Ellison has taught Christian social ethics at Bangor Theological Seminary since 1981 and is director of the seminary’s Portland campus. He co chairs Maine’s Religious Coalition Against Discrimination and is a member of the Maine Bioethics Network board of directors. He speaks nationally on human sexuality, economic justice and health-care ethics. His most recent book is titled Erotic Justice: A Liberating Ethic of Sexuality (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1996).

Sponsored by the Office of the Chaplain at Bates, the Spiritual Journeys lecture series features speakers from a variety of traditions who tell the stories of their spiritual awakening and development. Speakers are invited to explore how they experience a sense of the holy in their everyday lives, how their perspectives and disciplines have shaped that sacred experience, and how they understand religion as a resource or an obstacle to the life of the soul. Speakers may also address what the political and social consequences of their spirituality.

Next in the Spiritual Journeys series will be Cristina Vanin, assistant professor of religious studies at St. Jerome’s University, Waterloo, Ontario, on Conversion to the Earth: A Theologian’s Spiritual Journey Monday, Oct. 12, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Skelton Lounge, Chase Hall.