"Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing." — Arundathi Roy
SAVE THE DATE, MORE TO INFO TO COME
Are Humans Elevated Over Other Forms of Life?
Monday, December 18, 7:00 - 9:00 pm, Zoom
Genesis 1:26–27 attributed the following quote to God: “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” But earlier in Genesis 1:22, God supposedly blessed the creatures themselves, telling them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth,” and Genesis 2:15 said, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it, and take care of it.”
Inter-belief Conversation Cafe will examine the Line of Succession to the Kingdom of Earth. Meanwhile our humanity will be preserved by our reasoning dialogue’s agreements of open-mindedness, acceptance, curiosity, discovery, sincerity, brevity, and confidentiality. So, if you’re a tree looking to lobby for your civil rights, you’re out of luck. But if you’re a human? Join us. (And if you don’t like our reasoning dialogue, you’re still free to “make like a tree and leave.”)
Sunday, January 7, 2:00 - 4:30 pm, Turkish American Society of Minnesota (TASMN), 6565 Oakley Drive Northeast Fridley, MN 55432
TASMN's Turkic Cooking Classes are designed for food lovers of all skill levels, from beginners to experienced home cooks. Whether you’re seeking to expand your culinary repertoire or simply enjoy a delightful cultural experience, these classes are perfect for you. The second season of Turkic Culinary Journey sessions will be held first Sundays of each month. At the end of each class, attendees will be enjoying the wonderful dishes they have made together.
Tuesday, January 9, Chapel of the Incarnation, Olson Campus Center 1490 Fulham Street, St. Paul, MN 55108 or on YouTube
3:30 – 5:00 pm Clergy Workshop: “Understanding Jesus and Paul Means Understanding Jewish Practice and Belief” 7:00 pm Public Lecture: “The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector: Why Knowledge of Jewish History Matters for Christian Preaching and Teaching”
Please join Luther Seminary to hear renowned biblical scholar Amy-Jill Levine deliver the 2024 Fretheim Lecture in Biblical Theology. Prior to the public lecture, Professor Levine will offer a free workshop for area clergy and seminary students that discusses the reasons why anti-Jewish preaching and teaching continue, details the popular misconceptions about the Jewish context of Jesus and Paul found in sermons and church-based curricula, and offers alternatives for reading the texts on which they are based.
Interfaith Just Peacemaking: Christian and Muslim Resources for Restorative Justice with Professor Najeeba Syeed
Thursday, January 11, 12:00 - 1:00 pm Central, Online
Religion is often viewed as the source of conflict and violence, but Professor Syeed will discuss how diverse traditions can foster connection, non-violence, and interfaith understanding. She will explore the concept on interfaith just peacemaking, and will address the question – how do we build conflict interventions that prize restoration over retribution from spiritual sources, and practices based on scripture, oral traditions and history of religious communities? Professor Syeed will share examples of restorative peacebuilding in violent conflicts which instead of violence seek a third way to resolve controversies. Attendees will learn how can we function as engaged members of our current social contexts that build relational ethics for a collective future for us all.
Save the Date for Joint Religious Legislative Coalition's Metro Area 2024 Legislative Preview
Thursday, January 18, 7:30 pm, Islamic Center of Minnesota, 1401 Gardena Avenue NE, Fridley, 55432
The Joint Religious Legislative Coalition will be holding a special Metro Area 2024 Legislative Preview. This is a great opportunity to come together as a coalition with our interfaith partners, meet your fellow advocates, and learn about our policy priorities for 2024 addressing issues such as maternal health, housing, mental health, and gambling expansion. The four JRLC sponsors are the Minnesota Catholic Conference, the Minnesota Council of Churches, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and the Islamic Center of Minnesota.
Circle of Trust Retreat Series
February 9 -11 and/or April 26 - 28
This combination of retreats (participants can attend one or both) combine the principles and practices of Circles of Trust and the power of music to help us understand and live into our lives. Developed by Parker Palmer and the Center for Courage & Renewal, The Circle of Trust® approach is distinguished by principles and practices intended to create a process of shared exploration where people can find safe space to nurture personal and professional integrity and the courage to act on it. In the hands of knowledgeable and skilled facilitators, this approach has the power to transform individuals, families, workplaces and communities.
The Sacred Ordinary, a Collegeville Institute Writing Workshop
Saturday, February 24, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm, Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
Writing and Yoga are two powerful, transformational spiritual practices that can bring us closer to God, ourselves, and each other. As a writer and yoga teacher, Ellie Roscher loves to pair writing, breath and movement in a way that invites us to inhabit our bodies and experience deeper embodiment. In this one day writing workshop, Ellie will lead participants through simple breath work, body movement, writing prompts and discussion to unlock and explore our bodies as writers.
Save the Date for Augsburg's 2024 Interfaith Symposium: Building Trust in Divisive Times
Thursday, March 7, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm, Augsburg University
The keynote lecture will be given by Manu Meel, who is passionate about empowering young people to bridge divides. He believes that the biggest threat to American democracy is polarization. As CEO of BridgeUSA, Manu is leading the largest and fastest growing student movement to bridge our differences. Registration coming soon! Sponsorship opportunities are available, contact interfaith@augsburg.edu for more information.
Alternatives to Violence Project and Friends for a Nonviolent World: Workshop registration is now open for individuals interested in continuing their journey towards becoming an Alternatives to Violence Project workshop facilitator. They're especially dedicated to developing our team of youth workshop facilitators. January 5 - 7, in person in St. Paul or Minneapolis, exact location TBD
Braver Angels: Bring your critical eyes and ears to a pilot run of Braver Angels' first 90-minute workshop called "Skills for Disagreeing Better about Politics," led by Braver Angels Co-Founder Bill Doherty. Wednesday, January 10, 6 pm, Ramsey County Library in Shoreview
Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute & Restorative Justice Community Action: Learn more about Restorative Justice (RJ) Principles with a trauma informed and racial equity lens by attending our in-person training, "Cultivating Community: Restorative Justice Theory and Practice,"Thursday, January 25 - Saturday, January 27
“If you know someone who is Muslim or is Jewish, you ought to reach out at this time and say, ‘I’m thinking of you,’” Spilker said. “This has nothing to do with choosing sides. There’s no need to choose sides. That’s even a false choice. It’s best to think about your neighbor, knowing that they are seen and respected in our community.”
In recent decades, Americans have become less likely to identify with an organized religion. Yet a new Pew Research Center survey shows that belief in spirits or a spiritual realm beyond this world is widespread, even among those who don’t consider themselves religious. For example, 83% of all U.S. adults believe people have a soul or spirit in addition to their physical body, and 81% say there is something spiritual beyond the natural world, even if we cannot see it. Three-in-ten say they have personally encountered a spirit or unseen spiritual force. Overall, 70% of U.S. adults can be considered “spiritual” in some way, because they think of themselves as spiritual people or say spirituality is very important in their lives.
Resources & Opportunities
New Program Coming in 2024 for First-Generation Homebuyers Minnesota Housing is excited to announce the First-Generation Homebuyer Loan Program offering downpayment assistance to first-generation homebuyers! They plan to launch the program in spring 2024.
Here’s what you need to know about the First-Generation Loan Program: Maximum loan amount of $35,000 Forgivable if the borrower lives in the home Half forgiven at year 10 Remaining balance forgiven at year 20 Could be combined with a standard Minnesota Housing downpayment assistance loan, for a total of up to $53,000
Available to Start Up borrowers who certify they are first-generation homebuyers. To learn more, visit the new First-Generation Homebuyer Loan webpage located in the Partner Portal. As the program launch approaches, they’ll update the page with training opportunities and additional information on the new program. They will be creating a consumer page with more information on their First-Generation Homebuyer Loan soon. Stay tuned!
The Emerging Leaders Multifaith Action Council is growing!
ELMAC is a multifaith cohort of leaders under age 35 interested in working together to support each other and change the world! With members from across Minnesota from a variety of religions, spiritualities, colleges, and organizations, ELMAC provides young people a space to have meaningful conversations about the future of multifaith engagement and the future of the planet. Join us in developing our mission, vision, goals, and action projects.
If you know anyone who may be interested, please feel free to share the following information:
Please also feel free to sign up if you are over the age of 35 and have an interest in supporting ELMAC and/or receiving updates from ELMAC members. Those over 35 can also reach out to Network Executive Jen Kilps for more information.
From Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign:
In this moment, we know that public acts of reaching out across divides can be particularly fraught, yet we've heard from many of you that you (and those in your communities) are reaching out, deepening relationships, and interrupting hate and discrimination.
In light of this, we are launching our Seeds of Hope Story Campaignand collecting these stories to uplift as examples of standing up for shared dignity and humanity around our country right now.
We're looking for stories of a simple smile shared between strangers, of a bystander interrupting harassment or discrimination, a community response after a hate crime, or a politician visited by constituents.
You can learn more and submit a story (or two) here.
The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum is seeking applications for their new Congregational Leaders Workshop. Beyond Horror and Shame: Legacies of the Holocaust for Faith Communities and the Future will take place in-person at the USHMM, April 9-11, and will be led by Rev. Dr. Peter Pettit. Clergy and lay leaders from any religious tradition and based in North America are welcome to apply (applications are due February 23).
Listen to a new episode of Friends for a NonViolent World's Everyday Nonviolence podcast with George Lakey, Quaker activist, campaign organizer, sociologist, trainer and author. In this episode, George speaks with host PJ Hoffman as he reflects on his career as an activist. George Lakey offers wise insights and resources for creating social change, even in times of great polarization.
As refugee families are arriving, donations are flying off Minnesota Council of Churches's shelves, and they need your help! Help them welcome new families by donating hygiene products and home essentials including but not limited to: All-purpose Cleaner, Feminine Products, Dish Soap, Deodorant, and Toothpaste. To schedule a drop off please call (612)247-9760 or email rsvolunteers@mnchurches.org. You can also mail donations at their main office at 122 W Franklin Ave Ste 100, Minneapolis, MN 55404.
Help Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul create a wonderful Holiday Dignity Shop. What is a Dignity Shop? Instead of deciding for parents what their children might like or need, Interfaith Action lets the parents choose 2-3 items per child. They can choose to wrap the gifts or leave them unwrapped. They can give their children the gifts whenever they choose to celebrate. New toy/gift donations accepted through December 20. Interfaith Action does not have any specific toy or gift requirements or suggestions. Please remember they serve a diverse group of families, children range in age from 0-18, they do not accept toy weapons, and they'd prefer gifts to be in the $15-25 range. Interested in volunteering? Interfaith Action needs elves to sort toys and set up the shelves, to help with shopping, and to staff the children's activity area, where they can create a gift while their parent is shopping. Contact Donna Franklin at dfranklin@interfaithaction.org, 651-364-7290.
From the project manager of 3Faiths@OneTable, Elizabeth Kulus:
The 3Faiths@OneTable project seeks to connect individuals and families from different religious and/or cultural backgrounds with the goal of encouraging meaningful friendships across differences. Once signed up for the project, I will organize and schedule orientation meetings which will give families the opportunity to meet with one another and get to know each other to make sure the groups are a good match. After that, the cohorts are ready to set up meetings at each other’s homes over the next couple of months. Each cohort agrees to meet at least once in each other’s homes for a total of three gatherings. These gatherings can be made over the sharing of a light meal or snack.
Our goal is to create a low-stakes opportunity for people to meet each other, and as the Project Manager, I will be here as a resource to you throughout the whole process. So that’s the “nuts and bolts” of the project. As you can probably gather from the name, the 3Faiths@OneTable project offers the opportunity to engage in interfaith dialogue and share about your own faith traditions while learning about someone else’s. We know that can be intimidating so we will offer some helpful conversation guidelines to make sure folks feel comfortable. And if at the end of the three months the topic of religion never comes up, that’s ok! We hope that you have still made a meaningful friendship connection with a new family.
All 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, December 22. MnMN Organizational Partners and Individual Members have first priority. If you are not yet an Organizational Partner or Individual Member, we encourage you to join us!
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