Power and Idolatry in America: The Crisis of Truth and the Worship of Deception. Westar Conference 2025

Full Registration: All conference events and all meals and snacks provided throughout the conference, and this year the banquet is included! $700.00. Please note: This offer is only available now through April 15th. After this date, Conference Registration Only is the only available option. See below for more details. 

Non-Member Registration: All conference events and all meals provided, snacks throughout the conference, and this year the banquet is included! $750.00. Please note: This offer is only available now through April 15th. After this date, Conference Registration Only is the only available option. See below for more details.
(Consider becoming a member. It's the best deal for Westar conferences and events.)

Conference Registration Only: Attend the Westar Conference sessions (9 total) without meals or the banquet. Enjoy complimentary coffee and tea during the talks! $300. 

The Westar Conference will be held at the Hotel Indigo San Diego Gaslamp at 509 9th Avenue, San Diego, California. Individuals and couples are responsible for their own accommodation at the hotel or other nearby options.

****Interested in the livestream options?*** Go to livestream registration home page.

FEATURED CONFERENCE EVENTS!

See further details about the full conference agenda please visit the  Westar website conference information page.

This year's conference features a diverse range of events and speakers, including:

MAY 29, 2-3:30 PM, EVENT 1 - Scholars in the Fishbowl: Join Executive Director Dr. David Galston and Westar Scholar, Dr. Shirley Paulson as they host a lively Q&A with a rotating group of scholars. (Livestreamers, your questions are welcome! Drop them in the chat for a chance to have them answered live by our experts.)

MAY 29, 7:30-9:00 PM, EVENT 2 - The Social Gospel in Black and White, Then and Now. Featured speaker Dr. Gary Dorrien, examine the profound impact of progressive religious thought on movements for justice. Some scholars engage history. Others shape it. Gary Dorrien does both. For decades, Dorrien has examined the deep and often-overlooked currents of progressive religious thought—the movements that have challenged economic inequality, authoritarianism, and racial injustice. From Soul in Society: The Making and Renewal of Social Christianity to Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel, Dorrien has consistently documented how faith communities can and have been mobilized for justice, rather than used as a tool of control.

MAY 30, 10-11:30 AM, EVENT 3 - The Truth Crisis: A Discussion on How Media Shapes Religion. Engage in a crucial conversation with Brandon Scott and John D. Caputo on the fate of truth in our media-driven age. Brandon Scott, Darbeth Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary and John D. Caputo, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus and the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, will lead an important cultural and religious discussion on the fate of truth in a post-truth and media driven age. Their focus on the history of media, the transformation of our thinking affected by social media, calls for a needed new paradigm in religion.

MAY 30, 1:30-3:00 PM, EVENT 4 - The Loss of Democracy: Idolatry and the Attraction of the Spectacle. Join Karen Bray, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wesleyan College, Elijah Prewitt-Davis, Professor of Religious Studies at Mount St. Joseph University, and Jeffrey Robbins, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Lebanon Valley College, as they unite to define and address the question of idolatry in a postmodern and post-theistic world. Idolatry engages in the spectacle, but the spectacle sacrifices social values for thrills. The thrill of the spectacle occurs with the loss of social connections, the loss of democracy. The extremely important discussion brings idolatry to bear on our future.

MAY 30, 3:30-5:00 PM, EVENT 5 - Jesus Christ! Is This the End? The Real and Fake Book of Revelation. Chad Venters, Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at Truckee Meadows Community College, and Arthur Dewey, Professor of Theology at Xavier University, take the audience on a journey with the book of Revelation. The vision of John of Patmos recorded in the book of Revelation, says a lot about life and protest in the Roman empire, but the voice of concern and protest Revelation records is lost on modern ears that abuse its meaning as a secret end-time code. Revelation needs “saving.”

MAY 30, 7:30-9:00 PM, EVENT 6 - Animating Creation: Why We Must Recover Christianity’s Love for This Earth.  We are honored to have Feminist Theologian, Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock as our featured speaker, a scholar whose work has reshaped our understanding of theology, moral suffering, and the connection between spirituality and justice.

Brock’s book Saving Paradise, co-authored with Rebecca Parker, challenges conventional views of atonement salvation as an otherworldly and post-mortem reward delivered by violence. It explores how early Christian traditions and current Eastern Orthodox traditions understand paradise as earthly life—as the human context for living ethically in creation and into our full divinity.

Rita Nakashima Brock is a feminist theologian whose work spans issues such as erotic power as incarnation, sexuality, abuse, prostitution, and conscience in war. Most recently, her work focuses on how moral injury as the response of conscience to harm cuts to the heart of contemporary issues and compels us to reflect on how our spiritual lives intersect with our ethical responsibilities to the world that surrounds us.

MAY 31, 10:00-11:30 AM, EVENT 7 - The Christianity Seminar: A Final Report on Our Findings. Witness the unveiling of startling conclusions that challenge conventional narratives of Christian history. After years of dedicated study and debate, some startling conclusions will be shared with the public, including the exposing the formulaic way Christian history is told, and how the diversity and experimentation always present in the rising popularity of Christianity has been consistently suppressed, ignored, and devalued in the telling of the story. This new view of the past changes the vision of the future. Jason BeDuhn, Professor of Comparative Religion at Northern Arizona University, Nina Livesey, Professor of Religious Studies Emerita at the University of Oklahoma, and Lillian Larson, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Redlands, will present the conclusions of the Christianity Seminar.

MAY 31, 1:30-3:00 PM, EVENT 8 - The Westar Coffee House: Arts and Entertainment Westar Style.  The Westar Coffee House offers a unique afternoon experience with Executive Director David Galston and Board Chair Sarah Morice-Brubaker. Settle in for a time together that promises to be interesting, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining. Expect a blend of artistic expression and intellectual exploration as they delve into "The Pale Blue Dot," "Re-imagining Praxis," "Jesus and Church," and "What the Historical Jesus Means to Me.

MAY 31, 5:30-6:30 PM, EVENT 9 - A Celebration of Westar Authors: Join us for a special Celebration of Authors, highlighting the exciting new works of our esteemed colleagues! We'll be showcasing the recently published books of David Galston, Jeffery Robbins, Nina Livesey, Joe Bessler, and Brandon Scott. Discover their latest insights and engage with the authors themselves in this literary celebration.

See further details about the full conference agenda please visit the Westar website conference information page.

****Interested in the livestream options?*** Go to livestream registration home page.

FEATURED SPEAKERS

Gary Dorrien is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. Dorrien will speak about the Social Gospel in Black and White.

Rita Nakashima Brock is Senior Vice President for Moral Injury Recovery Programs at Volunteers of America. A feminist theologian, she will speak on Animating Creation: Why We Must Recover Christianity’s Love for This Earth.

Brandon Scott is Darbeth Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament at Phillips Theological Seminary

John D. Caputo, Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus and the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy Emeritus, 

Karen Bray, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Wesleyan College

Elijah Prewitt-Davis, Professor of Religious Studies at Mount St. Joseph University

Jeffrey Robbins, Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Lebanon Valley College.

Chad Venters, is Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at Truckee Meadows Community College

Arthur Dewey, Professor of Theology at Xavier University

Jason BeDuhn, Professor of Comparative Religion at Northern Arizona University

Nina Livesey, Professor of Religious Studies Emerita at the University of Oklahoma

Lillian Larson, Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Redlands