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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In addition to viewing one episode of the upcoming National Geographic series, there will be a panel discussion featuring Augsburg leaders of different faith traditions: , Dr. Maheen Zaman, and Julian Kritz (Interfaith Scholar). The panel will be moderated by , the new executive director of the Christensen Center for Vocation.

Event Schedule:
6:30 P.M. Doors Open
7:00 P.M. Screening Starts
8:00 P.M. Interfaith Panel Discussion with Dr. Phil Quanbeck II, Dr. Maheen Zaman, and Julian Kritz
8:30 P.M. Event Concludes with Light Refreshments in the Foss Atrium

The event is free and open to the public. As space is limited, please register online ahead of time to ensure a spot. Seating is first come, first-served.

Parking permits can be requested by e-mailing ccv@augsburg.edu in advance.

Augsburg College’s Christensen Center for Vocation along with Campus Ministry Student Organization, Muslim Student Association, Religion Department, and the Interfaith Scholars are pleased to co-host this event.

The post Advance Screening – Morgan Freeman’s Story of God appeared first on Bernhard Christensen Center for Vocation.

“(And Jesus Said) You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.” Matthew 5:13

You are…a people of faith. You are…a city on a hill. You are…the Salt of the Earth. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus calls his followers salt, of all things! Don’t get me wrong, salt is delicious and needed. But we could be something great! We could be legends, we could be a mountain, instead Jesus charges us with salt. While there are numerous interpretations of what exactly is meant by being the Salt of the Earth, I personally hold this verse in the Gospel of Matthew to indicate how followers of Jesus should engage in the world. I am going to do this with a little bit of Chemistry.

I wanted to be scholarly and a little rebellious so I researched what Salt of the Earth even means. According to the Wikipedia page devoted to Matthew 5:13, it reads “Salt itself, Sodium Chloride, is extremely stable and cannot lose its flavor…(then some author notes) Jesus is ‘not giving a chemistry lesson’” I’m almost a little offended. Who are they to decide when chemistry stops. If there is one thing I learned at Augsburg…chemistry never stops. Since Jesus clearly was not teaching chemistry, I think I will step up to the plate so to speak.

I’m sure all of you are familiar enough with cooking. You know with all of your might that oil and water will never mix, no matter how much you stir. Oil is simply too big for water to take on. Long chains of carbons and hydrogens are not attractive to water’s oxygen and hydrogen combo. Maybe for too long, Christians have become oily in practice and deed. We have become too engrossed with our beliefs, what road to heaven or what does this passage actually mean. If water represents the world, sometimes we just sit on top, looking at the world below us but never submerges ourselves. We see our neighbors of various religions, but we may seldom act. What we need is a radical shift in ideas and our approach to other religions. But Jesus doesn’t call us the ‘oil of the earth’ we are the ‘salt of the earth’! You know perfectly well what salt does in water- it breaks apart and fully involves itself in waters affairs. An important thing to note is that the salt is never destroyed in this transaction. Often what holds us back from working or engaging in interfaith dialogue and service is the simple fact that we are afraid of losing our faith. Of changing for the worse or even where to begin. But of course these actions can be learned. WE are called to engage the world and serve our neighbor. How much longer are we going to separate ourselves from this sacred service?

Interfaith service and dialogue is important and needed work. Important because we are called to live in this world, not as only Christians or only Muslims, but as humankind. To serve rather than to be served. To engage instead of fall asleep to the cries of the world.

I have come to the opinion that the Gospels don’t need much prodding in order to reveal to Christians that interfaith service is a necessary project. Many people continue to approach interfaith service and dialogue like a nice option; a creative and unique box to explore for its own sake. While interfaith work is altogether important and requires a well of creativity, the Gospels call…no wail out to us to serve and engage our neighbor. We must wander the world around us, desperately and endlessly listening to the calls of the poor and oppressed; not regardless of their religion, but because of their religion. There is no doubt that rich and powerful work can be done when we grasp the hands of our friends and neighbors and use faith or beliefs as a starting point and cornerstone to our work. I engage in interfaith service because the Scriptures I see in my tradition call me to be first in service and generosity, and truly take on the title of Salt of the Earth.

*This message on the importance of interfaith engagement was one of two student presentations at the 2015 Augsburg Corporation Luncheon.

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The Interfaith Scholars are a group of students who are interested in exploring the religious diversity of the Augsburg student body, the wider Twin Cities community, and the United States through inter-religious dialogue and action. Students from a variety of traditions as well as the non-religious are invited to apply in order to converse respectfully with others about what they believe, why it matters, and how it propels us to service in the world. Once selected, the cohort has both academic and service requirements for an entire academic year.

Interested in learning more? See below.

Some examples of past Interfaith projects

2010-2011 Interfaith Scholar Cohort Video

The Interfaith Scholars Program is a collaboration between the Christensen Center for Vocation (CCV), and the

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Eboo Patel, Founder and President,

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT CHRISTENSEN SYMPOSIUM

The annual Christensen Symposium-first held in 1990-is made possible through the Christensen Endowment, which was established by alumni and friends of Augsburg to honor Bernhard M. Christensen. As the president of Augsburg College and Seminary from 1938 to 1962, Christensen was a central figure in drawing Augsburg fully into the study of the liberal arts.

The Symposium is designed to reflect and reinforce the principles to which Christensen showed such deep commitment:  academic integrity, the Christian Gospel, and a mutually supportive relationship with the church. In addition, it serves as a vehicle for the Augsburg community to explore and apply the five lessons that are 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.

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