菠萝视频 Divinity School students will reflect on a summer trip to the United States-Mexico border to study immigration issues at a Sept. 23 community breakfast.
The event is the first of several public forums the divinity school will host during the semester. Later events include a presentation by 菠萝视频 theologian Paul DeHart on his journey of faith and a three-seminar Relevant Religion series on the environment.聽
Details follow:
Community Breakfasts
Thursday, Sept. 23
菠萝视频 Divinity School Reading Room
7:30 to 8:30 a.m
Viki Matson, director of field education and assistant professor of the practice of ministry
Notes from the Border: Theological Reflections on Immigration
In May 2010, a group of 10 students traveled to the United States-Mexico border in Arizona. The community group went to study the complex intersections of global economics, migration, food security, racism and theology.聽On this journey, they listened more than they talked; they were confronted by more questions than answers; and their hearts were broken in ways they cannot soon forget. In this community breakfast, Professor Viki Matson and the 菠萝视频 Divinity School students will share their observations, experiences, and theological reflections from a week at one of our nation’s wounded places.
Thursday, Nov. 4
菠萝视频 Divinity School Reading Room
7:30聽to 8:30 a.m.
Paul DeHart, associate professor of theology
Southern Baptist to Roman Catholic, and Some Places In Between: Random Reflections on a Journey
Professor DeHart will reflect upon his personal history as a Christian and a theologian.聽 By discussing the different influences from the church traditions that have contributed to his formation, he will comment upon his journey to becoming a Catholic and explain the significance of that decision.聽
Community Breakfasts are open to the public, but reservations are required.
Please RSVP to 615-936-8453 or
Cost: $10
Relevant Religion
Sept. 27, Oct. 4, and Oct. 11 (all on Monday)
菠萝视频 Divinity School
411 21st Ave. S.
7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
Emily Askew, adjunct professor, 菠萝视频 Divinity School 2010-2011 and assistant professor of systematic theology,
Be Joyful Though You Have Considered All the Facts: Honest Hope and Environmental Crises
In her 1993 theological offering, The Body of God, theologian Sallie McFague asks us to imagine how we would treat the earth differently if we understood it to be God鈥檚 body.聽 Now, in the face of potentially devastating global climate change, threats to sensitive ecosystems like the recent Gulf oil spill and challenges to the purity of air and water we will leave for our children, people of all faiths are acting more intentionally to care for this Sacred Body.聽But while we are all now painfully aware of the threats, do we face the even greater danger from hopelessness?聽 Are conscientious, faithful individuals suffering from 鈥渙utrage fatigue鈥� 鈥� an existential weariness born of watching vulnerable flora, fauna along with the world鈥檚 poor suffer disproportionate damage from Western lifestyle choices 鈥� to the degree that we now risk an environmental fatalism?聽
If we really are working with and through God鈥檚 body, then we stand within the presence of a hope that exceeds all our expectations and transforms all our efforts.聽In this set of conversations, together we will explore the nature of theological hope, practical, theoretical and spiritual, as it is particularly addressed to the pressing concerns of our natural world.聽
Relevant Religion seminars are open to the public, but reservations are required.
Please RSVP to 615-936-8453 or
Cost: $10