Chapman Lape to lead the Interreligious Chaplaincy program (more…)
The escalating violence within the states of Israel and Palestine fills us with deep grief and concern. We deplore the loss of life, especially the deaths of children, and the trauma that this situation is causing. We also recognize that while both sides are engaging in military action, the Palestinian people have borne a far heavier burden of death and injury, on top of ongoing poverty and devastation. This continuing cycle of bloodshed and the violation of basic human rights not only fails to resolve millennia-old conflicts but, in fact, plants seeds for potential future acts of retaliation and ongoing hostilities. (more…)
As an ecumenical seminary educating spiritual leaders from diverse traditions, we are called to the same truth: "In this reality of climate change, healing the separation between each other, to the land and waters, and our histories, represents the most important existential and ethical challenges to our collective wellbeing in our time."* (more…)
Both the Pagan and Christian students, as well as the faculty, of the United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities express regret over Murdock City Council’s 12/8/2020 decision in favor of the Asatru Folk Assembly (AFA). Any form of discrimination, exclusion, or racism done in the name of religion is a travesty. And in their ruling, Murdock City Council has allowed the AFA — an SPLC-designated hate group with a history of racism, transphobia, and heterosexism — to use a former church as a northwestern base of operations.United holds sacred the values of hospitality and inclusion. Although our student body is predominantly Christian, we do count practitioners of Paganism and Heathenry in our community. And because Heathenry and Paganism are smaller, lesser known spiritualities, they tend to be more easily and broadly painted by the louder and more unsavory outliers. We of United Pagans see the AFA as appropriating our traditions and ignoring the fundamental values of hospitality in the name of white supremacy. The AFA’s notion of Heathenry as a decidedly ethnic path is a denial of historicity and an affront to the many faces of the Divine. And their well-known association with white supremacist and neo-nazi politics mark the AFA as more akin to a hate group than a valid religious reclamation practice.All of us at United are joined in the recognition that the AFA is NOT representative of Heathenry. And United’s multi-religious community stands by the people of Murdock and the work of the Murdock Area Alliance Against Hate in their efforts to disassociate themselves from the AFA, especially in calling to go on record against welcoming what the AFA represent into Murdock. (more…)
As we’ve moved to online worship services, there have been some new experiences. For example, during the moment of silence, our dog, Ringo, gave a little cry. It’s a new experience for many to have animals in worship, but this was actually the second time for me. The first was at St. John’s United Church of Christ on Madeline Island. Several years ago, I attended their Blessing of the Animals service for the Feast of St. Francis, and there was a beagle in the back of the church and a bunny near the front, both waiting for their blessings. The beagle’s whines punctuated the service every so often. (more…)
"What Geoffrey Wainwright Taught Me About Ecumenism"19 March 2020 (more…)