The Sikh Society of Minnesota is graciously preparing a Langar meal as the highlight of the conference. In Sikh Society, the serving of this free, delicious vegetarian meal to any and all is beautiful expression of “Seva” or selfless giving, one of the pillars of Sikh faith. We are incredibly grateful that our Sikh sisters and brothers have offered to share with us this ultimate expression of hospitality. You can learn more about Langar on our website.
The conference and dinner are free; donations are most welcome.
Plenaries include:
How do faith traditions practice hospitality?
When the State Limits Hospitality: Minnesota Realities
Breakouts include:
Food and the Practice of Hospitality
Welcoming Younger Generations: Hospitality to younger people in faith contexts and higher education
The Important Role of Women in the Practice of Hospitality
Being Christian and Engaged in a Pluralistic World
Peer Group Caucusing: Faith Leaders, Higher Education, Chaplains, Local Volunteer Interfaith Groups and Interfaith Organizations and more
MnMN Organizational Partners and Individual Members are welcome to submit events and news for inclusion in our newsletter. To make a submission, please email us. Submissions for the next newsletter are due Friday, October 13. If you are not yet an Organizational Partner or Individual Member, we encourage you to join us!
Committed to Healing & Reparations for the Tlingit People
Sunday, October 8, 2:00 – 3:00 pm, 3121 Groveland School Rd, Minnetonka, MN 55391
St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka will be hosting a watch party of the truth and reconciliation ceremony being held at Ḵunéix̱ Hídi Northern Light United Church. In 2022, the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly adopted, without amendment, the Overture proposed by Ḵunéix̱ Hídi Northern Light United Church and the Presbytery of the Northwest Coast. This issued apologies and commitments of reparations for the racist closure of Memorial Presbyterian Church in Juneau, Alaska, as well as the insult, injury, and trauma caused to the Tlingit people and Rev. Dr. Walter Soboleff. When our youth and Associate Pastor recently traveled to Juneau for a service trip, they learned about the healing ceremony from native elders and were told, "spreading the story and witnessing the ceremony to begin reparations work would be meaningful.” We invite you to watch the documentary on YouTube and join us as we witness how the modern church can begin to repent for the sins it perpetuated against native communities. Learn more about the healing ministries in Alaska HERE, and how it can be a model for healing our relationships with native communities here in MN. For more information email Rev. Nora Elliott.
Reparations Learning Labs
Wednesdays, October 11, November 15, January 17, February 14, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Online
Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light's Reparations Learning Labs support a community of doers who are committed to repairing the harms of colonization through action. These monthly sessions will help people who are ready to move beyond reading and discussion into doing. Being a part of these labs invites us into our commitment to the forever work of decolonizing ourselves and our communities.
Doctrine of Discovery Screening and Discussion with Sheldon Wolfchild
Wednesday, October 11, 7:10 pm, Unity Church-Unitarian Parish Hall, 733 Portland Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55104 or Online
Save the date for a screening of the Doctrine of Discovery documentary followed by a discussion with producer Sheldon Wolfchild. More information coming soon!
Inter-belief Conversation Cafe: Evolution--True or False?
Monday, October 16, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Online
Evolution teaches that the species of life we now encounter and many that vanished long ago developed through a process of random mutation and natural selection. Divine creation or intervention is not part of the theory. Change is not intelligently designed but occurs through potentialities already in our genetic building blocks. It assumes it has up to millions of years to work with—not seven days. Most scientists accept it as proven, including many who also believe in a divine creator. Evolution has been seen as at odds with faith both by its proponents and opponents. It is accepted by the Catholic Church and other religious organizations but has been subject to laws opposing its teaching or requiring equal time to religious views or possibilities of an intelligence directing the process. It does not yet explain what life came from but only what happened to life after it first occurred. Charles Darwin hesitated before publishing On The Origin of Species because of concerns about its implications for religious belief, including those of his wife. After it was published, the world has never been the same. 164 years later, what do you think? Is evolution true, or false? And why?
On Monday, October 16 from 7-9 PM by Zoom, Inter-belief Conversation Café will try to discern what type of evolutionary pressure Charles Darwin unleashed upon the world. Our agreements of open-mindedness, acceptance, curiosity, discovery, sincerity, brevity, and confidentiality should help us “evolve” a fitter understanding of what evolution truly means. All are welcome, including any interested monkeys!
Spiritual Care and Chaplaincy in Religiously Diverse Societies
Tuesday, October 17, 12:00 - 1:15 pm, Online
The recent open-access volume Complexities of Spiritual Care in Plural Societies: Education, Praxis and Concepts (De Gruyter, 2022) contributes to an emerging field that could be referred to as "plural spiritual care and chaplaincy," by innovatively bringing together contributions from a broad range of contexts and religious traditions. Including empirical work and conceptual explorations, the volume helps to fill the gap between practices and developments related to plural spiritual care and chaplaincy in the scholarly discourse, and their application for practitioners serving religiously diverse populations in health and chaplaincy settings. In this webinar, editor Anne Hege Grung will introduce the book and project, contributor Nazila Isgandarova will discuss female voices in Islamic spiritual care, and contributor Su Yon Pak will explore Buddhist chaplaincy education at a Protestant seminary. Time will be allowed for discussion and questions. Free and open to the public.
Wednesday, October 25, 10:00 - 11:00 am, Foss Center, Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg University
Save the date for a panel with Augsburg faculty! Globally, over 50% of persons experience some sort of trauma during their lifetime. Our convocation panelists will share resources from their specific religious traditions—Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism—that respond to trauma and help foster resilience. Contact Professor Mary Lowe with questions.
What Christians Get Wrong about Judaism and Why it Matters
From early on Christians have defined Christianity in relation to the Jewish tradition from which it emerged. But when articulating Christian faith vis-à-vis Judaism, most Christian teachers and preachers down through the centuries have misrepresented Judaism, expressing anti-Jewish perspectives that often have fanned the flames of antisemitic attitudes and behaviors. The result of this has not only been dire for Jews, including in the last several years in the United States where there has been a dramatic increase of hate crimes against Jews, but has also distorted Christian self-understanding and faith. In this presentation, Rabbi Ryan Dulkin will focus on several things that Christians generally misunderstand about Judaism and why this matters for Jews, Christians, and others.
Sunday, October 29, 6:00 - 7:30 pm, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 100 Silver Lake Rd NW, New Brighton, MN 55112
Rev. Ben Connelly will give a presentation hosted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The format is a 45-50 minute presentation by Ben followed by a 25-30 minute Q&A period. Ben Connelly is a Soto Zen teacher and Dharma heir in the Katagiri lineage. He also teaches mindfulness in a wide variety of secular contexts including police training and addiction recovery groups. He works with multifaith groups focused on intersectional liberation, and racial and climate justice. Ben is based at Minnesota Zen Meditation Center, travels to teach across the United States, has written for Tricycle and Lion’s Roar magazines, and is author of Inside the Grass Hut, Inside Vasubandhu's Yogacara, and Mindfulness and Intimacy.
Opportunities
MnMN is seeking artists to submit art for an exhibition taking place at our annual conference. We are thrilled to curate an art exhibition that highlights the significance of bringing people together through art across various faiths, promising a beautifully diverse showcase. Learn more and submit your art through this Google Form!
We are also looking for organizations who are interested in tabling at the conference. Organizations, institutions, and congregations are invited to display material at our conference. Tables are free for MnMN Organizational Partners and $50 for non-partners. Learn more and sign up for a table through this Google Form!
FREC is undertaking an intensive effort called the FREC Reimagined Project to ensure that FREC's mission, vision and values are inclusive, relevant and effective. Please fill out this survey which will take only about 10 minutes of your time.
Did you know that in 2022-2023, close to 2,000 schools were designated as No Place for Hate®, reaching more than 1.5 million students? If schools and districts in your neighborhood have not yet registered for ADL’s free signature No Place for Hate program — a school-climate improvement initiative that fits each school’s unique culture and needs — consider how creating a more welcoming, inclusive and equitable environment, with students leading the way, can positively impact your entire community. Click here to find out how to get your school or district involved, or contact Lara Trubowitz, Education Director, at ltrubowitz@adl.org. We work with public schools, private schools, and faith-based schools and would be thrilled to talk to you about the program.
The deadline is approaching for Collegeville Institute's 2024-2025 Resident Scholars program! This program is open to scholars, writers, pastors, activists, faith leaders, and others who are looking for time, space, and a place to further their work. We offer residencies of a semester or year, as well as short-term residencies of three weeks to three months. The application deadline is Wednesday, November 1.
Who do you turn to for perspective on the thorny problems of leadership in today’s workplace? Are you a leader who would benefit from reflective practice, a framework for accountability, and customized coaching as you navigate organizational challenges? Seeing Things Whole is a disciplined process that embraces the organization’s relationships to the larger world, cultivating whole leaders and thriving organizations to positively impact the common good. This fall, the Reell Office of Seeing Things Whole at Augsburg University will launch a Community of Practice Cohort to support the professional development of three leaders by advancing their strategic thinking toward action. Learn more about this unique professional development opportunity!
Too often, we criticize, dismiss, or even ridicule those who support the "other" party, its leaders, and its policies. That's why Braver Angels is hosting a series of Depolarizing Within workshops. Designed as part of our Rise for America initiative, this effort will help participants learn how to be critical without demonizing or stereotyping, and how to redirect polarizing conversations with like-minded people. Register for any of these workshops on Saturdays: October 7, October 14, October 21, October 28 or on Sunday, October 15. Questions? Email Casey Jorgensen.
URI Global invites you to the first in a series of online webinars on violence prevention, hosted by Karen Volker, URI’s Director of Partnership and Violence Prevention. This inaugural webinar will present the key components of the health approach to preventing and interrupting violence and answer questions participants may have about the potential applicability of the health approach to whatever situation they may be facing in their communities. Wednesday, October 11, 8:00 am Central, Online
URI North America is hosting Gender, Sexuality, and Faith, a listening space to learn how we can advocate for LGBTQIA2S+ in various sectors of society. Speakers include community leaders from the URI network, Irimekyen "Salome" Samuel of the Euphrates Institute CC, and Felipe Zurita of the Charter for Compassion CC/URI North America Leadership Council, as well as Bishop Deon Johnson, the first out, gay Bishop of color for the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of Missouri. Wednesday, October 11, 6:00 pm Central, Online
Do Good Roseville is gathering to discuss homelessness in our community. Thursday, October 12, 10:00 am, Lexington Park Building
Join the Saint Paul MICAH chapter for their virtual Affordable Housing Bus Tour. "We are covering the continuum to housing, from street outreach with Freedom from the Streets to the Higher Ground shelter, from rent control implementation with Daniel Streeter of HomeLine to additional ownership models with Ianni Houmas of the East Side Investment Cooperative. We will have a tour of different grassroots organizing models, and updates on state and national legislative organizing!" Tuesday, October 17, 8:00 am, Online
MnMN Seeking Fall 2023 Intern for Interfaith Mapping Project!
The Minnesota Multifaith Network seeks interns to assist staff and volunteers of MnMN with the following tasks:
Gather information about multifaith groups in Minnesota. Information to be gathered includes nature and purpose of the group, leadership and contact information for leaders, activity.
Update and refine MnMN’s website map of multifaith groups, organizational partners and individual members.
Extend invitations to religious leaders, faith communities and organizations to join MnMN.
Gather information about individual participants in various traditions who have an interest in interfaith relations. Help find ways for them to take action in their own faith communities, organizations, interfaith groups or with MnMN. If you are interested, please contact Dr. Jen Kilps.
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