Author: Clayton Mitchell

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02/03/2018: Meet My Religious Neighbor: Greek Orthodox Church of St. George

Please join us for our next “Meet My Religious Neighbor” open house, which will be held on Saturday, February 3rd , from 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George.

This open house actually is just that! – a two-hour window of time during which to drop in, tour the church, meet the congregation, and learn how they practice Greek Orthodox Christianity.

Come to the fellowship hall to sample refreshments and music from the various cultures of St. George! Also enjoy traditional music in the worship space. Father Basil and other members of the community will be on hand to answer your questions and share the history of St. George as well as their experience of worship.

Meet My Religious Neighbor is a monthly open-house series. Each open house allows the public the opportunity to tour a sacred space, learn how religion is practiced in it, and meet the congregation who worships there.

 

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12/08/2017: Religions of Des Moines: An Anthropology of Religion Poster Session

Religions of Des Moines: An Anthropology of Religion Poster Session
Friday, December 8th
4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Upper Olmsted Conference Rooms

 

Come meet seventeen different religious communities of Des Moines and the Drake students who researched them this semester. Students from Prof. Trentini’s Anthropology of Religion course will share posters and pictures of their research. These students, along with some members of their communities, will also speak about some of the most memorable experiences from this research.

Light refreshments, including kosher/hallal food from Maccabees Deli, will be served.

For more information, contact Prof. Daria Trentini: daria [dot] trentini [at] drake [dot] edu

Support of this event is made possible by Drake’s Humanities Center, Drake’s Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship, Drake’s Department for the Study of Culture and Society, and Drake’s Comparison Project.

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12/03/2017: Meet My Religious Neighbor: Burns United Methodist

Please join us on Sunday, December 3rd, from 10:45 am – 12:45 pm for the next open house in our Meet My Religious Neighbor series.

This open house is hosted by Burns United Methodist, the oldest African-American church in Iowa, which is now located at 1909 Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway in Des Moines. (For more background info about Burns, see our “Religions of Des Moines” entry on this site.)

Burns’ Sunday service begins at 11:00 am and lasts until 12:30/12:45 pm. Guests can dress as they desire — Burns’ parishioners come in everything from suits to sweats! Those guests who want a brief orientation to the service and tour of the facilities should arrive by 10:45 am.

 

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12/02/2017: Finding Peace through A Course in Miracles

Debra Landwehr Engle
Author of The Only Little Prayer You Need
With Randy Adams, Annabelle Nesbit and Dr. JoAnn Tully

Saturday, December 2, 9 a.m. to noon (registration at 8:30)
Meredith Hall, Drake University

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A Course in Miracles (ACIM) includes a text, workbook and manual that have been described as “spiritual psychotherapy.” Designed as a self-study course, the Course was first published in 1975, has been translated into more than two dozen languages and is studied worldwide.

While the Course uses Christian language, it is metaphysical and ecumenical in nature. It teaches that we have two minds: one based in fear and the other based in love. By consciously choosing love, we undo guilt and heal our relationships with ourselves and others.

This half-day conference will explore key teachings of the Course, including healing the mind and body, dealing with anger and attack, choosing love over fear and gaining a new perspective on life events by making small changes in your thinking.

The event will include an introduction to the Course, breakout sessions and a plenary Q&A with the conference leaders and ACIM students.

 

Debra Landwehr Engle has studied A Course in Miracles for more than 30 years. She is the author of The Only Little Prayer You Need, which is based on Course principles and has been translated into four languages. Deb leads A Course in Miracles classes, workshops and study groups in person and online, and she offers one-on-one mentoring based on ACIM.

Randy Adams has studied A Course in Miracles since 1995. He owns his own accounting and tax preparation business and teaches classes to other tax preparers. Randy believes that sharing kindness and joy is a simple and effective way to extend the ACIM message.

Annabelle Nesbit is an ordained interfaith minister and student/teacher of A Course in Miracles. Twenty-five years ago, she began a committed meditation practice, which inspired a life of learning about and practicing spiritual philosophies. She shares the gifts of the Course through a weekly ACIM group.

Dr. JoAnn Tully, D.C., uses principles from A Course in Miracles to help her clients release negative thoughts, emotions and beliefs that are sabotaging their energy, health and life. She works with clients who have been struggling with chronic illness, unexplained or unresolved health issues, or who are dealing with everyday fatigue and overwhelm.

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11/16/2017: On the Role of Miracles in the Vimalakirti Sutra in Early Medieval China and Beyond

Shi Jingpeng
Assistant Professor in the School of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Minzu University of China in Beijing, China
Thursday, November 16, 7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University
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Shi will speak about the role of miracles in the Vimalakīrti Sutra, an informative text for Chinese Buddhism in particular and Chinese culture in general. Why was this text so influential for a people who tended to value the ordinary and everyday? Why has it continued to be influential as miracles have become more suspect in Chinese culture?

 

Shi Jingpeng is Assistant Professor in the School of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Minzu University of China in Beijing, China.  Shi teaches and researches in the areas of Chinese Buddhist history and philology. His published works include Basic Research on Nirvāna Studies in the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China, and From Dharma-body to Buddha-nature.

Video of Lecture

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11/04/2017: Meet My Religious Neighbor: Islamic Center of Des Moines

Please join us on Saturday, November 4th, from 5:30 – 7:30 pm, for the next open house in our Meet My Religious Neighbor series.

This open house is hosted by the Islamic Center of Des Moines, which is located at 6201 Franklin Avenue in Des Moines.  At 5:00 pm, there will be an introduction to the community, their mosque, and their practices in the prayer hall.  After that, the community will be praying their evening (maghrib) prayers.  Finally, there will be a potluck meal served in the fellowship hall.

Guests are encouraged to bring a potluck dish to share.  Women should bring a scarf to cover their heads; arms should also be covered to the wrists, legs, to the ankles.

 

 

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10/26/2017: “Does ‘the God who acts’ really act? Special divine action via quantum mechanics that is objective but not miraculous”

Robert Russell
Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences and Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley
Thursday, October 26, 7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University
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Russell starts with basic concepts in a Christian theology of divine action, including miracles.  He focuses on the challenge posed by Hume to the concept of “miracle” as a violation of the laws of nature and its devastating consequences for theology in the 18th – 20th century theology.  He then describes a new way to achieve a theory of divine action in which God’s action makes an objective difference in the processes of nature without in any way being a violation of, or intervention into, these processes: “NIODA” (non-interventionist objective divine action). NIODA, in turn, requires that there be genuine openness (“ontological indeterminism”) at some level in nature.  Russell briefly describes several candidates before turning to quantum mechanics (QM).  He argues that QM offers a promising approach for NIODA and in addition, when coupled with “theistic evolution”, it allows Christian theology to view God as acting in, with and through the biological evolution of life without recourse to Intelligent Design and in a response back against claims that evolution supports atheism.

 

Robert J. Russell is Founder and Director of the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences (CTNS) and the Ian G. Barbour Professor of Theology and Science at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA. He is a leading researcher and spokesperson for the growing international body of theologians and scientists committed to a positive dialogue and creative mutual interaction between these fields. He most recent book is Time in Eternity: Pannenberg, Physics and Eschatology in Creative Mutual Interaction (University of Notre Dame Press, 2012). He has co-edited a six volume CTNS/Vatican Observatory series on scientific perspectives on divine action and the first in the new series on scientific perspectives on the problem of natural evil.  He is a founding co-editor of the scholarly journal Theology and Science which CTNS members internationally receive. Dr. Russell is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He received a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Santa Cruz (1978) and an M.A. in Theology and an M. Div. from Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley (1972).

Video of lecture

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10/08/2018: Meet My Religious Neighbor: Wat Phothisompan

Our next “Meet My Religious Neighbor” open house is on Sunday, October 8th from 10am – 12pm. It will be held at one of the Lao Buddhist temples in Des Moines, Wat Phothisomphan, which is located at 2560 SE 14th Street.

The service will include Tak Bat, the offering of food to the monks at the temple, as well as chanting meditation, a dharma talk (“sermon”), and lunch.

Meet My Religious Neighbor is a monthly open-house series. Each open house allows the public the opportunity to tour a sacred space, learn how religion is practiced in it, and meet the congregation who worships there.

 

 

 

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10/05/2017: Miracles as Transforming Invitations to Wonder & Gratitude: An Islamic Perspective

Umeyye Isra Yazicioglu
Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, St. Joseph’s University
Thursday, October 5, 7:00 p.m.
Sussman Theater, Olmsted Center, Drake University
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Miracle stories in the Quran interrupt our familiarity with the world. In fact, the Quran (not unlike other scriptures) shocks us with stories like that of virgin birth, instant healing with touch, fire not burning and a staff becoming a serpent. Why? This talk will suggest that these miracle stories in the Quran are in fact transformative invitations to wonder & gratitude. In making this point, the talk will make use of two insightful Islamic theologians, Ghazali (11th century) and Nursi (20th century), with a focus on their approach to the Quran, natural order, and human life.

 

Professor Yazicioglu’s research is on interpretation of the Quran in the contemporary age, Islamic theology and spirituality, with a focus on the works of a significant Muslim theologian, Said Nursi. Her book Understanding Quranic Miracle Stories in the Modern Age (Penn State University Press, 2013) brings Muslim thinkers into conversation with Western thinkers. She is also a team member of an Islamic spirituality non-profit, Receiving Nur. Yazicioglu holds an MA in Islam & Christian-Muslim Relations from Hartford Seminary and a PhD in Religious Studies from University of Virginia.

Video of the Lecture