Voice Archives - Page 6 of 10 - United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities

March 8, 2019

How I Want to Shape My Ministry: Student Riva Tabelisma on the UMC General Conference

It has been more than a week since the Special Session of the General Conference of the UMC adjourned. The result of that gathering came as a shock to many people, especially to me as I witnessed it in person. I went to the Special Session of the General Conference because the Filipino American Caucus (National Association of Filipino American United Methodists) was launching the Global Filipino United Methodist Movement -- a missional ministry for Filipinos in diaspora worldwide. I also went to provide support for the delegates of the Philippines Central Conference. (more…)

March 4, 2019

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“Many Waters Cannot Quench Love:” United’s Response to the UMC General Conference.

This week a special General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to reaffirm and even to strengthen its opposition to same-sex marriage and to gay clergy. When the majority of delegates decided to pass the Traditional Plan, the denomination voted in favor of exclusion. Rev. Judy Zabel, a clergy delegate who serves Hennepin Avenue UMC in Minneapolis, said: (more…)

February 23, 2019

Civil Rights Community Dialogue lgbtq Methodist Studies social justice Vocation Voice

Awaiting the Results: A United Student Reflects on the General Conference

“The special called 2019 General Conference [of the United Methodist Church], set for Feb. 23–26 in St. Louis, will focus on moving the denomination past its decades-long struggle with issues around homosexuality. Proposed plans offer ways to stay together and ways to split. (more…)

February 22, 2019

Myth social transformation Theology Voice

The End is the Beginning: Current Student Preston Price on Cyborg Religion

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January 23, 2019

social justice social transformation Transgender Rights Voice

Response to the Supreme Court’s Decision on the Transgender Military Ban

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December 13, 2018

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United at the Parliament of the World’s Religions: “Holding Theory and Practice in Tension”

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November 27, 2018

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United at the Parliament of the World’s Religions: Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive.

Early this November, Dr. Pamela Ayo Yetunde (Director of Interreligious Chaplaincy and Assistant Professor of Pastoral and Spiritual Care and Counseling), Jessi LeClear Vachta (Associate Director of Admissions) and a group of current students attended the 2018 Parliament of the World's Religions in Toronto, Ontario. There, they held a panel "Making Interreligious Chaplaincy Education Meaningfully Inclusive." We will be publishing content from this presentation as a series over the next few weeks. This first post is from Dr. Yetunde's opening remarks about United's commitment to interreligious chaplaincy education. (more…)

November 20, 2018

Chaplaincy Entrepreneur social transformation Voice

The “What Is” and “What If” of Chaplaincy

Conscious and deliberate acts of caring are a unique human attribute. The need to care and to be cared for is essential to the survival of all human groups. We create communities, cultural norms, ethical frameworks, social constructs, and beliefs that help guide our choices, to make our lives meaningful and understandable. We make commitments, form families, and care for family members by nurturing their growth and development. We develop shared interests and identities with other families, seeking to sustain our wellbeing, survival, and flourishing. Yet, when we are baffled, suffering, scared, fearful, or engulfed in physical pain or moral dilemmas, we have traditionally sought care from religious and spiritual institutions. It is here, that we bring the full palette of our human spirituality to be acknowledged and addressed, seeking love and authentic relationships. We bring our desires for forgiveness, mercy, and autonomy. We bring our claims of faith to help us make meaning in the midst of the limited and fragile security of a human life. We bring our need for hope and vision, to satisfy the self-consciousness of our finitude. We want to be ethical and honest, humble, and grateful in a world where justice is fleeting and duplicity and evil are gratuitously on display. We bring our broken, ill-formed, halting questions and curiosities to religion and spiritual sources to be tended to, laid bare, and cared for. (more…)

October 30, 2018

Gun Violence interfaith News Politics Theology Voice

Statement from United: Violence in the Name of Hate Is an Affront to God

As we grieve for those murdered in Pittsburgh, we are called individually and collectively to demand elimination of the political rhetoric that flames divisiveness and hatred toward people who are perceived to be different. The time is now to turn our collective rage, fear and sadness into community action and change. Vigils and prayers must evolve into sustained expressions of a healthy and loving community. It will take more than healthier politicians to reduce the pathology of hatred in our communities and nation. (more…)