercy Seminar concludes with an optional week-long trip to the Tantur Ecumenical Institute. Situated at a beautiful location on a hill in Jerusalem, it serves as a welcoming place in the Holy Land for visitors who come from all over the world to stay at this oasis of learning, community and hospitality.