Last Supper
From Ikon
Contents |
What is the Last Supper?
The Last Supper is an informal gathering of 12 people who meet together over food and wine to discuss a pertinent issue. At each meeting we invite a guest of public standing to join with us and get the conversation going with a 10-15 minute presentation. Then, over the meal, we ask questions of our guest, discuss the issue in more depth and see where the conversation takes us. The evening is called 'The Last Supper' because, if our guest does not prove persuasive it may turn out to be their last supper.
The Last Supper evenings are not only entertaining but provide an excellent opportunity to meet interesting people, partake of succulent food, good wine and engaging conversation. At each event we endeavor to provide sustenance for the body, the mind and the soul.
"The Last Supper is an admirable initiative which deserves support from everyone interested in philosophical and theological discussion in an informal and totally unthreatening environment" - Christopher McKnight, Philosopher
"The Last Supper is where the salon meets the sanctuary: a reverie of critical thinking, where old orthodoxies can find themselves honoured guests at one table or unceremoniously bounced from the next" - William Crawley, BBC Presenter
If you'd like to come along, if you have an idea for a guest, or if you have any contacts that would be helpful, please let us know. We are always on the lookout for interesting people to invite.
Dinner Manners
- Everyone is encouraged to actively participate in the discussion
- People are asked not to dominate the conversation
- As we seek to foster the understanding of different worldviews we endeavor to refrain from any form of aggression
- We will never talk with our mouths full
Details
The Last Supper meets once a month on a Wednesday evening at 7.30pm. We meet in the Roost bar in Belfast, and normally dinner costs around £10.
Upcoming Events
Wed 27th May, 7.30pm - The Roost Bar, 46 Church Lane, Belfast
Discoveries--Readings by Two Queer Quakers
With Peterson Toscano and Glen Retief
Peterson Toscano, an activst, educator and a comic performer spent 17 years and over $30,000 on three continents trying to "de-gay" himself. He failed miserably but lived to tell the story. For the past six years he has traveled throughout North America, Europe, and Africa performing his original one-person comedies including "Doin' Time in the Homo No Mo Halfway House--How I Survived the Ex-Gay Movement!" "Queer 101--Now I Know My gAy,B,C's," "The Re-Education of George W. Bush--No President Left Behind!" and "Transfigurations--Transgressing Gender in the Bible." Peterson's published writing credits include The New Statesman, New York Blade, and Planet Out.
Glen Retief grew up in South Africa during the apartheid era. He has published eleven short stories and personal essays in the US and South Africa, in journals including Virginia Quarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, The Massachusetts Review, and The Greensboro Review. His South African publications include two in New Contrast, the flagship literary journal whose literary editors include Nadine Gordimer and J.M. Coetzee. His first book-length memoir, The Jack Bank, is being published by St. Martin’s Press in 2010. He teaches creative nonfiction at Susquehanna University.
Discussion will follow.
Previous Guests
- Professor David Livingstone (Professor of Geography & Intellectual History, QUB)
- Peterson Toscano (Theatrical Performance Activist)
- Rory O'Connor (Life Coach)
- Tony Jones (Emergent Village)
- Matt Bollinger (COTA)
- Dr. Johnston McMaster (Author, Lecturer and Programme Co-ordinator of Education for Reconciliation Programme in Northern Ireland, Irish School of Ecumenics)
- Kevin Skinner (Pastor of CCF)
- Dave Fleming (Author of The Seeker's Way)
- Becca Dudley (Is Easter too easy when most of the world is living in Good Friday?)
- Pete Rollins (He has an objet petit a, y'know)
- Prof. John Caputo (Thomas J. Watson Professor of Humanities at Syracuse University and critically acclaimed author)
- Padraig Twomey (Celibacy: a path to holiness)
- Stevie Nolan (Humanist)
- Frosty the Snowman (Santa was booked but unable to attend due to overwork)
- Dr David Shepherd (Principal of Belfast Bible College)
- Robert Miller (Church of Ireland Minister, Maghera)
- Ciaron O’Reilly (Catholic Worker and political activist)
- Brett Lockhart (Local Barrister)
- Prof. Tony Campolo (Sociologist and one time pastoral advisor to President Clinton)
- Bishop Pat Buckley (Rouge Catholic Priest and gay activist)
- Cecil Andrews (Fundamentalist and founder of ‘Take Heed’ Ministries)
- Christopher McKnight (Atheistic Philosopher)
- Prof. Vincent Geoghan (Political Theorist)
- Dr William Crawley (twice!)(BBC Presenter and Journalist)
- David Ervine (Leader of the PUP)
- Dr Graham Cray (Cambridge Theologian)
- Members of the Anarco-syndicist association (A Belfast based anarchist group)
- Members of the Muslim community
- Dr James Daly (Marxist Philosopher)
- Brian McClinton (Secretary of the Ulster Humanist Society)
- Prof. Steven Williams (Theologian and author)
- Prof. Roddy Cowie (Psychologist and author)
- Bishop Harold Miller (Bishop of Down and Dromore)
- Phil Harrison (Researcher in Post-colonial literature)
- Bryonie Reid (Artist and PhD student in Political theory)
- Chris Fry (Psychoanalytic psychotherapist)
- Les Reid (Humanist)
- Dr Ann Coble (Assistant Professor of Religion, Belmont University, Nashville)
- PA MagLochlainn (President of the NI Gay Rights Association)
- Gladys Ganiel (Reseacher in Sociology of Religion, UCD)
- Prof. James Elkins (Professor of Art History, Theory and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Head of the History of Art at University College, Cork)
- Dr. Bert Tosh (Head of Religious Programming BBC NI)
