Nathan Wilson, the newly hired director for Chautauqua Wawasee, talks about some of his ideas during a brief presentation at a welcoming reception held for him and his family at Oakwood Thursday night. (Photo by Lauren Zeugner)

Approximately 30 people turned out for a reception Thursday evening at Oakwood to welcome Nathan Wilson, the new director of Chautauqua Wawasee. After mingling with and meeting people, Wilson was formally introduced by Steve Walker, president of the Oakwood Foundation.

In his introduction Walker explained the foundation board did a thorough study and evaluated several successful Chautauqua programs. Walker said the board determined it needed a strong leader who can flow between art, religion, education and recreation, the four pillars of Chautauqua.

Wilson is an ordained minister who attended divinity school outside Lexington, Ky. He also attended medical school. He did public policy work in Washington, D.C., on how faith based programs can help resolve world problems.

Wilson first became involved in the Chautauqua movement in 2005. “I like to be part of an exciting organization that are bringing good things to life,” he said. And he promised to come with listening ears and being part of the community.

Wilson shared some of his beliefs in a short presentation. “I believe the future can be better than the present … I believe bringing the best out in each of us enriches life for all of us.” He also said he doesn’t think any one religion, philosophy or political belief had a total lock on the truth.

Ann Strong, left, Nathan Wilson, the new director of Chautauqua Wawasee, and Marlies West chat with Megan McCellan, executive director of the Syracuse-Wawasee Trails Project. (Photo by Lauren Zeugner)

He sees Chautauqua as a way to bring people together for discussions in a safe place, and Chautauqua is a movement, “It’s everywhere that the Internet reaches,” he said. He wants Chautauqua Wawasee to provide programming for people of all ages who have a variety of interests. He sees programming, workshops and multi-day conferences taking place.

Already he has plans to host Kay Lindauer, a spiritual retreat leader, in October. The Lilly Endowment has expressed interest in supporting retreats for clergy members as well as new young CEOs and business leaders. Wilson explained the retreats for new CEOs would be a place where they can learn from each other as well as seasoned leaders.

Other topics of interest are hosting a symposium on bioethics and biotechnology to discuss end of life issues, beginning of life issues, human enhancement and more.

Wilson is also working on possibly bringing Josh Kauffman, a recent winner of “The Voice” and Indiana native, to Oakwood for a concert. Kauffman will be releasing his debut album soon.

“I want our programming to be diverse and I want it to be high quality,” he told the group. “You can be here and invite others to be here.”

Other plans include launching a brand new website Feb. 10 to have podcast ability as well as blog links to other sites. The new website will be interactive and offer a virtual online presence. On March 1 part of the website will offer seven big ideas of the week and continue with new big ideas every Tuesday.

Wilson is married to Janice. The couple have two daughters, Clarissa and Ellie. Clarissa is attending the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Ellie is a high school freshman.

Nathan Wilson, left, the newly hired director of Chautauqua Wawasee chats with Dale Sherburn, Kristie Sherburn, Fran Clark and Tami Thompson about what types of programming they would like to see Chautauqua offer. A reception was held to welcome Wilson to Chautauqua at Oakwood Thursday. (Photo by Lauren Zeugner)