June 29, 2018
Religious Naturalism: A Theology for UU Humanists Part III
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June 29, 2018
“We cannot allow ourselves to become numb to the injustices of our society”: President Lew Zeidner’s MLK Day Address.
My experience of previous celebrations of MLK day seemed focused on an amazing leader, a man who advocated non-violent change and dreamed of a better world for all, a movement that seemed to facilitate significant societal change in its time and a leader who was willing to risk his own safety and life to make a positive difference. All worthy of much reverence and celebration. But this year feels different. (more…)
June 29, 2018
Video Ministry: Countering LGBTQ “Clobber Texts” on Youtube.
How do we share our messages and enact our ministry across different audiences? Social Transformation student, Nikole Mitchell uses Twitter, blogging, and vlogging (video blogging) to reach people where they are. As a self-described biracial, queer woman, Nikole engages questions of social justice, racial equity, and LGBTQ inclusion through social media. In Fall, 2017, Nikole published a series of videos about Biblical passages often used against LGBTQ people. Nikole speaks with a number of religious leaders in the Twin Cities area to think through and counter these so called "clobber texts." Watch the full series below: (more…)
The Politics of Betrayal: A Feminist Reading of Spy Wednesday
THE POLITICS OF BETRAYAL: A FEMINIST READING OF SPY WEDNESDAYBy Samantha Field (more…)
June 29, 2018
When Storytelling Holds the World: Passover Reflections on Maggid.
A little over a week ago, I led a small seder on the second night of Pesach (Passover). The second seder can be hard to lead because the specialness and holiness of the first often turns into redundancy when the ritual is repeated on the second night. Planning the seder, I was concerned wit distinguishing it from the preceding night at my parents’ house. I was thinking about what we covered the previous seder and what, because of the larger group of people, we might have missed. (more…)
June 29, 2018
Interreligious Chaplaincy: Who are you, really? And what do you do?
(Nun and Chaplain walking and talking) (more…)
June 29, 2018
Consultations from India to Minneapolis: a United Student’s Reflections.
In winter 2018, I took a trip to India with a group of students from the seminary, visiting sacred sites of 7 religions – Baha’i, Buddhist, Muslim, Jain, Sikh, Christian and Hindu. The trip was called The Sacred Sites of India. It was amazing. There are temples and sacred art everywhere, pilgrims and worshipers everywhere. India is busy, beautiful, colorful, crowded –– filled with delicious vegetable curries, fresh fruit, palm trees, silk saris, pashmina shawls. There are men building roads, men building buildings, men with sewing machines on the street making clothes while you wait, men pulling people around in bicycle taxis, men cooking on gigantic platters in the street, men slicing coconuts with machetes. men carrying huge loads on their backs and on their bicycles. I have never seen so many men working so hard. (more…)
June 29, 2018
Wearing the Church: On the 2018 Met Gala
There is a gap between that which expresses and that which is expressed. But there is also a point of identity between them. It is the riddle and the depth of all expression that it both reveals and hides at the same time. – Paul Tillich, “Art and Ultimate Reality,” 2. (more…)
June 29, 2018
“The role of a religious or spiritual leader is …to inspire and create wonder:” President Lew Zeidner Addresses the Graduating Class of 2018
Commencement for the graduating class of 2018 was May 6. Reiterating what it means to pursue theological education, the following is President Lew Zeidner's address to the graduates and their families. (more…)