Peace, dwight

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyYjI7zQlaA

This is gospel work.  Redemption of body, mind and soul of a community.

Churches need to be about this kind of practical transformation.  This type of community involvement gets people actively reflecting on the interplay between the physical environments we build and the impact those structures then have on the quality of our life together.

Part of what “intersection repair” invites us to consider is that maybe, the grid system that forms the road-infrastructure of our cites can be transformed into even more a live place if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Peace, dwight

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVq0exoGySc

Hosted by the Freedom Initiative, the UNBOUND Conference features Human Trafficking activists who aim to educate people on the comprehensive factors that contribute to Human Trafficking, to  empower individuals to develop a personal response to slavery, and to mobilize them to action.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni8ZK5qA9eo

Peace, dwight

‘”There are certain technical words within every academic discipline that soon become stereotypes and cliches. Modern psychology has a word that is probably used more than any other word in modern psychology. It is the word ‘maladjusted.’  This word is the ringing cry to modern child psychology. Certainly, we all want to avoid the maladjusted life. In order to have real adjustment within our personalities, we all want the well-adjusted life in order to avoid neurosis, schizophrenic personalities.

“But I say to you, my friends, as I move to my conclusion, there are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men of good-will will be maladjusted until the good societies realize. I say very honestly that I never intend to become adjusted to segregation and discrimination.

“I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry.

“I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.

“I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism, to self-defeating effects of physical violence. But in a day when sputniks and explorers are dashing through outer space and guided ballistic missiles are carving highways of death through the stratosphere, no nation can win a war. It is no longer the choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence, and the alternative to disarmament. The alternative to absolute suspension of nuclear tests. The alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby disarming the whole world may well be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation. This is why I welcome the recent test-ban treaty.

“In other words, I’m about convinced now that there is need for a new organization in our world. The International Association for the Advancement of Creative Maladjustment–men and women who will be as maladjusted as the prophet Amos. Who in the midst of the injustices of his day could cry out in words that echo across the centuries, ‘Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.’”

Peace, dwight

Peace, dwight

MHGS is hosting an important daylong race and ethnicity workshop on Thursday, November 12th, for all faculty, staff, students, alumni, and our significant others. The workshop seeks to acknowledge the voices of MHGS faculty, staff, students, alumni, and significant others who recognize our need and desire to develop intercultural competence and promote ethnic and racial reconciliation within the MHGS Community and beyond and believe such labor to be essential in living into the global reality of Christ’s Kingdom.  For this event, we are grateful to be joined by Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil as our keynote speaker.

Also the current issue (#16) of The Other Journal also looks at race.

Peace, dwight

I am deeply saddened by this loss and my heart goes out to those whose livelihood, and sense of community & neighborhood is smoldering.

Peace, dwight

This year I could only attend one evening of the forum but I was able to met and hear Dr. Kelly Johnson from University of Dayton speak to “Facing Suffering: Human Tragedy and the Divine Comedy.”  After her wonderful talk we viewed “Tapologo” which is a documentary set in Freedom Park, a squatter settlement in South Africa, a group of HIV-infected former sex-workers, created a network called Tapologo. They learn to be Home Based Carers for their community, transforming degradation into solidarity and squalor into hope.

The film was followed by a panel discussion with mostly Seattle-area practitioners who are seeking to embody a community of justice.  The panel included: Ben Katt, David Leong, Harvey Drake and Kelly Johnson.

Thank you to folks at the Other Journal who orchestrated this gift.

Peace, dwight

PRESS RELEASE for envision ’09

Evangelical, Mainline Theologians Gather in DC to Rethink Freedom and Faith

(Washington, DC) – As unrest in Iran continues to highlight the role of religion in public life overseas and U.S. faith leaders of diverse stripes gauge their role in public life at a time of political change, evangelical and mainline theologians are reaching across party lines to rethink the intersection of freedom and faith in the United States. Leading evangelical and mainline scholars, activists, and policy professionals will gather at the 2009 Envision Scholars Seminar in Washington, DC June 25-27 to critically examine the concept of freedom in American democracy and Christian theology.

Though some claim the Obama Presidency means a new era in American politics, questions raised by the civil rights movement remain important for churches whose services continue to be the most segregated hour in America. The Seminar will begin with a discussion of conceptions of freedom in the black freedom movement in light of the Obama presidency, followed by discussions of the changing role of faith communities in light of the current economic crisis, climate change, debates concerning marriage and human sexuality, American foreign policy, and religious fundamentalism.

The Seminar grew out of the Envision ’08 Conference – a national conference at Princeton University that brought together multi-generational leaders, scholars, artists and activists from across the theological spectrum, including prominent Christians such as Richard Cizik, Shane Claiborne, Rita Nakashima Brock, Lisa Sharon Harper, Obery M. Hendricks, Jr., and Jim Wallis. “Evangelicals are not just a people of vision,” said Richard Cizik “but are also implementing a public strategy that is transforming culture beyond politics.” The energy and enthusiasm of the Envision movement is part of a growing trend best described by Jim Wallis: “What we’re witnessing is the beginning of what could be another Great Awakening in which the hunger for spirituality and social justice are fueling a revival and inspiring a movement that will significantly impact American Politics.”

Peace, dwight

peace, dwight