NEWS FEATURE: Chautauqua _ continuing the tradition of the spiritually edifying vacation

c. 1999 Religion News Service UNDATED _ Over a century ago, a nationally known Methodist cleric admonished Americans not to”make vacations a time of irreverence or of religious indifference,”but rather to devote their leisure to both faith and fun _ and learning, too. Many followed the advice of the Rev. John Vincent, later Bishop Vincent. […]

c. 1999 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ Over a century ago, a nationally known Methodist cleric admonished Americans not to”make vacations a time of irreverence or of religious indifference,”but rather to devote their leisure to both faith and fun _ and learning, too.

Many followed the advice of the Rev. John Vincent, later Bishop Vincent. They flocked to religious resorts like the one founded by Vincent in the southwestern corner of New York State, for wholesome as well as edifying vacations.


That enclave in Chautauqua, N.Y., has not only survived in the age of utterly secular vacations. The Chautauqua Institution is bustling, and celebrating its 125th anniversary as a watering hole for the vacationer with a goal. Similar ecumenical vacation spots sprang up in the wake of Chautauqua and continue to to be established, such as the Presbyterian-run Ghost Ranch in Abiqui, N.M., and the Lutheran-led Holden Village, outside Chelan, Wash.

Each summer, Chautauqua’s exhaustive offering of morning lectures and weeklong courses on subjects ranging from faith to finance, in addition to the usual vacation fare, attracts more than 142,000 visitors. It has recently gained popularity among many baby-boomer families.”They seem to be interested in learning-vacations, in coming away with something rather than just a suntan,”said Chautauqua spokeswoman Joan Fox.”Personal enrichment has become part of the desire of baby boomers.” Chautauqua’s history is so substantial that a newly published book on American vacations since the mid-19th century devotes the better part of a chapter to the institution, located 70 miles southwest of Buffalo.

Tellingly, the book is titled”Working at Play”(Oxford University Press). The author, historian Cindy S. Aron, views Chautauqua (pronounced Shu-TOK-wa) as a symbol of the American vacation, which took shape in the last century with the rise of an urban middle class and transportation networks. Today, most Americans don’t make religion or spirituality a conspicuous vacation theme. But many do try to put their vacations to productive use.

And that, in Aron’s analysis, reflects a sort of ambivalence toward leisure that has remained remarkably consistent since the era of Chautauqua’s founding as a summer assembly of Sunday school teachers.

Then, as now,”Americans engaged in a love/hate battle with their vacations _ both wanting to take them and fearing the consequences,”Aron writes.”Relaxing did not come easily to American men and women who continued to use their leisure in the performance of various sorts of work _ religious work, intellectual work, therapeutic work.” The University of Virginia professor traces these cultural anxieties about vacations to the Puritan ministers of an earlier era, who warned against the dangers of idleness and exhorted followers not to waste”God’s precious time.” Heeding such counsel, many God-fearing Americans in the 19th century made their vacations less”dangerous,”Aron says. She relates an 1895 editorial in Chautauqua’s summer newspaper that summed it up this way:”No late hours, no headache in the morning. Pleasure made sensible, amusement made reasonable.” With the help of Chautauqua and its many imitators around the country, vacationers carved out safe-leisure zones, free of alcohol and late-night carousing. To further assuage their anxieties, they also blended aspects of work with their leisure _ a custom that has endured, Aron says.”Both by choice as well as by compulsion, Americans inject work into play,”the author says. She is not just speaking of the cell phones and laptops that have found their way even onto sailboats and golf courses, or the pagers that get packed along with sunscreen and tennis rackets.

Neither is she only speaking of the people who used to”play”tennis, but now”work”on their backhand, as Canadian author Witold Rybczynski observed in his 1991 book,”Waiting for the Weekend.” Aron points also to the continuing appeal of self-improvement vacations, like those offered by the Disney Institute in Florida.

A fairly new branch of Disney’s entertainment empire, the institute holds workshops that teach such basics as”planning, prioritizing and setting value-based goals,”Aron writes, quoting the brochure. Even the canoeing is advertised by Disney as more than just amusement:”You’ll be challenged to improve your wildlife watching skills and canoe talents.” Today’s vacation habits”reveal the legacy of the 19th century _ particularly its discomfort with and suspicion of leisure,”Aron writes, noting somewhat in passing that Americans spend far less time vacationing than their European counterparts, for cultural as well as social and economic reasons.”Nineteenth-century vacationers could not so easily bring their work with them, but they often fashioned vacations that served as substitutes for work,”she adds.”Troubled by idleness we, like they, continue to find ways to make our vacations worthwhile endeavors.” Chautauqua officials do not rest easy with the implication that its bulky educational programs are what Aron calls”substitutes for work.”Ross Mackenzie, who directs the department of religion there, says he prefers to think of Chautauqua as providing its patrons with outlets for creativity.


The”Chautauquans,”as the vacationers are called, seem to be voting with their pencils and notepads.”We simply can’t keep up with the demand for opportunities to study here. This week, there wasn’t a free bed anywhere. And we have about 7,000 people on the grounds,”Mackenzie said in a telephone interview.

Though deeply rooted in Methodism, Chautauqua today is extensively ecumenical. There are Jewish, Unitarian and Baha’i worship services, along with the full panoply of Christian rites. For counseling and spiritual direction, there are priests, ministers, rabbis, a Buddhist monk and, for hyper-rationalists, an in-house philosopher.

The lectures draw a typical audience of nearly 1,500 each morning. Among those who have graced the podium at Chautauqua are nine presidents including Bill Clinton, Ulysses S. Grant and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In what Chautauqua describes as a”season of renewal,”the lectures have strummed a spiritual chord in marking the institution’s 125th anniversary. Speakers this summer have included Joan Chittister, a Benedictine nun and spiritual writer; Karen Armstrong, author of”The History of God;”and evangelical scholar and activist Anthony Campolo.

In addition, there are 400 open-enrollment classes held every day for students of literature, foreign languages, personal finance, yoga and painting, among a plethora of subjects.

Since vacationers do not live on learning alone, Chautauqua also has its own opera house, theatre company, ballet company and symphony orchestra. The 225-acre village includes restaurants, hotels, a farmer’s market and tennis courts. There is bicycling and swimming along a mile and a half of lakefront, and a golf course across the road.


The prices are modest, or at least can be for the sparing vacationer. Visitors can rent a room on the main grounds for as little as $85 dollars a week. They pay another $185 for access to most events (not including opera, theatre and classes).”People are genuinely interested in learning and discovery. They do come here also for rest and relaxation, if they so choose. But most people get into some form of active learning,”said Mackenzie.”If all you want to do is listen to music, go to the Berkshires,”he suggested, speaking of the arts haven in western Massachusetts.”If you come to Chautauqua, and just focus on playing golf all the time, you really don’t understand Chautauqua.”And most do understand, he added.

DEA END BOLE

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