Credits + Contribs Fo r this week ’s e d ition
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MARK LABBERTON
Mark joined Fuller in 2009 as Lloyd John Ogilvie Assoc. Prof. of Preaching and Director of the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching after 16 years of service as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, CA. ogilv iein stitu te.org
EUGENE CHO
Eugene is the co-founder (with his wife) and executive director of One Day’s Wages—“a movement of People, Stories, and Actions to alleviate extreme global poverty.” He’s also the founding pastor of Quest Church and Q Cafe, a nonprofit community cafe and music venue in Seattle. P.S. Eugene is speaking at the Mighty Waters conference May 5-7! e uge ne ch o .wo rdpress.com
MEGAN HANDLEY KATERJIAN
Megan recently received her MDiv from Fuller and is completing a dual MA in Cross-Cultural Studies. She is a Candidate Certified Ready to Receive a Call in the PC(USA), and she works at La Canada Presbyterian Church in Outreach.
JEANA MASTER
“i enjoy people and find each one to be curious, i like foreign lands, i have a habit of making songs and singing them, and if it’s not to much to ask, i would prefer to live always by the mountains near to the sea.” upfromtheearth.com
SEMI Sweet Ed itor ’s Note B y Jan ay G ar r ick Legal Jargon The SEMI is published weekly as a service to the Fuller community by the Office of Student Affairs at Fuller Theological Seminary. Articles and commentaries do not necessarily reflect the views of the Fuller administration or the SEMI.
Letters to the Editor: The SEMI welcomes brief responses to articles and commentaries on issues relevant to the Fuller community. All submissions must include the author’s name and contact information and are subject to editing.
Free Fuller Announcements: Submitted to semi@fuller.edu or dropped off at the SEMI Office on the 3rd floor of Kreyssler Hall above the Catalyst. 35 words or less. Advertisements: Notices for events not directly sponsored by a Fuller department, office, or organization can be submitted to semi@fuller.edu. Email us to receive Spring 2011 availability, pricing, and deadlines.
Faith without works is dead, or so James said. One of my favorite uncles once wrote me a letter upon his receipt of my “dear uncle, would you please support me on a short-term mission trip” letter - that “faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine. It just doesn’t get the job done.” Welcome to “Mighty Waters” where the church and its servant-leaders meet justice. This issue of the SEMI is built around the upcoming conference co-sponsored by Fuller’s Ogilvie Institute for Preaching and Justice and International Justice Mission. We hope that these articles inspire action - whether it be in your personal life, faith community, or following a prompt to attend this worthwhile conference.
SEM I CREDITS
Managing Editor Carmen Valdés Editor Janay Garrick
Production Editor Snow
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the vivid unseen. i see it. everything. is broken. mending. mending. everything needs stitching and piecing. broken sidewalk broken tree broken people broken is me.
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everything has been shattered. fallen from the sky unfriendly meeting with the ground shattered. i see it. everything is fragmented nothing is whole. where do i get this idea of being whole if my heart cannot find it around me? the destitute the rich the protected suburbs the exposed ghetto i see it i see it i se e i t . hearts throbbing under ordinary bodies. i pass by just a glance will catch it the cry for worth for truth for love. i have not discovered a pair of eyes that i do not see pain in i have not met a face that does not tell a tragic story. lies all surrounding truth must be searched for fought for believed. or else all remains broken. i see it i see it i se e i t . the v i v i d u n s e e n . by jeana master 05
Why would a church cancel its Sunday services in order to assemble AIDS caregiver kits for use in Africa? Why would another church gather all ages of their congregation on a beautiful spring weekend to assemble 100,000 meals for people in need? What is happening when the Sunday coffee hour on the patio becomes a weekly open-air breakfast for indigent people to eat and worship? Why would ten adults travel to Washington DC to lobby for support for Katrina victims five years after the tragedy?
The explanation from those who welcome such actions, as I do, is that these are signs of dynamic ministry that embody the reality of the wholistic gospel of Jesus Christ, including justice towards the most vulnerable. For some of our brothers and sisters, however, such actions portray a foreboding breakdown in evangelical clarity about the priority of spiritual salvation alone. In the last decade, significant change has occurred in the attitudes and actions of many evangelical Christians in the United
States towards matters of justice. Let’s consider then: What accounts for the shift and what will it take for this change to be sustained?
Since the modernistfundamentalist debates of the early 20th century, “social justice” was considered the passion of the theologically liberal and “evangelism” the passion of the theologically conservative. This had not been a division that characterized the church in the last half of the 19th century, but emerged as
by Mark Labberton for Leadership Journal
also previously published in Christianity Today 06
a response to shifting theological and cultural ground in the late 19th and early 20th century. This dichotomization of the Gospel, however, has been changing. Since the founding of such relief and development organizations as World Relief in the 1940’s, and World Vision in 1950’s, for example, evangelicals moved beyond primary and exclusive concern for spiritual alienation (evangelism) to add concern for physical deprivation (relief and development) as well. The Lausanne Covenant (1974) further added to the theological and global commitment of evangelicals towards the whole gospel for the whole world, and towards a broader understanding of Jesus’ kingdom. As many evangelicals would see it now, seeking justice adds concern for those facing oppression to an evangelical agenda that in the last half-century has primarily focused on those facing spiritual alienation and physical deprivation. This newer engagement, represented in part by the founding of the International Justice Mission, has drawn evangelical attention and response to the myriads of millions who suffer at the hands of oppressors—economic, social, physical, sexual,
emotional, legal. Sextrafficking, contemporary slavery, land-grabbing, sexual abuse, and hatecrimes are typical and pervasive examples of crimes perpetrated against the weak, the widow, the child, the vulnerable, or the powerless and to which rising numbers of evangelicals have come to feel compelled to respond. A GENERATIONAL SHIFT
More than theology contributes to why many evangelicals have been awakening to issues of injustice. Part of it has to do with broader cultural and generational changes. For example, young adults today have grown up in a world composed of endless flashing images, stories, and music from anywhere and everywhere in the world, revealing realities of life all over the globe. In an internet-fashioned world, instantaneous images of human tragedy and suffering bring us wars, tsunamis, famines, earthquakes and more. Today we live in a globalized world in which there is no simple way of dividing people into categories, or of smugly justifying lives of privilege. In such a world, it is very difficult to maintain a kind of isolated solace for “us” as opposed to “them.”
In a post-9/11 world, fear has become a global experience, and adds to our common sense of human vulnerability. The prolific international travel of the 80’s and 90’s and early 2000’s has introduced millions of economically comfortable American citizens, not least evangelical hoards that have gone on shortterm mission trips, to wide swaths of the globe where earlier generations might have seen Europe, not Malawi or Cambodia. Further, the rise of Fair Trade movements or of Bono’s One World redribbon in department stores adds another layer of global social conscience that becomes part of a new and different baseline for cultural awareness. Katrina and the Asian tsunami provided the chance for all of us to see again that the poor suffer radically and disproportionately, not just in the face of such storms, but for the decades leading up to and following such events. The global HIV/AIDS pandemic has unfolded only in the last 20 years as current generations have been growing up and has placed stunning need in front of nearly everyone. Global warming highlights our vulnerable interconnectedness still further. 07
Many 20-somethings I know are deeply confident in the grace and truth of Jesus Christ, and also deeply humbled about their place in the world. Neither zealotry nor triumphalism holds any appeal. They see the world in overwhelming need on every level and feel compelled to respond. As Gary Haugen aptly captures, “this generation is simply unwilling to endure the credibility catastrophe of a gospel that does nothing in the face of massive human suffering.” FAD OR REFORMATION?
Faddishness is a human instinct, so it seems easily predictable that for some people and some churches this “justice wave” will just fade and be replaced with some other temporary passion. Backlash or disillusionment, “justice cool” may fade when the exotic flavor of the issues and the exotic short-terms trips diminish. “Justice fatigue” may be the pathway for some. If so, it is worth acknowledging that this attitude is probably a clear badge of belonging to the privileged, treating justice as something discretionary that one can choose to engage or not. This is not the prerogative of the millions whose lives daily bear the marks of injustice. 08
Seeking justice is hard. It means seeing, engaging, and challenging powers and principalities of many kinds. To do serious battle against the evils of injustice will require anyone’s spiritual life to grow. The urgency and commitment to prayer, the spiritual resilience demanded for sustained engagement, the wisdom and discernment required to be “wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove,” are just some of what seeking justice will involve. This kind of maturity is not all that common in North American churches that have often done a better job cultivating Christian consumers than nurturing battle-ready disciples. Consequently, seeing “justice” as a fad is a real possibility. On the other hand, when awakening to justice emerges as a sign of a theological and spiritual reformation central to the passion of God, and not a program of the church, then deep and lasting change can occur. PREACHERS AND PREACHING
The greater the church’s action in the world, the deeper the theological and spiritual wisdom needed to undergird it. It is noteworthy that some link this emphasis on justice to a rejection of preaching, an affirmation of faithful
action over endless words. Let the gospel be seen, not preached, some say. This reaction is important and telling for many reasons, and reveals a longing for demonstrations of faith in tangible, transformative action. This either/or thinking can, however, set in place a new and damaging division in which the centrality of Jesus Christ, the truth of biblical teaching, not least about justice, are pitted over and against action in the cause of justice. This would be a disaster for both faith and justice. The key is for the preacher to ground the congregation’s action in a growing theological understanding that God who is just is the God who seeks justice as the reordering of power for the whole of life. This is why we proclaim Christ crucified, why the defeat of death in the resurrection of Jesus and ascension, and why the empowering presence and gifts of the Holy Spirit are so central to God’s purposes. Replacing preachers with action is not what the church or the cause of God’s justice needs in the world. What is needed is for preachers to nurture deeper spiritual and biblical roots in their congregation so that the actions of their people will be able to stand, mature, and thrive as they seek
justice. Helping your people grow into a more sophisticated grasp of the depth and reality of evil, of the countervailing forces that seek to destroy life, needs to be met with an even greater knowledge of the God who alone can make all things new. This is why hearing the truth is never separated in the ministry of Jesus from doing the truth. These are
not enemies. They should not be rivals. They are indispensable partners.
If these themes are newer to a pastor or congregation, I suggest that all the more effort needs to be taken to make it clear that justice is not the preacher’s new hobby-horse, nor of a lobby-group in the congregation, nor is such engagement in their
community or world a quick and easy fix. It’s actually a call into the fellowship of Christ’s suffering…for the joy set before us. It’s a call into deeper community with Christ and with one another. When seeking justice becomes a habit of the hearts and actions of God’s people, something that is basic, pervasive, and frequent, we will be in a
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new day when the fruit of the Spirit will have done some marvelous works of transformation.
Pastors committed to take this direction may or may not ever need to do a ‘justice’ sermon series. Decide instead to name the issues of justice and injustice every time you encounter them in the biblical texts you are preaching from. This may be even a better way of communicating about justice than a ‘justice series’ could ever be. Then you get closer to the essence of the way justice permeates the biblical witness and are less prone to prooftext and inadvertently trivialize the whole theme. So it is not then just the major or minor prophets, but Matthew, Philippians, Corinthians, Philemon, I an II Peter and far more that enable God’s people to hear and see God’s heart for justice. Anti-sex-trafficking concerts by our youth group? Adopting an underserved neighborhood school? Prayer for effective public justice systems in nations without the rule of law? Buying fewer gifts at Christmas? Giving Fair Trade gifts made by former slaves? All this and far more is not a step away from the saving love of Jesus Christ, but a form of demonstrating a maturity in living it out. Though the times may make justice more needful in our world, it’s knowing God’s heart for justice that will sustain our engagement far beyond the limits of a fad. A skeptical, spiritually distant and disillusioned young man who had started attending worship in Berkeley
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said one day, “I can find all kinds of people in Berkeley that are like me. What I want to know is this: If I hang out here, will I meet people who are like Jesus?” That’s the question. Behind this season of new engagement with justice is the hunger to taste and see that God is good and just and merciful. When we show up we become part of God’s witness by what we say and by what we actually do. ▪
MIGHTY WATERS:
PREACHING & LIVING GOD’S PASSION FOR JUSTICE CONFERENCE
May 5-7
$50/students. $99/general Register today: ogilvieinstitute.org
The Ogilvie Institute Our vision is to proclaim Jesus Christ and to catalyze a movement of empowered, wise preachers, who seek justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, leading others to join God’s mission in the world.
Sponsored by Fuller’s Ogilvie Institute & International Justice Mission 11
Do Just L ove M e
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If my Facebook profile is any indication, I am one of those “next generation” evangelicals you may have read about, for whom justice and Jesus are completely inseparable. My “religious views” read “Jesus follower: doing justice, loving mercy, walking humbly with God.” My “favorite books” are by authors Brian McClaren, Shane Claiborne, and Dallas Willard. In fact the more I read these authors, the more I realize that I am that prototypical young adult who embraces an “Everything Must Change” posture towards today’s church. In the words of Brian McClaren, “For the millions of young adults who have recently dropped out of church, Christianity is a failed religion” because “it has focused on ‘me’ and ‘my eternal destiny,’ but it has failed to address the dominant societal and global realities of their lifetime: systemic injustice, poverty, and dysfunction.”
Thankfully, in my conversations around Fuller, I’ve discoverd I’m not alone in this thinking. But I’ve also learned that my impatience with the evangelical church’s pursuit of justice must be placed in context: Since the modernist-fundamentalist debates of the early 20th century, social justice has been championed as the cause of the theologically liberal and gospel proclamation as the cause of the theologically conservative. Under one Christian faith, and often within the same denominations, we find both liberal and conservative congregations, both social justice and evangelistic convictions. Moreover, we often don’t agree on the most fundamental issues, including the definition of justice itself or the biblical foundations of our justice convictions. In my personal theology, of course, this makes no sense. The more I have come
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to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ on a personal level, the more God has revealed to me his hope to redeem a world filled with systemic injustice, oppression, and poverty. As another justice- and Jesus-loving friend in the PC(USA) has aptly stated, “Justice is not a project of the church but a passion of God, so seeking justice in action is not the rejection of biblical proclamation but a faithful response to the Bible’s teaching.” In the last decade, many evangelical congregations have reclaimed this truth. Increasingly today, seeking justice for the poor and oppressed is preached by Rick Warren at Saddleback Church in Southern California, Rob Bell at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, MI, and Tim Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City to name a few. So what does all this mean for me and other “next generation” evangelicals? Could it be the moment in history when pursuing justice is embraced as equal to and flowing out of our most fundamental conviction, to proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind?
Seeking to answer these questions several years ago, I embarked on a journey to learn from congregations deeply committed to God’s call to justice. Visiting a diverse group of eleven PC(USA) congregations, five non-denominational congregations, and two parachurch organizations, I set out to discover the inspiration behind their justice commitments and how they put this inspiration into practice in their communities. From all these churches, I did find glimmers of hope for Jesus- and justice-loving evangelicals like myself. What I hope to share are themes and stories that challenge us to think about how we, as evangelicals can reclaim our call to pursue justice through Christ’s Church. 14
Justice ministry should flow out of discipleship and prayer What inspires a congregation to pursue its justice ministry? While most churches I spoke with grounded their justice work theologically, in God’s heart for justice or in Jesus’ mission to proclaim justice and reconciliation to this world, not everyone saw justice work as a direct outgrowth of prayer and discipleship. Yet if we believe that God is calling the Church to do justice in the world, then our journey must begin by turning to God and asking: What issues, neighborhoods, and people are we called to serve? How, when, and with whom? What does it mean to follow Jesus in our community? The justice journey must begin through prayer and discipleship.
This idea forms the foundation of faith and practice at Church of the Savior in Washington DC. This cluster of worshipping communities meets regularly in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Their philosophy of spiritual formation is called the “Inward Journey, Outward Journey.” Members begin their journey of faith inward, coming to know Jesus through prayer, scripture reading, worship, mentorship, and Christian education. Out of that inward journey, they begin their outward journey, asking God: What do you want me to do in my community? Once a person believes they have been called to a specific issue or ministry opportunity, they share this with fellow church members. As two or more people are called to the same issue, they join and form a “mission group,” discerning together exactly what shape that call should take in addressing the needs of their community. The fruit of this approach is apparent in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in which Church of the Savior ministers. Block after block, one can see “Jubilee Housing,” “Jubilee Jobs,” a
health clinic, a hospice for AIDS patients, a half-way house, a daycare center; all independent non-profits today that began through mission groups.
Just think for a moment about your congregation: every member is on a discipleship journey, seeking to know and follow Christ by praying, “God, what are you calling me to do? How are you calling me to serve?” As a result of this approach, God is the architect of the congregation’s justice ministry, calling individuals, then communities, to follow Jesus by addressing the needs of their community.
Justice ministry requires prophetic pastoral leadership, empowered lay leaders, and the participation of all members. Where does the vision for justice work come from and who leads the way? In asking this question, I heard time and again the importance of prophetic pastors, committed lay leaders, and the participation of all church members. For congregations effectively engaged in justice ministry, issues of justice were integrated into every aspect of church life.
First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, CA, has taken this challenge seriously. While the congregation has a rich history of sending missionaries overseas, it has more recently undergone a radical retooling of mission. With a focus on global and local justice issues, their goals are to empower the Global South, to develop mutual partnerships, and to foster indigenous church leadership. Central to this transformation has been former Senior Pastor Mark Labberton who is now Fuller’s Lloyd John Ogilvie Assoc. Prof. of Preaching and Director
of the Lloyd John Ogilvie Institute of Preaching. Dr. Labberton’s preaching consistently related God’s heart for justice to the many injustices present in the world. His book, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living Out God’s Call to Justice, published in 2007, provides a theological framework to connect Christian worship with biblical justice. A new worship service was launched, in which congregants connected worship and biblical justice through tangible acts of compassion and justice in the liturgy. In creating this service, mission team members were asked to visit different congregations and experience different models of worship, especially in areas and among cultures whether they would be outside their comfort zone. The congregation has also initiated an annual “Do Justice” event, which focuses on local projects that are developed to address issues related to justice work. Empowering and equipping lay leaders, staff, and members was also essential to this transformation. Lay leaders were recruited to attend overseas mission trips, and they returned to the church with a global justice vision toward which to mobilize others. Speakers from the Global South were invited to offer their perspectives about the “Global North” and to reflect back how they view FPCB’s mission work, location and context. As a result, worldviews began to change. All these changes led to the most recent major development, the Global Church Conference which covers issues from HIV/AIDS to human trafficking. These conferences keep the congregation educated, engaged, and responding to justice issues.
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Justice ministry is about personal relationships and direct encounters What makes Christian justice ministry unique as compared to secular justice work? As opposed to “delivering services to” or “advocating on behalf of,” justice ministry is about entering into personal relationships with the poor and the oppressed. And through these relationships, we are transformed. Although I observed many outreach programs that maintain boundaries between church members who “serve” and guests who “receive,” some congregations were making intentional efforts to break down these barriers between giver and receiver.
One such experiment is taking place at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago. A long-time leader in social justice among liberal Presbyterian congregations, they face the ongoing challenge of connecting their affluent members with the poor who are served by their social service center. One small but radical change was “recasting” the homeless meal offered by the social service center as a Sunday evening supper open to the entire church community. Previously the Sunday meal was in the basement, outside the traffic of the church’s evening service and with no room for members or volunteers to eat with guests. Today, the meal takes place in the church’s banquet hall adjacent to the sanctuary. Anyone who comes to worship is invited to meal. In addition to providing a more hospitable environment for guests, this change has created significant discipleship opportunities for the congregation. It challenges them to become more comfortable eating with the homeless guests, hearing their stories, listening to and learning about their needs, and inviting the guests to worship. 16
Any congregation attempting to make these kinds of changes will face the obvious questions: Should we really move the homeless meal to the church banquet hall? What about safety and sanitary concerns? Will people feel comfortable eating together? Yet the model is compelling if we seek to walk in the way of Jesus. When so many of the poor and oppressed are shuffled from one social service agency to another, the church’s role is to walk along side them and treat them as precious children of God. Through personal relationships, we can address the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of the whole person. And we ourselves are challenged to be radical disciples.
The Way Forward
As evangelicals, so much of our challenge and so much of our work lies, not in spearheading a new way forward, but in calling our congregations back to faithfulness. And the Church’s call to pursue justice is no different. As such, the polarization between liberal and conservative congregations, and their respective social justice and evangelistic convictions, should grieve us greatly. But the challenge this polarization offers should also give us great hope and vision for the future. The task before us is to “do justice” as an outgrowth of our deep love for Jesus. It is the task of discipleship: to commune with Christ’s suffering and to reflect Christ’s redeeming heart for this broken world. As we explore what it means for the Church to pursue justice in the 21st century, this truth is timeless: justice and Jesus are completely inseparable. And this truth should give us great hope in reaching a new generation of young people who hunger precisely for this good news. ▪
Lent: Giving up Coffee or My Life? By Eugene Cho was to give something up during Lent. Did you observe Lent? (For those that might not be familiar with Lent, it is the 40day period, not including Sundays, between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. It marks a time of humility, repentance, self-denial, and soul searching as one draws closer to the Passion of Christ.) And if so, what did you give up? And why?
I appreciate the Lenten season for many and various reasons. This year, I chose – along with some other things – to give up “coffee.” Trust me, for someone that runs a cafe, has his offices in a cafe, and has access
to free Stumptown coffee whenever I want, this was certainly a “test” of self-denial.
But even after acknowledging that I myself was “giving up” coffee during Lent, I was ambivalent about how vogue or easy it
Umm, especially when it’s something like chocolate, sodas, sugar, Facebook, Twitter, television, and – umm – coffee. [But, it’s . . . Stumptown!]
I don’t want to knock those who give stuff up. In fact, I understand the significance of self-denial but if we’re not careful, we can so easily just fall into religious practice for the sake of religious practice. If the goal is merely the giving up of something without taking up of something more significant, the focus is just merely on the stuff which we give up or really, the focus is on the practice of giving up something. That is religion gone bad.
Anything that produces rituals, expressions, practices, and whatever – without ultimately inviting us to a deeper understanding and worship of the Living God … lends itself to religion.
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And what we need isn’t more religion. We need Gospel.
And by Gospel, I’m not speaking of selfhelp, pop spiritual psychology, but a Gospel that cuts into the heart of humanity with a grace that compels us to not just merely to salvation but a life committed to justice, reconciliation, and redemption. Isaiah 58 speaks of fasting but fasting that God is not pleased with. It’s a fasting that caters to our own eyes, flesh, and pleasure but not the kind of fasting that God invites us to: a life broken and transformed by the things of God. “I will tell you why!” I respond.
“It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the Lord?
No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help. Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the Lord will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ 18
he will quickly reply.
Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” Or in other words, I wonder if God might have these words for me:
“Umm, I didn’t ask you to give up coffee. I asked you to give up your life to me.”
So here’s the question: ● In what way does the self-denial of whatever make you more mindful of Christ and the Kingdom of God? ● I don’t want to think of it as a giving up but rather a season of deeply ‘giving in’ or ‘giving to’… ● In what way am I more compelled to give in to the ways of God? ● How am I more deeply giving in and giving to – to my neighbors, wife, children, church, strangers, etc? ● How am I more deeply giving or growing in stewardship, generosity, my convictions, etc? ● How am I more giving in to the Ways of Christ? How am I more giving in to Mercy, Justice, and Humility? Here’s an alternative invitation – whether you gave up something or not this Lenten season: Give yourself more fully to Jesus and the Kingdom of God. ▪
Money, Sex, ...and kids Thursday, May 12th 6-8pm $5 registration Childcare Included Chang Commons Registration Fee $5
A healthy family seminar lead by Dr. Terry and Sharon Hargraves.
Phone: 626 584-5680 E-mail: hillygoodwin@ufller.edu Childcare and refreshments provided
do you like writing? do you like working DIVIDED DIVIDED BY BY HOMOSEXUALITY: HOMOSEXUALITY: with writers? do you like playing with snow? we need a semi editor. apply at bit.ly/semijob Fuller's Peace and Justice Advocates and Just Peacemaking Initiative Present:
Pastoral Tools for Mediation and Dialogue
Monday April 18th 7pm in Travis Auditorium Panelists:
The Reverend Canon Susan Russell
Senior Associate at All Saints Church in Pasadena Chair of the Program Group on LGBT Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles
Bishop Yvette Flunder
Senior Pastor, City of Refuge, United Church of Christ Residing Bishop, Refuge Ministries/Fellowship 2000
Rev. Dr. Ken Fong
Senior Pastor, Evergreen Baptist Church of Los Angeles, Rosemead Paul W. Clement, Ph.D., ABPP Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice, South Pasadena
Chris Moore
PhD Candidate in Christian Ethics, Fuller Seminary Former Fellow at St. John's the Divine
UP NEXT April 18 Geneva Room 12 - 1p WELLNESS SEMINAR Join us for a complimentary healthy lunch and learn the most important points of how to prevent Heart Disease, Stroke, and Cancer. earlydetectionsaveslives.com/ lunch.fuller.htm
spaces of Buddhist and Muslim communities in Los Angeles. Sponsored by Henry Luce Foundation. Principal Investigator: William Dyrness. Guest speakers: Sally Promey and colleagues, Yale University; Tanya Luhrmann, Stanford University.
April 28 Payton 101 7 - 830p THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVISM FOR A POSTCIVIL RIGHTS GENERATION A discussion with Author, Rev. Adam Taylor, Vice-President; Advocacy at World Vision Hosted by Fuller PGA in collaboration with CLUE Los Angeles and the USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity (PERE).
FIELD ED
May 6 Pacific Asia Museum 1 - 5p LIVING IMAGES: THE VISUAL CULTURE OF ISLAM AND BUDDHISM IN LOS ANGELES A study of comparative aesthetics based on an ethnographic study of the imagery, practices and sacred
fielded@fuller.edu Alejandra Mattoni: 626.584.5387 April 21 Conf Rm 220 3-5p LEGAL ISSUES IN CHURCH EMPLOYMENT & REAL ESTATE Speaker: Mr. Dennis Kasper Employment training: legal difference between employee/ volunteer, wage & hour laws, rules addressing discrimination, ordained clergy tax benefits. Real estate training: How communities are using zoning laws to limit church ministries, ie communities trying to restrict the growth of churches or preventing their establishment.
April 26, Geneva Room, 1-3p CONGREGATIONS AS EMOTIONAL SYSTEMS: Implications for Pastors and their Families Speaker: Dr. Cameron Lee Congregations are made up of imperfect people. Pastors need to anticipate some of the emotional dynamics of the congregations they will serve. Seminar explores psych and sociological perspectives on congregational life, special emphasis on demands experienced by pastor’s families. May 4 Conf Rm 220 11a-1p UNDERSTANDING HOSPITAL CHAPLAINCY: HOW TO PREPARE FOR CPE Speaker: Rev. Cheri Coleman, Methodist Hospital chaplain, Arcadia. A Fuller graduate and current CPE supervisor will share tips on how you can prepare for your CPE experience. Seminar fulfills the requirement for interns applying for CPE.
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