Dr. Patrick Reyes, Dean of Auburn Seminary

The Christensen Symposium

The Christensen Symposium and the Christensen Center for Vocation were both established to honor the legacy of Dr. Christensen, the 8^th president of Augsburg University who served from 1938-1962. His legacy was one of critical inquiry and genuine hospitality. We have drawn these lessons from that legacy which still shape our work.

• Christian faith liberates minds and lives
• Diversity strengthens vital communities
• Inter-faith friendships enrich learning
• The love of Christ draws us to God
• We are called to service in the world

It is my hope that you will hear echoes of Dr. Christensen’s lessons in Dr. Reyes’ presentation.

Dr. Patrick Reyes

Dr. Patrick Reyes currently serves as the Dean of Auburn Seminary in New York City.

He is a Chicano writer, theologian, and executive leader and the award-winning author of The Purpose Gap and Nobody Cries When We Die. Prior to his current position he was the Senior Director of Learning Design for the Lilly Endowment’s Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) where he provided strategy and direction for their diverse programs, grants, and teams supporting the next generation of leaders. In addition, he led the historic fellowships supporting scholars of color, the Institutional Doctoral Network, and partnerships in theological and higher education.

He is a peer among public theologians and deeply respected among faith and justice leaders and funders. He is the current Board President of the Religious Education Association and serves as the Co-Dean of the Freedom Seminary for the Children’s Defense Fund, offering an immersive experience for diverse seminary students from across the country to engage and cultivate prophetic voices with communities on the margins.

Patrick provides leadership on several boards in theological and higher education, publications, and the nonprofit sector, supporting the next generation of Black, Indigenous, and Chicano spiritual and cultural leaders. In the last decade, he has been recognized for his service and scholarship by Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Boston University, Claremont School of Theology, Drew University, Children’s Defense Fund, Hispanic Theological Initiative, Hispanic Youth Leadership Academy, and others.

Patrick was also recently inducted into the Morehouse College MLK Jr. Collegium of Scholars. He lives in New Mexico, where he and his family embrace the cultural and religious traditions and communities they have inherited.

The Purpose Gap: Empowering Communities of Color to Find Meaning and Thrive

“In The Purpose Gap, Patrick Reyes reflects on a family member’s death after a long struggle with incarceration and homelessness. As he asks himself why his cousin’s life had turned out so differently from his own, he realizes that it was a matter of conditions. While they both grew up in the same marginalized Chicano community in central California, Patrick found himself surrounded by a host of family, friends, and supporters. They created a different narrative for him than the one the rest of the world had succeeded in imposing on his cousin. In short, they created the conditions in which Patrick could not only survive but thrive.

Far too much of the literature on leadership tells the story of heroic individuals creating their success by their own efforts. Such stories fail to recognize the structural obstacles to thriving faced by those in marginalized communities. If young people in these communities are to grow up to lives of purpose, others must help create the conditions to make that happen. Pastors, organizational leaders, educators, family, and friends must all perceive their calling to create new stories and new conditions of thriving for those most marginalized. This book offers both inspiration and practical guidance for how to do that. It offers advice on creating safe space for failure, nurturing networks that support young people of color, and professional guidance for how to implement these strategies in one’s congregation, school, or community organization.”

(Description from Bookshop.org)

Recording of 2023 Christensen Symposium

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Here are some of our favorite quotes from the talk:

• “It’s not a journey from point A to point B, where you have to leave this place to go to that place. Instead I want to invite you into a journey that’s really more about becoming rooted deeply in the place where we already find ourselves.”
• “Vocation is ultimately not about you it’s about the space that exists between you and your neighbor.”
• It is “the quest of inquiry to figure out who our neighbor is and what it is our neighbor needs from us to thrive. It’s not a journey where you need to go on a quest to find some vocation that’s hidden out there in the future from you. It’s an invitation into the right here and the right now. That vocation is something that saves us from the nowhere plants us firmly right here with one another in this moment of time to do this good work that we’ve been given to do today. and we get to do that together and I think that’s pretty great.”

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Jeremy Myers, PhD,��Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation, Augsburg University

Join us for this year’s Christensen Symposium where we will dig deeper into the topics of vocation and public church.

Thursday, September 22
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Foss Center, Hoversten Chapel

The pandemic, rampant racism, unfettered injustices, environmental degradation, inflation – these are a few sources of the overwhelming sense of despair in our lives. We are anxious about our future. We desperately seek meaning, purpose, justice, and the common good but they seem to be nowhere in sight. Nowhere. But there is hope and potential for change if we can focus on the here and now. All we are promised is the here��and now, and it is where we are called to live our lives. Now. Here.

Jeremy Myers is the Bernhard M. Christensen Professor of Religion and Vocation and the Executive Director of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg University.��Myers earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota and his master’s and PhD from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota. He researches, writes, teaches, and organizes around the topics of vocation and public church. In addition to many articles and chapters, he is the author of��Liberating Youth from Adolescence��published by Fortress Press and is also a sought-after speaker. He has secured millions of dollars in grants to support the work of the Christensen Center for Vocation at Augsburg.

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On Tuesday Oct 5, 2021,��Dr. Brian Bantum gave a lecture entitled “All Things are New: The Language of Our Life in the Face of Empire” at our 2021 Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium. Dr. Bantum is the Neil F. And Ila A. Fisher Professor of Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Chicago, IL. He writes, speaks, and teaches on identity, racial imagination, creating spaces of justice, and the intersection of theology and embodiment for audiences around the United States.

He is a contributing editor of The Christian Century and is the author of “Redeeming Mulatto: A Theology of Race and Christian Hybridity,” “The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial�� World,”�� and�� “Choosing Us: Marriage and Mutual Flourishing in a World of Difference,” which he co-authored with his spouse, Gail Song Bantum. You can view a .

The Power of Presence

In the face of the massive shifts we have all felt during the last two years – a global pandemic, a worsening climate crisis, the racial uprising, on-line learning/ work/ social isolation, etc. – Dr. Bantum lifts up presence as the antidote. His central claim is that presence is the fundamental organizing principle of the Christian life. Presence is a way of understanding God, God’s relationship with us, and the life we are invited into. Presence is a way of finding hope and newness in the face of empire.

The power of presence, as described by Dr. Bantum, can be summarized in five simple points.

1. Presence always implies difference. To be present means to be with something that is not you.��
2. In our current state of “fallenness”, we don’t know what to do with difference (or diversity). But presence shows us what flourishing ought to look like. Flourishing is what happens we we are present to and aware of the difference around us as a manifestation of God’s beauty and reality.
3. Presence is always particular. A particular God wants to be present with a particular people, a particular person.
4. Our particular meeting point with this particular God is in our particular bodies. The body – not the “mind” or the “heart” – is the location where God is present with us.
5. Therefore, presence is always a radical and political act.

Incarnation as Presence

In what was probably the most stirring segment of Dr. Bantum’s talk, he explains the power of presence as embodied by Mary through the incarnation. Through presence – in Mary’s body – God “transforms systemic refusals.” The Word becomes flesh. The Divine becomes human. A woman becomes a priest and a preacher. Just like a priest, Mary navigates the liminal space where the spiritual and earthly realms intersect. Just like a preacher, Mary gives testimony to what God has done in her life and in the life of her community.

And Mary said,

‘My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,

for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’ (Luke 1:46-55)

God said, “I want to learn how to be human from you, Mary!” And from there it is the presence of Jesus’ body – as learned from watching Mary’s body – that does the work of redemption, liberation, and salvation. Jesus’ body is present with those considered to be outcasts throughout his life. Because Jesus’ embodied presence is in those places, his disciples’ bodies (their presence) actually show up in those places as well. And it is in those places – in the presence – that we are transformed. In that presence . . .��

• The poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of God.
• The mourning are comforted.
• The meek inherit the earth.
• The hungry and thirsty are filled.
• The merciful receive mercy.
• The pure in heart see God.
• The peacemakers are made children of God.
• The persecuted receive the kingdom of heaven.

God’s presence – in real bodies – transforms our world.

What does this mean?

Presence – the Word becoming flesh – has always been integral to Augsburg University’s mission. You will find it on the university’s original seal, “ordet blev kjod”. And you will find the words of John 1:14, “The Word became flesh and lived among us” immediately in front of you when you enter the Hagfors Center on campus. Augsburg University has always been wondering what it means that God is present with us and therefore what our presence with others might mean.

President Pribbenow welcomes our incoming students each by reminding them what is required of them. He calls them to show up��pay attention, and��do the work.

These words are an annual reminder to me as well.

How am I showing up in my daily work?

To what/ whom am I paying attention?

Am I doing the work that needs to be done?

These are the questions of presence.��

These questions echo Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes, in which she shares these instructions for living a life.

 

“Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”��

Mary (Jesus’ mother, not Oliver) showed up, paid attention, and did the work. Mary paid attention, was astonished, and told about it. God’s transforming presence in Mary leads to Christ’s transforming presence in our midst. This presence now frees us to be truly present with and for our neighbors in ways that are mutually transformative. We are free to flourish with our neighbors.

Augsburg University and the Christensen Center for Vocation do this work daily. We show up. We pay attention. We do the work. We are committed to helping students, faculty, staff, congregations, and ministry leaders find practical ways to be present with their neighbors.

“Our faith is about the embodiment of a God whose life is love and relationship, justice and mercy, a presence that feeds and is fed, laughs and mourns, abides with and among. In the midst of our fallen world, a world so tragically marked by race and the deadly mispronunciation of what bodies are for, Jesus is the enfleshing of God’s life, the presence of God’s life in our bodies, so that we might be free.” (From The Death of Race: Building a New Christianity in a Racial World, by Brian Bantum)

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Speakers:

• Hamdy El-Sawaf, founder and psychotherapist at the Family Counseling Center and imam of Masjid Al-Iman in Minneapolis
• Munib Younan, retired bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and former president of the Lutheran World Federation

Hamdy El-Sawaf and Munib Younan will share personal experiences and their religious faith perspectives on hope, reconciliation, and resiliency in the midst of suffering and struggles that often are intensified by religious convictions and differences.

About the Christensen Symposium:

Each year, the Christensen Symposium provides the opportunity to explore and apply the lessons rooted in former Augsburg President Bernhard M. Christensen’s legacy:

• Christian faith liberates minds and lives.
• Diversity strengthens vital communities.
• Interfaith friendships enrich learning.
• The love of Christ draws us to God.
• We are called to service in the world.

The 2019 Christensen Symposium is co-sponsored by the Christensen Center for Vocation and the newly created Interfaith at Augsburg: An Institute to Promote Interreligious Leadership.

Note:��This session may be audio recorded. If you would like to be alerted as soon as the audio is available, please email��ccv@augsburg.edu

For requests related to accommodations at the Symposium, email events@augsburg.edu��or call 612-330-1104.

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Morning Event

Christensen Symposium Address by��Rahuldeep Gill
Who Are “We?” A Sikh Perspective on Vocation, Justice and Death

10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M.
Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center
625 22nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454

Rahuldeep Singh Gill, PhD; Associate Professor, Department of Religion; Campus Interfaith Strategist, Division of Mission and Identity at California Lutheran University

Afternoon Event

Open conversation with Rahuldeep Gill, facilitated by��Fardosa Hassan and Ole Schenk
Igniting hope in un-hopeful times

2:00 P.M. – 3:30 P.M.
Student Lounge, Christensen Center
720 22nd Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55454

About the speaker

Rahuldeep Gill, Ph.D., is a sought-after Speaker, Author, and Igniter for social change, whose life goal is to develop effective and heartful leaders with broad perspectives to drive innovations. Through his lectures and workshops he works to build pluralism and cross-cultural relations to inspire connected communities on campus, in the workplace, and in the marketplace.

He recently published his first book, Drinking from Love’s Cup, with Oxford University Press, and he is currently writing two more books about leadership and pluralism. He is a tenured professor and Campus Interfaith Strategist at California Lutheran University, and is the visiting professor of Sikh Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. He has twice been voted Cal Lutheran’s Diversity Professor of the Year and lives in Los Angeles with his family.

About the Christensen Symposium:

Each year, the Christensen Symposium provides the opportunity to explore and apply the lessons rooted in former Augsburg President Bernard M. Christensen’s legacy, which include:

• Christian faith liberates minds and lives.
• Diversity strengthens vital communities.
• Interfaith friendships enrich learning.
• The love of Christ draws us to God.
• We are called to service in the world.

.

Note: These sessions will be audio recorded. If you would like to be alerted as soon as the audio is available, please email��ccv@augsburg.edu

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Thursday, September 21
Augsburg University

Morning Event
Christensen Symposium Address by Bishop Eaton
Interfaith Friendships: How Difference Can Bring Us Together

11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton will speak at Augsburg University’s annual Christensen Symposium Thursday, September 21. Bishop Eaton’s address, “Interfaith Friendships: How Difference Can Bring Us Together,” will explore Lutheran identity and the ongoing Reformation in the 21st century.

To mark the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation, Augsburg is hosting a series of events this fall. As the first event in this series, Bishop Eaton’s address will touch on how “interfaith friendships enrich learning.” This theme is one of five lessons tightly connected with the work of former Augsburg President Bernard M. Christensen. Each year, the Christensen Symposium provides the opportunity to explore and apply the lessons rooted in Christensen’s legacy, which include:

• Christian faith liberates minds and lives.
• Diversity strengthens vital communities.
• Interfaith friendships enrich learning.
• The love of Christ draws us to God.
• We are called to service in the world.

About the speaker

Elected as the ELCA’s fourth presiding bishop at the 2013 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, The Rev. Elizabeth Eaton earned a Master of Divinity degree from Harvard Divinity School and a Bachelor of Music Education from the College of Wooster. Eaton also represents the ELCA in a wide range of ecumenical and interfaith settings. She serves on the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA Governing Board and Development Committee, Religions for Peace USA Council of Presidents, and Lutheran World Federation Council. At gatherings, Bishop Eaton often shares her four emphases for the ELCA: We are church; We are Lutheran; We are church together; We are church for the sake of the world. These four emphases are fundamental to identifying who the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is.

Afternoon Event
#DecolonizeLutheranism Community Panel with Bishop Eaton
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Panelists:

• Jessica Davis, Christian Educator and #decolonizeLutheranism Chaplain
• Rev. Lura Groen, Pastor and #decolonizeLutheranism Chaplain
• Francisco Herrera, Ph. D candidate at LSTC and Convener of #decolonizeLutheranism
• Rev. Angela Shannon, Dean of Student Life at Luther Seminary
• Kelly Sherman-Conroy, Native American Theologian, Educator, Speaker, and Mentor

Through a panel presentation and conversation, Bishop Eaton will join representatives of #DecolonizeLutheranism in exploring Christensen’s second lesson, “Diversity strengthens vital communities.” The #DecolonizeLutheranism grassroots movement challenges long-held patterns of white power and privilege in the ELCA and exclusivity associated with stereotypes regarding what it means to be Lutheran. This reforming movement has 11 specific goals for the ELCA.

The topic for Bishop Eaton’s address and the focus of the panel conversation speak to the rich and increasing diversity of the Augsburg community; the priorities reflected in Augsburg’s mission, vision, and values; the urban and global contexts that shape Augsburg’s vocation; and Augsburg’s deep grounding in, and vibrant relationship with, the Lutheran Church. Join us for this day of challenging conversations as together we envision what it means to be neighbor in a richly diverse world.

Please Note:

• We regret this event was scheduled on Rosh Hashanah. Prayers for God’s blessings on Jews throughout the world during their high holy days.��
• These sessions will be audio recorded. If you would like to be alerted as soon as the audio is available, please email ccv@augsburg.edu

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To mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, Augsburg is hosting a series of events this fall.

Christensen Symposium: Bishop Elizabeth Eaton

September 21, 2017
Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

This year’s Bernhard M. Christensen Symposium speaker is Reverend Elizabeth Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Morning Event
Christensen Symposium Address by Bishop Eaton
Interfaith Friendships: How Difference Can Bring Us Together
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Afternoon Event
#DecolonizeLutheranism Community Panel with Bishop Eaton
2 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Learn more about the 2017 Christensen Symposium

Heritage Day: Mary Lowe

Martin Luther on the Body, Our Bodies, and the Body of Creation

October 24, 2017
7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

As part of the Reformation series, Mary Lowe, associate��professor of Religion at Augsburg University, will give an evening lecture followed by discussion and a reception.

Martin Luther wrote, “There are three elements in a human, the body, the soul, and the spirit.” Many of today’s complex issues involve our bodies and the body of creation: climate change, gender and sexuality, abuse, and deforestation, etc. In Augsburg’s 2017 Heritage Lecture, Prof. Lowe will introduce Luther’s perspectives on bodies and creation and examine how—even today—his theology can help us better understand and address these embodied challenges.

Fine Arts Convocation: The Rose Ensemble

November 2, 2017
11 a.m. – 12 p.m.
Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

Award-winning musical group The Rose Ensemble will present “Welcome the People: The Musical Legacy of the Reformation.”

Learn More about the Fine Arts Convocation

Advent Vespers: “Welcome, Noble Guest,”

December 1-2, 2017

This year’s theme, “Welcome, Noble Guest,” is inspired by Martin Luther’s hymn “From Heaven Above.”

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