Below is a list of all papers delivered at Prairie Group during the 1980s. Some papers have links to them and have been saved as a PDF. Others papers may be found in the archives at Meadville Lombard Seminary in Chicago. All papers were delivered except as noted at Pere Marquette Lodge, Grafton, IL.
Sociobiology and Evolutionary Theory at the 10-13 November 1980 meetings (atThompson Retreat Center St. Louis)
“Is Religion in Our Genes? The Biological Basis for Religion” by Michael O’Kelly; Frank Gentile responder
“The Promise of Sociobiology” by George Briggs; Charles Eddis responder
“Darwin
’s Descendents: Evolutionary Thought Since the Origin” by Barbara Merritt; John Wolf responder
“A Theological Response to Sociobiology” by Earl Holt; Jack Hayward responder
The Divine Comedy at the 09-12 November 1981 meetings
“Dante’s World” by David Weissbard; Barbara Merritt responder
“Inferno” by Frank Schulman; Gertrude Lindener responder
“Purgatorio” by Jack Hayward; Jay Atkinson responder
“Paradiso” by Charles Eddis; John Robinson responder
“The Meaning of the Comedy for Our Times” by Max Gaebler; Roy Phillips responder
Ralph Waldo Emerson at the 08-11 November 1982 meetings
“The Intellectual and Theological Environment” by Frank Gentile; John Buehrens responder
“Myths and Ministry of Ralph W. Emerson” by Frank Schulman; John Godbey responder
“Doctrine of the Soul” by David Maynard; Lindsay Bates responder
“Individualism/Institutionalist” by Sylvia Falconer; Calvin Knapp responder
“Impact of Ralph W. Emerson on American Culture” by Jay Atkinson; George Briggs responder
Martin Luther at the 14-17 November 1983 meetings
“Background of the Reformation” by John Buehrens; Elizabeth Leavitt responder
“Biography of Luther (The Man and His Ministry)” by Lindsay Bates; Dick Allen responder
“Luther’s Commentary on Romans” by Roy Phillips; Ruppert Lovely responder
“Luther’s Table Talk” by Scot Giles; Laurel Hallman responder
“Luther as a Resource for Contemporary Unitarian Universalism” by John Wolf; Earl Holt responder
William Shakespeare at the 12-15 November 1984 meetings
“Current Themes in Shakespeare Studies” by Elizabeth Leavitt; Fred Campbell responder
“How Tragic are the Tragedies?” by Dick Allen; Marjorie Montgomery responder
“How Tragic are the Tragedies?” by John Robinson; Ron Knapp responder
“The Question of Identity in Shakespeare” by Gertrude Lindener-Stawski; Daniel Budd responder
“Winter’s Tale: Shakespeare’s Answer to Easter” by Paul Beattie; Ed Harris responder
Thomas Merton at the 11-14 November 1985 meetings
“World and Spirit – the Lifelong Tensions of Thomas Merton” by Dale Robinson; Dianne Arakawa responder
“The Social Conscience of Thomas Merton” by Cal Knapp; Frank Carpenter responder
“Merton in the Western Mystical Tradition” by Jay Atkinson; Duke Gray responder
“Looking Eastward” by Barbara Merritt; David Weissbard responder
“The Imitation of Merton” by Daniel Budd; Max Gaebler responderSt. Paul
at the 10-13 November 1986 meetings
“Barriers to Our Understanding Paul” by Frank Carpenter; Earl Holt responder
“Justification by Faith” by Ruppert Lovely; Jack Hayward responder
“Law and Grace for Paul and for Us” by Charles Eddis; Janet Newman responder
“Woman, Man and Nature” by Dianne Arakawa; Tim Jensen responder
“Individual and Church” by John Godbey; Berkley Moore responder
William Blake at the 09-12 November 1987 meetings
“Blake and His Time (biography & context)” by Fred Campbell; Kendyl Gibbons responder
“Innocence and Experience” by Gertrude Lindener-Stawski; John Robinson responder
“Rationality and the Human Spirit” by Earl Holt; David Maynard responder
“Prophecy and Eschatology” by John Wolf; Frank Schulman responder
“Blake’s Religion” by Roy Phillips; Scot Giles responder
Ecclesiology and the Doctrine of Covenant at the 14-17 November 1988 meetings
“Dimensions of Covenant: Legal, Spiritual, Social” by Jack Hayward; Susan Weickum responder
“Implicit Models for a Local Congregation in Our History and Movement” by Kendyl Gibbons; Burton Carley responder
“Covenants of Ministry: Vocation, Profession, Collegiality” by Laurel Hallman; Davidson Loehr responder
“Associational Covenants: Implicit Models of Relationship Between and Among Our Congregations” by Tim Jensen; Leonora Montgomery responder
“The Wider Covenant: Implicit Models of Relationship to the ‘Church Universal’” by David Maynard; Eric Haugen responder
William James at the 13-16 November 1989 meetings
“William James: A Biographical Introduction” by Brent Smith
“The Varieties of Religious Experience: Human Nature and Its Connection with ‘Something More’” by David Weissbard; Daniel Budd responder
“Will Belief and Faith: How Reality Grows” by Leonora Montgomery; Ed Harris responder
“Pragmatism: The Cash Value of Truth” by Dick Allen; Jim Eller responder
“An Hospitable Home for the Human Spirit: Pluralism and Religious Community” by John Robinson; Scot Giles responder
Prairie Group 