October 9, 2009 — Albert J. Raboteau, a professor of religion at Princeton University, will give the sixth annual Capps Lecture of the Project on Lived Theology at the University of Virginia. He will discuss the "Holy Ordinary: Locating the Sacred in Literature and Life" on Nov. 4 at 6 p.m. in the Rotunda Dome Room.

Raboteau will refer to passages from several short stories and novels, from authors such as James Baldwin, William Faulkner, Walker Percy and Flannery O'Connor, to discuss how contemporary fiction often portrays the divine, holy or sacred as emerging surprisingly amidst the ordinary events of daily life.

Raboteau will also examine the theology that underlies the holiness he finds in his own everyday life as teacher and scholar.

The annual Capps Lecture is a public forum for prominent Christian leaders and thinkers whose work explores the relation between faith and social responsibility.

Raboteau, Princeton's Henry W. Putnam Professor of Religion, is a specialist in American religious history. His research and teaching have focused on American Catholic history, African-American religious movements and, more recently, religion and immigration issues. His books include "A Sorrowful Joy: a Spiritual Memoir" and "Slave Religion: The 'Invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South."

This event is co-sponsored by Theological Horizons, the Project on Lived Theology
and the Carter G. Woodson Institute. For information, contact the Project on Lived Theology at 434-924-6743 or livedtheology@virginia.edu.