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2019 Christensen Symposium

Headshot photos of Dr. Hamdy and Bishop Younan next to presentation title "Suffering and Hope in the Midst of Conflict"Thursday, October 3
11 AM – 12 PM
Hoversten Chapel, Foss Center

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.

Advance Screening – Morgan Freeman’s Story of God

Please join us Wednesday, March 30 from 7pm-8:30pm.

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. Phil Quanbeck II, Dr. Maheen Zaman, and Julian Kritz (Interfaith Scholar). The panel will be moderated by Rev. Mark Hanson, 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.

Continue reading “Advance Screening – Morgan Freeman’s Story of God”

Interfaith Student Reflection by Joseph Kempf ’16

Joseph Kempf, Class of 2016

joe-kempf
Joseph Kempf Class of 2016

“(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.

Continue reading “Interfaith Student Reflection by Joseph Kempf ’16”

Augsburg Interfaith Scholars Summary

Yearlong student cohort engaging in dialogue and service

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

2012-2013 Interfaith Scholars Facebook photo book

2010-2011 Interfaith Scholar Cohort Video

The Interfaith Scholars Program is a collaboration between the Christensen Center for Vocation (CCV), Campus Ministry and the Religion Department.

2012 Christensen Symposium with Eboo Patel

The Holiness of Common Ground

Eboo Patel, Founder and President, Interfaith Youth Core

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.