[Editorial for the Chicago Seminarian this week]
As I write this, I am in the midst of the 5th National Conference on Interfaith Youth Work, held October 28-30 downtown at the Chicago Cultural Center. I am positively, delightfully, overwhelmed.
I am overwhelmed that the first conference had 30 participants, and this year’s conference has 550. I think I talked to about a hundred new people in one afternoon, and when that got to be too much, I looked for old friends in the crowd. Or, I could’ve ducked into the quiet meditation room near the entry if I needed to get away for a little while longer.
So far I’ve been to workshops that are imminently practical, like ‘Fundraising 101,’ ‘Youth Leadership in the Interfaith Movement,’ and ‘The 6 Best Practices in Interfaith Organizing.’ Also available were service projects, sessions to meet one another directly in dialogue, and a neat idea called ‘speedfaithing’-like speed-dating, a quick but intensive introduction to a religious tradition, presented by a practitioner in that tradition, without having to spend a semester in class.
One of the most helpful things I’ve found at this conference, in addition to meeting 550 new friends and colleagues, and getting practical skills for organizing, is the emphasis on sustainability. Is campus organizing just something you do while you’re in school? Will it simply have to die when you graduate? Or can you take the steps to ensure that others will benefit from your work after you move on?
In starting this newspaper and SeminaryAction last year, I was having fun, but it was a shock to me when most of my original cohort graduated last spring--I was the junior member of our group. I also found out that there was a curiosity among a wider population, and not too many other folks doing what we were doing. It’s been a steep learning curve, trying to create something bigger that can do more good. And there hasn’t been much sleep lately. But I am encouraged by events and support like this. Hope you will find that encouragement too. Check it out: http://www.ifyc.org/.
--Le Anne
Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Seminarians Prepare for SOA
An inter-seminary coalition is currently making plans to attend the annual vigil at Ft. Benning, GA (WHINSEC/SOA) to protest the on-going training of Latin American military and police units that have been tied to widespread human rights abuses. If you have interest in attending this year's vigil, which will be held on November 15-18 of this year, please contact me as soon as possible so we can make the necessary arrangements for travel and lodging.* There may be funds available through your student government or other organization to help finance the costs.
Students that have gone in the past have found this to be a very meaningful experience and an important part of their educational experience, so I hope that you will consider making the effort to go. If you are unfamiliar with this issues surrounding WHINSEC, please visit the SOA Watch website at www.soaw.org or contact me at 773-908-7262.
*Those with interest in going, please reply to this message and indicate your commitment level at this point in time. I would like to know by the beginning of reading week approximately how many people are thinking about going so we can book the appropriate number of motel rooms. Again, with any questions, please contact me.
Nathan Soule, McCormick Theological Seminary
Nsoule@mccormick.edu
Students that have gone in the past have found this to be a very meaningful experience and an important part of their educational experience, so I hope that you will consider making the effort to go. If you are unfamiliar with this issues surrounding WHINSEC, please visit the SOA Watch website at www.soaw.org or contact me at 773-908-7262.
*Those with interest in going, please reply to this message and indicate your commitment level at this point in time. I would like to know by the beginning of reading week approximately how many people are thinking about going so we can book the appropriate number of motel rooms. Again, with any questions, please contact me.
Nathan Soule, McCormick Theological Seminary
Nsoule@mccormick.edu
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Questioning Authority
[Editorial for this week's Chicago Seminarian]
Who do we allow to tell us what to think, and what to do? This is a question timely for seminary students in particular. Some would answer ‘God,’ or ‘the Bible;’ others might do or think mostly only what their church body tells them to, no matter what the politics are of the denomination--after all, keeping your head down and asking no questions is a good way to cruise through unhassled in life. We all know this. Still, others may find the desire to question what we’re told on any given topic...worth a little hassle. Hopefully not too much, though, right? After all, we all know it, those who ask too many questions often get into trouble like they never imagined. And it hurts.
Monks in Burma (also known as Myanmar) are asking questions these days. And they are getting killed. Those images and radio reports are haunting me the most this week. Their pictures remind me of pictures I saw in the Chicago Historical Society two summers ago, of seminarians and clergy marching in the streets to support the cause of human rights. Where are we called to march today?
In a few months, seminarians and clergy will march to protest the U.S. Army School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, GA. Some will be arrested and imprisoned.
Other seminarians are traveling to the border, to the Middle East, to Africa, to Colombia; some are traveling to the neighborhoods we so rarely go in our own city, each asking questions--each deciding to find out for her or himself what is happening and what must be done to heal our world. Some are asking questions on their own campuses. When we question what we’ve been told, it is wise to go together and draw on each other’s strength and support. Let us do likewise.
-Le Anne
Who do we allow to tell us what to think, and what to do? This is a question timely for seminary students in particular. Some would answer ‘God,’ or ‘the Bible;’ others might do or think mostly only what their church body tells them to, no matter what the politics are of the denomination--after all, keeping your head down and asking no questions is a good way to cruise through unhassled in life. We all know this. Still, others may find the desire to question what we’re told on any given topic...worth a little hassle. Hopefully not too much, though, right? After all, we all know it, those who ask too many questions often get into trouble like they never imagined. And it hurts.
Monks in Burma (also known as Myanmar) are asking questions these days. And they are getting killed. Those images and radio reports are haunting me the most this week. Their pictures remind me of pictures I saw in the Chicago Historical Society two summers ago, of seminarians and clergy marching in the streets to support the cause of human rights. Where are we called to march today?
In a few months, seminarians and clergy will march to protest the U.S. Army School of the Americas at Ft. Benning, GA. Some will be arrested and imprisoned.
Other seminarians are traveling to the border, to the Middle East, to Africa, to Colombia; some are traveling to the neighborhoods we so rarely go in our own city, each asking questions--each deciding to find out for her or himself what is happening and what must be done to heal our world. Some are asking questions on their own campuses. When we question what we’ve been told, it is wise to go together and draw on each other’s strength and support. Let us do likewise.
-Le Anne
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