Young to deliver Aims of Religion address

Young has spent more than 35 years in public service. Following his graduation from Howard University and Hartford Theological Seminary, he was a pastor in small Congregational churches in Alabama and Georgia. Later he moved to New York City to work with the National Council of Churches. In 1961, Young became a top aide to Martin Luther King Jr.

Young was elected to three terms in the U.S. Congress, where he represented the fifth congressional district of Georgia. In 1977, he resigned his seat in the House of Representatives to become U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President Carter.

First elected mayor of Atlanta in 1981, Young was reelected to a second term in 1985. Following his terms as mayor, he joined Law Companies Group Inc., where he serves as vice chairman. In addition to cochairing the Olympic Games committee, Young recently was appointed by President Clinton to be chairman of the new Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, which supports small and medium-sized businesses in Southern Africa. In 1994, Young published his spiritual memoirs, A Way Out of No Way.

Based on the University's Aims of Education address, the Aims of Religion address provides an opportunity for a prominent individual in theology or public life to consider the roles and purposes of religion, especially within the academic context and the life experience of young adults. Following the address, students in the audience will be invited to gather in small groups to discuss the address with faculty members. The address is co-sponsored by the Campus Ministers and the Divinity School of the University of Chicago.

Young's address is being held in conjunction with a three-day conference, "Our God Is Able," examining the religious dimensions and motivations of the civil rights movement and those who participated in it. The conference, co-sponsored by the Divinity School and Disciples Divinity House, will be held from Sunday, April 23, through Tuesday, April 25. Speakers will include Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Taylor Branch and David Garrow, MacArthur fellow Bernice Johnson Reagon, former Southern Christian Leadership Conference official Dorothy Cotton and historians James Findlay Jr., Clayborne Carson and Vincent Harding. The conference is free and open to the public.

For more information on the Aims of Religion address or the "Our God Is Able" conference, call 7027170 or send email to divinity@uchicago.edu.