Campus “Oval” Dynamics: Responding to Bias Language
Panel of students and leaders from The Ohio State University
Case study: Campuses/universities often have a public space, where the First Amendment applies. So, anyone can speak in this space. What often happens is that students pass through the area, and are confronted by bias and accusatory language. How might religious leaders respond? What do students want from religious leaders? What is the intersection between faith/gender and one’s rights.
Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, UMC, Moderator of a panel
Challenging religious and gang culture in prisons through interfaith communities and restorative justice. The Horizon Program is one of the most innovative and transformative prison programs. It brings prison residents from many religious perspectives in a 10-month experience of recovering their sense of self, others, faith and purpose.
The Closing Address was delivered by Ms. Kathyrn Lohre, director of ecumenical and inter-religious relations for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. a. She is currently serving as president of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, as the first Lutheran and the youngest woman. Previously she served as assistant director of the Pluralism Project at Harvard University, a premier research project on religious diversity in the United States. Her address was titled: Seeing Beyond the Future: The Challenge of Identifying Today’s Ecumenical Opportunities. Following her address the 49th Annual National Workshop partook of their closing luncheon before returning to their places of ministry. and service.
For our Bible Study, Dr. Barbara Sutton led us on a process of lectio and visio divina using excerpts froom the Saint John’s Bible. The Saint John’s Bible is the first handwritten and illuminated Bible commissioned by a Benedictine Abbey in 500 years. Director of Ministerial Formation and Field Education in the School of Theology/ Seminary at Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN.
Following the days luncheon, Dr. Jared Wicks, S.J. presented a response to the Keynote Address by Dr. Westerfield Tucker. Dr. Wicks taught for many years at the Gregorian University in Rome, and has recently completed a reworked version of his book, Doing Theology. He currently is a Scholar in Residence at the Pontifical College Josephium, Columbus, OH.
The Rev. Dr. Karen Westerfield Tucker, an ordained United Methodist minister is Professor of Worship at Boston University School of Theology. She has a PhD in liturgical studies from Notre Dame and is the author or coauthor of a number of books on worship, including The Oxford History of Christian Worship. For the NWCU Keynote she addressed the topic, Vatican II from a Protestant Perspective.
