February 3 - Immigration Issues in Minnesota Churches - Bishop Jon Anderson, Lynne Holman, Anna Marsh

Churches are houses of hospitality. Christians are reminded to “welcome the stranger,” (Mt 25.37-40) “for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt” (Ex 23.9).

A new Immigration Policy Statement of the the Minnesota Council of Churches was adopted by the Board in December 2007, providing overall guidance to the Council’s existing ministries, programs and services to refugees and asylum seekers, and any emerging ministries to, and with new immigrants. Join Bishop Jon Anderson of Southwestern Minnesota ELCA Synod and MCC staff Lynne Holman and Anna Marsh to consider how Christians and the church can live out this newly adopted policy statement.

Podcasts at www.consideringfaith.org
Read the statement here
For more information, please visit these links:
Click here to learn about volunteer oportunities
The University of Minnesota has a great site
Click here to visit their Immigration History Research Center

photo courtesy of Boss Tweed

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January 27 - Religion in Academia - Prof. Capper Nichols

Many universities started school again this week. Each year, thousands of students go to college and study, but many of us never really question, what is the purpose of college anyway? Is it merely to get a degree and find a job or are there other reasons? We’ll be talking with Professor Capper Nichols from the University of Minnesota about why it’s important to lead a thoughtful life and how academia can inspire students to do this. Professor Nichols teaches Science, Religion, and the Search for Human Nature course at the University of Minnesota and was also an advisor to the student group focusing on the same issue. We’ll be talking today about how academia and thoughtful analysis contributes towards the common good and what the generational differences between the professors and the students is.

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January 20 - Violence and Religion - Reverend Thomas Duke

There will be a forum on the topic of violence and religion coming up on January 22nd and 23rd at Luther Seminary. The purpose of this forum is to answer the following questions, as described on their website: Is violence an inescapable result of religious commitment, or is it a distortion, a human projection on a God in whom there is no violence? Is it the sole province of extremists, or do the roots of conflict touch all persons of faith? Do solutions to these seemingly intractable problems lie within the traditions themselves? Reverend Thomas Duke will be convening the forum. We will be talking to him about violence and religion and how this discussion is important for the common good.

Click here to register for the forum!

Former guest Professor William Cavanaugh writes about his beliefs in the link between religion and violence

Read more about violence inspired by religion

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January 13 - National Week of Prayer for Christian Unity - Father Loughran & Father Piche

Join us this week while we examine the upcoming Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. We will be speaking with Father Loughran of the Graymoor Institute and local leader Father Piche. It is the 100th Anniversary of this weekly prayer and we will talk about the history and significance of what this upcoming week means for all Christians.

This is an important week for ecumenism. It is from January 18 - 25th. There will be an event hosted by the Minnesota Council of Churches on Friday, January 18, 2008, 7:00 PM
Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave in St. Paul to celebrate.

Click here to learn more about the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Click here to find out more about the Graymoor Institute.

January 6 - Looking Forward to the Legislative Year - Brian Rusche

This week we'll be talking with Brian Rusche of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition about the upcoming year in the Minnesota Legislature. We'll be talking about what important bills will be coming up this year and how it will all be affected by the important elections near the end of this year. Make sure to tune in this week to get all the information you need to know about the legislature!

Click here to visit the website of the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition.

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