God at 2000; Landmark conference broadcast over ECTN and webcast live at www.ectn.org February 11 &12; South Africa's Desmond Tutu heads list of participants.

Feature Editors/Lifestyle Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9. 2000

On February 11 &12, Nobel Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu will join with six other internationally-recognized spiritual and religious leaders from the worlds of Islam, Judaim and Christianity for God at 2000 -- a live conference with 1000 on-site participants, to be televised over ECTN (Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network) and simulcast over the Internet at www.ectn.org.

Televised from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, and sponsored by the New York-based Trinity Institute, God at 2000 has been in the planning stages for over a year and will examine how God is viewed at this moment in history. Traditional symposia will meet satellite and internet technologies as this unique panel of spiritual experts engage in crucial dialogue and debate about their view of God as the Common Era hits the year 2000. The technical aspects of the Internet simulcast will be produced by Gracecom, the Communications Ministry of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Both broadcast days are from 9 AM to 4:30 PM Pacific Standard Time.

&uot;While hundreds will enjoy the conference in the comfort of the LaSells Auditorium in Corvallis, a vast number of others will watch via satellite in parishes, conference halls, seminary and college classrooms and via personal computers over the internet,&uot; said the Rev. Dr. Frederic Burnham, Director of Trinity Institute. Burnham is spearheading the effort to bring the conference to the widest possible audience through its broadcast over ECTN's satellite network, with additional reach through internet webcasting.

&uot;God at 2000 will connect thousands of viewers to the live event at Corvallis, and the simultaneous chat window will allow them to interact with each other. Through the Internet,&uot; said Rick Johnson, Executive Director of Gracecom, the Communications Ministry for San Francisco's Grace Cathedral. Gracecom is producing the God at 2000 webcast. &uot;We're extending the reach of this event around the world.&uot;

God at 2000 featured speakers will include: Marcus Borg, Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State; Diana Eck, Harvard Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies; Lawrence Kushner, noted rabbi, lecturer, and author; Joan Chittister, prominent Benedictine sister, author, and lecturer; Seyyed Hossein Nasr; George Washington University Professor of Islamic Studies; Karen Armstrong; acclaimed writer and television broadcaster; and Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and retired Archbishop of Capetown, South Africa.

&uot;How we think about God, matters. Our concepts and images of the sacred shape our sense of reality, our sense of what is important, and our perception of the meaning of life,&uot; said Marcus Borg, Professor of Religion and Culture at Oregon State, and God at 2000's primary organizer. &uot;Dates, are of course, ultimately meaningless as even Christian theologians admit. In 1997 we hosted the Jesus at 2000 conference -- acknowledging that without the adjustments made to calendars during the last two milliennia, the historical Jesus would have probably celebrated Y2K in that year. Based on the success of that conference, we have reconvened to look at the larger issue of who and what God means as the planet faces a new, common, century.&uot;

God at 2000 is the 31st Annual National Conference sponsored by the Trinity Institute. Modeled on the highly successful Jesus at 2000 symposium held at Oregon State in 1996, God at 2000 will be telecast over ECTN (the Episcopal Cathedral Teleconferencing Network), to over 400 downlink communities, reaching a nationwide audience of 25,000 and a far greater potential audience over the Internet. Following each speaker's talk, on-site and broadcast audiences will participate interactively.

To attend the live event at Oregon State, registrants may call Conference organizers at [phone] or fax [phone]. To view the Conference at a community downlink or to arrange to receive the broadcast at a neighborhood facility, phone ECTN at its toll-free number 800-559-ECTN. The event can also by viewed by webcast over the internet at www.ectn.org.

The Conference is co-sponsored by the Hundere Endowment for Religion and Culture at Oregon State University, the Chautauqua Institution of Chautauqua, New York, and Trinity Institute, an outreach ministry of Trinity Church Wall St. in the City of New York. For further information on Trinity Institute 31st National Conference, contact the Rev. Dr. Frederic Burnham, Director, at [phone]. Trinity Institute, 74 Trinity Place, New York, New York 10006-2088