On September 13, 2012 I had the pleasure of speaking about Michael Servetus to members and friends of the Community Church of Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC. My talk on the history and mythology of Michael Servetus was a little over forty five minutes and generated some interesting questions. I would like to thank the Spirituality Exploration for Adults Committee and Steve Warshaw (Chair) for hosting me and for the warm welcome I received. Also, Virginia Guidry handled email logistics for the committee to provide me a smooth introduction to the event. My dear friend, Bud Godreau, initiated the talk by suggesting me and my interest in Servetian studies to the committee.

Outside the meeting room I had some pictures of my 2010 trip to Europe to study Servetus, several books I used in my research, Rebel With A Cause (for sale), and a page for people to use a feather pen and ink to write "AMessage to Michael".



All participants enjoyed a delicious dinner of pasta with red sauce and salad before we gathered for the program. It was a wonderful evening for me and those attending seemed to appreciate my sharing.

Closeout sale

I have only fifteen copies left of the first printing of Rebel With A Cause: The Radical Reformer. Regularly $14.95 each, I'm having a closeout sale for $13 each. If you live close, email me and I can meet you for delivery, if you are far away you can purchase a copy to the right. First come, first served. If you already have a copy, give someone you love a gift.

Recognition from the Servetus Institute

The Michael Servetus Institute, housed in the birth house of Michael servetus in Villenueva de Sijena, Huesca, Spain, has recognized the BEA award for The Passion of the Heretic in an email to its members. An English translation follows the original message from Sergio Baches, Director of the Institute. I would like to thank the Servetus Institute for this kind recognition, and all it does to promote the legacy of Michael Servetus.

Estimada/o Consejera/o:

A finales del pasado noviembre le informé de la publicación del primer guión cinematográfico escrito en inglés sobre Miguel Servet.

http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/web.php.

http://theservetusproject.blogspot.com/

La obra, titulada "The Passion of the Heretic", ha sido escrita por Thomas Clayton, a la sazón estudiante de cinematografía afincado en Carolina del Norte (EE.UU.). Tuvimos ocasión de recibir al Sr. Thomas y a su esposa Marilyn en el año 2010 en la Casa Natal de Miguel Servet y en las oficinas del CSIC en Barcelona. El Promotor del Instituto, así como D. Jaume de Marcos y la Dra. Ana Gómez Rabal, pudieron entrevistarse con ellos para atender sus consultas y preguntas, lo que Thomas Clayton agradeció en su libro, que incluye además un prólogo del Promotor General del Instituto.

Hace unas semanas, el guión del Sr, Clayton recibió el tercer premio del concurso para guiones escritos por estudiantes que organiza la Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts (BEA). La BEA agrupa a profesores, profesionales y estudiantes interesados en la docencia y la investigación en el mundo de las artes cinematográficas y audiovisuales. Alrededor de 1.600 profesores, estudiantes y profesionales de los medios están afiliados a la BEA a título individual, mientras que más de 275 colegios y universidades de EE.UU. son socios institucionales.

Debemos, por lo tanto, felicitar a Thomas Clayton por este merecido galardón. Ahora sólo nos falta buscar un productor que lo lleve a la pantalla con éxito.

Atentamente,

Dr. Sergio Baches Opi

Promotor General

Instituto de Estudios Sijenenses "Miguel Servet"

(Michael Servetus Institute)

22231 Villanueva de Sijena, Huesca, Aragón (España)

www.miguelservet.org

Tel.: 635706088

##########################################

Dear Friends:
 
In late November, The Servetus Institute was informed of the publication of the first screenplay written in English on Servetus.
 
http://www.miguelservet.org/servetus/web.php.
 
http://theservetusproject.blogspot.com/
 
The work, entitled The Passion of the Heretic was written by Thomas Clayton, then a film student living in North Carolina (USA). We had the opportunity to receive Thomas and his wife Marilyn in 2010 in the birthplace of Miguel Servet and the offices of the CSIC in Barcelona. Dr. Sergio Baches, and D. Jaume de Marcos and Dr. Ana Gómez Rabal, met with them to answer Thomas' queries and questions about Servetus. For this interview, Thomas  thanked all in his book, Rebel With A Cause, which also includes a foreword by the, Director of the Servetus Institute, Dr. Sergio Baches Opi.
 
A few weeks ago, Mr. Clayton's script received third prize in the competition for feature length student screenplays organized by the Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts (BEA). The BEA brings together teachers, professionals and students interested in teaching and research in the world of film and audiovisual arts. About 1,600 teachers, students and media professionals are members of the BEAindividually, while more than 275 U.S. colleges and universities are institutional partners.
 
We must therefore congratulate Thomas Clayton for this well deserved award. Now we just need to find a producer to take the Passion of the Heretic to the screen successfully.
 
Sincerely,

Dr. Sergio Baches Opi
General sponsor
Institute of Sijenenses "Miguel Servet"
(Michael Servetus Institute)
22231 Villanueva de Sijena, Huesca, Aragon (Spain)
www.miguelservet.org
Tel: 635706088

The Passion of the Heretic Wins BEA Award

The Passion of the Heretic is now, officially, an award winning screenplay. The Passion of the Heretic has won a third place award in the student scriptwriting competition of the Broadcast Education Association's Festival of Media Arts.

From http://www.beaweb.org/:
"The Broadcast Education Association (BEA) is the professional association for professors, industry professionals and graduate students who are interested in teaching and research related to electronic media and multimedia enterprises.  Over 1,600 professors, students and media professionals are currently individual members and approximately 275 college and university departments and schools are institutional members."

Student Scriptwriting Winners
Feb 15, 2012 by J-D Boyle
Scriptwriting Competition

Feature (90 – 120 pages)

1st Place:              Roger W. Standridge, California State University at Northridge; Samurai Arena

2nd Place:             Nancy Hendrickson, Cal State Northridge; Our House

3rd Place:              Thomas Clayton, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; The Passion of the         Heretic

Honorable Mentions:
Dillon Swingle, University of North Texas; Hold On
Nathan Sorensen, University of Georgia; Club Trouble

End BEA material.

The screenplay, along with supporting writings, is available in book form at at the link on the right. A few copies of the first edition, first printing are still available. Additional information on Michael Servetus is available at http://www.miguelservet.org and http://www.servetus.org.

I wish to thank everyone who has helped and supported me in creating this script.

Thomas Clayton

Rebel With A Cause mentioned on UU World web page

Rebel With A Cause is mentioned on the UU World web page for recent books by UU authors.  The title is misspelled in the short synopsis, Revel With A Cause.


http://blogs.uuworld.org/editors/tag/books-by-uu-authors/page/2/?utm_source=n

Stirrings

To paraphrase, "So much to write, so little time".  There are so many topics I am sure I won't get to them all unless I take the next few weeks.  And that is my plan.


First some updates.  There was a performance of an opera in Geneva played from October 28 to November 5, 2011.  

This is new opera written by composer Shauna Beesley and librettist Jean-Claude Humbert. Le procès de Michel Servet, or The Trial of Michael Servetus, is one of many performances in Europe during this 500th anniversary of Michael Servetus's birth.

I am still trying to get facts on another important development in Geneva. It seems that the Geneva Consistory, the city council, has approved the placement of a statue memorializing Servetus near the place where he died at the stake. At the time a memorial monolith was placed near the Champel hill, 1908, Servetus supporters wanted to place a statue. The Consistory refused and the monolith was placed in an inconspicuous location and brush and weeds allowed to grow up around it. The statue was accepted by the nearby French town of Annemasse, where it was later removed and melted down by the Nazi occupation troops. It was recast from the original mold in the 1960s and is still in Annemasse. A duplicate statue will be or has been placed in Geneva. More as I get through the language barrier and confirm the facts. Oh, and it seems that they did clean up the brush and weeds around the monolith.

I have been reading some books I didn't get to before writing The Passion of the Heretic and re-reading some that I had read. I'd like to write about each of them and how they affect my thoughts and vision for the script. There is a Broadcast Education Association conference and there is a deadline for submissions of scripts. I want to include some of my thoughts over the last few months in my submission.

First book I read is by Jerome Friedman titled Michael Servetus: A case Study in Total Heresy (1978). It is a fairly dense study of Servetus's theology from the Errors of the Trinity to The Restitution of Christianity. Every time I tried to read it I couldn't get past the first chapter, or was it the introduction. With determination I finally survived the whole book. I have a better understanding of his Christology and new ideas on why he and Calvin clashed so forcefully. That will have to wait until a new post.


The book I am reading now is The Restoration of Christianity: An English Translation of Christianismi Restitutio, 1553, by Michael Servetus (1511-1553) translated by Christopher A. Hoffman and Marian Hillar.  This one is, perhaps, more dense than Friedman's, because it is the actual work of Michael Servetus himself.  I have only begun this one and there are three volumes.  It is exciting that I finally feel grounded in the man and his ideas enough that I can attempt to grapple with his seminal book.  So far I am impressed with the Foreword by Ángel Alcalá.  Ángel has a wonderful way of explaining both the story of Servetus and, especially, his importance in the age  old struggle for freedom of conscience.  The few pages by Servetus I have read track very well with Friedman's book.


The final area I would like to mention is the relevance of Servetus's times to ours.  I am listening to a documentary about copyright laws and how they are becoming international and limiting the ability of persons to fair use of intellectual property.  How could Servetus have formed his ideas if he could not have used the ideas of the church fathers, and even the Bible?  I'm also hearing news reports of  NY police burning 5000 books from the Occupy Wall Street library.  In America.  In 2011.  Really?  Really?  And I thought shooting rubber bullets at non-violent  protesters was going too far.

The 500th birthday celebration on September 30, 2011 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro was a success.  Reverend Eric Posa openend the occasion with warm words of welcome.  Michael Servetus was born September 29, 2011, on Saint Michael's Day.

Nick Divitci did a commendable job of speaking about the history and future of the Servetus Project  and I talked about the journey with my calling to see this movie get made.

The Christianismi Restitutiocake was a big hit.  I joked that the fourth copy of the book had been found.  Previously only three extant copies were known to exist.  The cake was a Spanish Bar cake, in honor of Servet's native country.  It was created at Susie's Lovin' Oven, which you can find at http://www.susieslovinoven.com/.  We also had a traditional Southern Scripture cake, in honor of his love of the Bible and insistence on a Scriptural basis for Christianity.

Many people enjoyed writing birthday greetings to Michael Servetus with a quill pen and ink.

The actors (see below) did a tremendous job bringing the first act of the script to life.  Two actors dropped out in the last two days and I could only replace one of them.  I drafted myself to do one of the multi-character parts.  It was a new experience for me and I was glad I had the script so I didn't have to memorize the lines.

Cast for the first act of The Passion of the Heretic

Narrator Mary Lopez

Michael Servetus Tony Scarsella

Edouard Jordan Googe

Monique Leroux Emily Hill (also read for Dancer)

John Calvin David Teague

Marguerite Joyce Allen

Multi Reader 1 Reads various characters Charlley Ward

Multi Reader 2 Reads various characters Thomas Clayton