Augsburg University’s Interfaith Symposium is an annual invitation to build community, foster collaboration, and create a more caring world through learning about religious/spiritual/worldview diversity, participating in enriching dialogue, and networking with exceptional interfaith leaders. As the most ethnically diverse campus in the Midwest, Augsburg University embraces students with a variety of religious beliefs and worldviews. Join us for this opportunity to learn about building partnerships across differences and how to face the future with hope and determination.
2026 Interfaith Symposium: Healing the Earth, healing ourselves
Wednesday, March 25, 2026
12:00 pm Keynote Address, Sateren Auditorium
1:00 pm Lunch, Hoversten Chapel
Keynote Speaker: Rev. Jen Bailey
Rev. Jen Bailey is an ordained minister, and national leader in the multi-faith movement for interfaith understanding and justice. She currently serves as Executive Director of the Dan and Margaret Maddox Fund, a Nashville-based philanthropic foundation investing in the leadership of young people and the vitality of the natural environment. In this role, she is guiding the Fund through a bold, values-driven transformation toward liberation-oriented philanthropy that connects local action with systemic change.
A national faith leader and local community builder, Rev. Bailey is also the Founder and Executive Director Emerita of Faith Matters Network, a Womanist-led organization equipping community organizers, faith leaders, and activists with resources for connection, spiritual sustainability, and accompaniment. Through her leadership at Faith Matters Network and as Learn more and register! a Co-Founder of The People’s Supper, she has helped host more than 2,000 dinners across 135 communities nationwide, bringing people together to strengthen relationships across lines of difference and to heal the divides in our civic and spiritual life.
Reverend Bailey’s career has been anchored in service to community and a commitment to justice. An Ashoka Fellow, Aspen Ideas Scholar, On Being Fellow, and Truman Scholar, Rev. Bailey earned degrees from Tufts University and Vanderbilt University Divinity School. An ordained itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Bailey also serves on the boards of The Fetzer Institute, Jessie Ball duPont Fund, and The Healing Trust.
Luncheon Panelists:
Event registration coming soon!
Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Interfaith Symposium?
Catherine Hurley,
612.330.1575
hurleyc@augsburg.edu
2026 Interfaith Symposium Host Committee Members
Nancy El-Hibri, Augsburg Parent and Benefactor, El-Hibri Foundation Trustee
Monica Ibarra, Mayo Clinic Enterprise Office of Belonging
Dr. Diane Jacobson, Regent, Augsburg University and Professor Emeritus, Luther Seminary
Elder Suzanne Kelly, CEO, MN Council of Churches
Anant Rambachan, Professor Emeritus of Religion, St. Olaf College
Rabbi Adam Stock Spilker, Mount Zion
Dr. Martha Stortz, Professor Emerita, Augsburg University
Joffrey Wilson, Vice President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Mortenson
2025 Interfaith Symposium:
Revolutionary Love is the Call of Our Times
Keynote Speaker: Valarie Kaur
Held February 27, 2025
Valarie Kaur is a civil rights leader, lawyer, award-winning filmmaker, educator, and founder of the Revolutionary Love Project. Valarie became an activist when a Sikh father and family friend was the first person murdered in hate violence in the aftermath of 9/11. Since then, Valarie has led visionary campaigns to tell untold stories and change policy on issues ranging from hate crimes to digital freedom. Her work ignited a national movement to reclaim love as a force for justice. Today, the Revolutionary Love Project is seeding networked communities of practice across the country to build the beloved community. A daughter of Punjabi Sikh farmers in California, Valarie lifts up her vision for America in her acclaimed TED Talk and #1 LA Times Bestseller See No Stranger: A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love. In Fall 2022, Valarie was honored at the White House in the first-ever Uniters Ceremony, recognizing her as a prophetic leader whose work is healing America. She is also the author of newly released Sage Warrior and children’s book World of Wonder.
Photos from the 2025 Interfaith Symposium
Luncheon Panelists:
THANK YOU 2025 SYMPOSIUM SPONSORS!
Visionary Sponsors
Dana Lonn
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