The Interfaith Institute is thrilled to welcome nationally-recognized interfaith advocate, humanist community builder and researcher, and Augsburg alum Chris Stedman ‘08 to the institute as our inaugural Research Fellow.  Chris will be focusing his research on the religiously unaffiliated and religious indifference. His work is a vital contribution to understanding the current state of diverse belief systems of students in higher education and younger generations across society, particularly the widely misunderstood religiously unaffiliated population. He will be sharing his research with the larger campus community and beyond at the end of his Fellowship. 

Chris Stedman is a writer, professor, and activist who teaches in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Augsburg University. He is the author of IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives (2020, with a second edition released in August 2022) and Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious (2012), described in a ten-year retrospective by the Center for Religion and Media at NYU as “excellent and much-discussed.” He is also the writer and host of the podcast Unread, which was named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by the Guardian, Vulture, HuffPost, Mashable, the CBC, and others. In addition, Chris has written popular essays for outlets including the Atlantic, Pitchfork, BuzzFeed, VICE, and the Washington Post, as well as for publications like The Journal for College and Character and Interfaith Voices, and contributed essays to collections such as Everyday Humanism and Humanist Voices in Unitarian Universalism.

At Augsburg, Chris teaches on the search for meaning. He was previously a fellow at Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship and served as an Interfaith Fellow with the Institute. As the Institute’s Research Fellow, Chris is currently studying the religiously unaffiliated and religious indifference, an effort for which he was also awarded a Director’s Residency at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University. As an Augsburg student, he graduated in 2008 with a degree in Religion and minors in English and Social Work.

Previously the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community and a fellow at Yale University, he also served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University, a content developer and trainer for Interfaith America (formerly Interfaith Youth Core), and as the founding director of State of Formation at the Journal for Inter-Religious Dialogue. In 2018, Augsburg selected Stedman for their annual First Decade Award, which recognizes alumni “who have made significant progress in their professional achievements and contributions to the community” ten years after graduating.

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, September 15 and lasts through sundown Sunday, September 17. Yom Kippur begins at sundown on Sunday, September 24 and lasts until Monday night, September 25. Lesser known holidays Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah are also part of this holiday season. Sukkot begins at sundown on Friday, September 29 and the non-work holiday lasts until sundown on Sunday, October 1. Sukkot continues (as a working holiday) until sundown on Friday, October 6. Shmini Atzeret begins that same night, Friday, October 6, and the following night begins Simchat Torah, which lasts until sundown on Sunday, October 8, both as non-work holidays. During these days, please be thoughtful of those who observe them by not scheduling meetings, conference calls, or deadlines. For teachers, please do not schedule tests, presentations, or other mandatory activities. And remember that many Jewish households host family and/or other guests for these holidays. For those who celebrate Christmas, imagine if everyone wanted something from you between the mornings of December 24th and December 26th while you had multiple things cooking, preparations to be in services, and family and friends coming over. Be thoughtful, kind, and inclusive. And greetings: “Happy New Year” is appropriate to say on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. “Have an easy/meaningful fast” is appropriate to say on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement when Jews traditionally fast for 25 hours. Or to avoid mentioning fasting (which not everyone can do) you can say “Have a meaningful holiday” instead. “Happy holiday” is appropriate for Sukkot, Shmini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah, and really most Jewish holidays. Thank you!!” (Credit: Ronald Weber)

Augsburg Religious Holiday Policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bsiyBZp2sQHfuA2jUGM2cnagAlz_tb0W-TIPnlocSus/edit?usp=sharing

This was such a busy #Interfaith summer Augsburg University, at the Interfaith Institute. A peek at some of our work!

In July, we co-hosted Interfaith Institute Augsburg University, a statewide summit on hate crimes prevention with our state wide partner Minnesota Multifaith Network and our national partner Shoulder to Shoulder. We were delighted that over 50 faith, community, philanthropy, academic, and government leaders joined us. The First Lady of Minnesota Gwen Waltz opened the summit (you can see from the pics she stayed and listened to the discussion), followed by Dr. Anantanand Rambachan who set the tone, we heard from Rev Jim Bear Jacobs who invoked storytelling and reminded us interfaith spaces need a deep understanding of Native communities and histories. We were blessed to have Rev Cassandra Lawrence of Shoulder to Shoulder lead us through a mapping exercise and asset analysis of hate prevention resources. 

Our director Najeeba Syeed led the group through a discussion of action steps and we were blessed to hear from Dr. Jen Kilps of  Minnesota Multi-Faith Network who shared the history of recent hate crimes activities.

Out of this convening on our campus grew a renewal of ties for Augsburg to Islamic Resource Group. Imam Tamim Saidi, who gave a closing blessing, is now joining us in Augsburg classes to help increase our students’ literacy on Islam. Rabbi Adam Spilker will be enriching our students’ understanding of Judaism in our classes. 

We are so thankful for all who joined us and for the new friends and allies that were made. 

Our director wrote about the rural implications for rural Minnesota here based on her own research as well:  https://www.augsburg.edu/interfaith/2023/07/24/reflections-on-statewide-summit-on-hate-prevention/

Our director Professor Syeed will be presenting on the issue of rural interfaith work with Dr. Jen Kilps next week for a statewide network of rural Minnesota communities. There is a hunger for this type of research across the nation. 

We are excited to be enriching our classrooms with the resources we’ve discovered and will continue to build these partnerships!

Last week I attended Interfaith America’s Leadership Summit. One of the elements that struck me as I walked into the hall of hundreds of undergraduate students was the number of Muslim women who were in attendance, and I had the pleasure of speaking with them throughout the weekend. 

Embodied religious pluralism 

My own story in interfaith engagement started at 18 when I left for college in 1991. I was the only Muslim woman in my incoming class at my Quaker college and my story made it into the annals of American history, told by Diana Ek in her book, “A New Religious America.” She describes how my classmates fasted with me for my first Ramadan away from my family. Later on in 2000, I was the first Muslim professor hired by a particular Methodist  seminary, and now I am the first Muslim woman who was granted tenure and full professorship at another university, Lutheran in origin. My life has been one of firsts entering into spaces, what I have called in my writing elsewhere being “an embodied interruption.” 

I’ve written about what it means to be the first encounter with Islam many Christian students had, my body the first text they read of my tradition. I continued this trend of being one of a few,  later in a secular government space as an executive, the only Muslim woman who held a position of that particular rank. So it was a beautiful thing to see so many young Muslim women at this interfaith conference last week, so much changed since my own college years! And I am thankful to many Muslim women who broke barriers before I did, across the country so that I could occupy the spaces I have in my own life. 

Muslim women like myself are walking fonts of experience and expertise, in the very lived sense of that word of pluralism. I often talk about it as “embodied religious pluralism,” linked very much to Muslim women and our experiences of constantly being in spaces of difference. What is often seen as irreconcilable by others is inherently contained in our own bodies, and we learn how to create the capacity to exist with others, internally coalesce these identities and make them functional as whole. 

This type of experiential learning is powerful, we can all benefit from hearing the stories of how different Muslim women embody the very real challenges of religious identity and practice with complex social, political and educational contexts. It is not a one size fits all type of pluralism, nor is it dogmatic. It is pragmatic, lived out everyday and material in a very real sense. It is pluralism as a daily practice.

Storytelling and hearing more from a variety of Muslim women helps us see how pluralisms can be nuanced, deeply embedded in context, and how communities can learn from each other.

Interfaith leadership opportunities 

For many women, interfaith spaces are vital for their leadership and development. If one comes from a tradition without formal clergy, or where women are not ordained as clergy, then interfaith spaces allow for informal leadership opportunities that strengthen capacities to lead communities, collaborate across faith communities and solve dire problems of our time. 

Interfaith spaces can encourage women to lead and learn across religious lines. One of my favorite scholarly dialogues was between Orthodox Jewish women and Muslim women over a decade ago. We discussed topics ranging from our texts but also from our experiences figuring out how to be both within our own communities, preserve religious identities with the challenges of modernity and how scholarship on mutual concerns could benefit both our communities. 

In the context of higher education, it was a beautiful thing to see institutions play a hospitable role to Muslim women. I spoke with one young Muslim woman at the Interfaith America conference who went to a Catholic university and felt so supported by the institution and went on to lead on her campus. She is now on the road to being an interfaith professional, and I was really touched by the fact that this interfaith experience of being at a Catholic university strengthened her commitment to her own faith, and also her deep desire to continue to do interfaith service work to benefit all communities. 

Sometimes the issues may be specific to one’s perspective as a woman, and it is also powerful when in fact the concern is more universal. All of these young women at this conference were exercising their skills as interfaith leaders, and they just happened to be women. This excites me greatly because it means that they feel safe, are thriving and participating in building both their own communities and a joint reality that is kinder for all. 

Thankful to see how we move towards more just, equitable and inclusive futures and so  happy to see this happen in my own lifetime! 

Najeeba Syeed

El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director of Interfaith Institute

Multi-Faith Relations in Rural Settings

This past week the Interfaith Institute collaborated with the Minnesota Multi-Faith Network and Shoulder to Shoulder campaign to organize and host a statewide summit on hate prevention and I wanted to share a few reflections based on my years of engagement on multi-faith relations around the country. We will continue to offer our learnings as we do our work, this is just a taste of what we have been thinking about at the Institute this week. 

Centering the National Discourse 

I’ve written about “casserole” hospitality, an ethic of care demonstrated in the Heartland of the country found in communities of various traditions who welcome new members into their midst. It may be in church, the casserole may be an Eid baklava dish offered by a Muslim neighbor to a new friend. It may have many iterations depending on the cultural context and religious practice of a community. What I mean to emphasize is that regions of the country have their own unique modalities and methods of welcoming, and opening doors. The center of this country has many rich examples to draw upon. 

Small towns and sparsely populated regions of the country can be and are home to some of the most innovative multi-faith programs and organic sets of relationships. Smaller communities  create interdependence of resources of all types. Very often, when I am at the national tables I am invited to, the norm that is being discussed is an assumption of a diversity of communities that are present in large urban settings. 

I’ve been struck by the relationships that exist between religious communities of vast difference in what is often called fly-over country. My experience has been that these are not regions to fly over, but to learn from. 

When I first came to the US, in the 1970s my father landed in Bloomington, Indiana for his doctorate program. In those years, as immigrants we had little to no access to zabiha markets where we could find meat that was permissible to eat. My father heard that my school bus driver, Mrs. Anderson, had a farm and he proceeded to speak to her about going  out to her farm and we found her open to our form of Muslim ritual slaughter of animals on her farm.  

It is a small example, let me share another from the same region I learned about when I went to a Quaker college. The headquarters of the Islamic Society of America was in Plainfield, Indiana. The campus minister at my college in North Carolina recalled how his extended family in Indiana would reach out to support Muslims when the sign for the organization had been shot at in the 80s. These are a few of the many stories of the central part of this country in which solidarity and just  pure necessity created deep and lasting multi-faith relations. What I mean to say is this is not new. 

Scholars like Edward Curtis have documented the multi-racial, multi-religious histories of communities in Indiana and beyond. We can celebrate the work of recent organizations and efforts, while recognizing it is often built on the contributions of many communities and leaders who preceded us and that multi-faith relations are not new to this region and date back even  hundreds of years. A national picture of interfaith should and must include these examples. 

Diversity and its Multi Dimensional  Presence 

If you look at the map above, we find that there are groups of people doing multi-faith work across the state of Minnesota. It may not always be by faith based actors or congregations who lead these efforts. In one conversation I had at the summit last week, I was struck by how community development organizations are harnessing opportunities to do multi-faith engagement  without utilizing the terminology or traditional venues often associated with interfaith work. 

Civic engagement opportunities for religious pluralism are and can be created by non faith actors. Universities like ours, local and municipal government, Rotary clubs and other types of service organizations can be sites for conversations on religious literacy and education about local interfaith histories. I love the example of the Abdel Kader project (https://abdelkaderproject.org/) which among other things has used the fact that Iowa has a city named Elkader after a major Muslim historical figure  to develop materials on religious pluralism and practices. The very name of a city has inspired a deep connection of a small town in Iowa with a global view and vision for interfaith peace and solidarity. 

In our summit last week we discussed the idea of invisible diversity. When one walks into a room, religious diversity may not be apparent if one judges it by their own experiences and standards. We live in a moment when many Americans also join new communities besides their religious communities of origin through conversion, marriage or other means. You cannot assume the  religious identity of someone based on  how they present to you in person without learning more about someone’s stories. 

I also noted that in many communities there are  religious identities that span a wide spectrum of different communities beyond the Abrahamic. Shamanism, Buddhism, Hinduism all find homes in rural and small towns across the state in addition to the Abrahamic religions. It important to recognize the complex definition of religion and the presence of a wide array of religions and spiritual practices across the Heartland. 

Many faith communities may not have the symmetry of a congregational home or bricks and mortar space that some of us are used to. For example, in some communities which are newer or in a minority status, religious instruction may happen in someone’s home, not in a large building downtown.  People may congregate at a coffee house that serves the local community and engage in spiritual formation. 

We cannot assume our city or town is not diverse just because communities may not look like what is viewed as a common calculus of a religious entity. It takes work to know one another, time, patience and understanding that religion and spirituality look different and we can learn so much just by listening and hearing how people construct their own communities before assuming they will look like our own. 

We will continue to share more about what we are learning from our work across the state and we are so honored to have you join us on this journey!

Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director

The Augsburg University Interfaith Institute is delighted to announce that Dr. Thea Gomelauri will be joining the Institute as a Senior Fellow. The fellowship is a key anchor in the partnership between Oxford Interfaith Forum  and the Institute. Our Executive  Director, Najeeba Syeed has also been appointed to a senior fellowship at the Oxford Interfaith  Forum. We look forward to a joint collaboration across the globe on issues of peace, justice, intercultural and interfaith education and furthering interreligious learning. 

Dr Thea Gomelauri is a Member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford, and Director of the Oxford Interfaith Forum. She has a vast experience in research, teaching, and consultancy in different international, and intercultural contexts. Thea held Academic Fellowships with the Central European University, Open Society Institute, World Bank Institute, and the University of Oxford. She is a recipient of multiple research and teaching grants, including HM King Abdullah II of Jordan World Interfaith Harmony Award for Religious Education, Curriculum Development Grant at Interfaith Youth Core, USA,  Robert S. McNamara Research Fellowship at the World Bank Institute in Washington DC, USA, International OSI Policy Fellowship at the Open Society Institute in Budapest, Hungary, Curriculum Development Fellowship at Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, and European Commission Tempus Program in Berlin, Germany. At different times, she worked on research and consultancy assignments with the EBRD, UNDP, and UNHCR in troubled and war-torn regions of the world.

Thea is a member of the Jewish-Muslim Research Network, the Bible and Religions of the Ancient Near East Collective, and the British and Irish Association of Jewish Studies. She has presented papers at the International Conference of Patristic Studies, and the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and the British and Irish Association of Jewish Studies. Her research interests include: Comparative Religious Studies; Biblical Exegesis; Reception History of the Bible; Manuscripts and Material Culture. She has contributed chapters on David’s Children in Art in the Oxford Handbook on King David (OUP, 2024), Reimagining Abishag: Retelling her Story in the Routledge Handbook of the Hebrew Bible in contemporary Fiction and Poetry (Routledge, 2024), and Paul of Thebes in Georgian Manuscript and Ecclesiastical Culture in The Lives of St Paul the First Hermit (Brill, 2024). Currently, she is working on The Lailashi Codex: The Crown of the Georgian Jewry.

For more information and a publication list, please, visit: https://www.oxfordinterfaithforum.org/dr-thea-gomelauri/

Interfaith at Augsburg and the Muslim Student Association present:

“Perspectives on the Opioid Crisis in the East African Community: Part 2”

March 23, 2022 at 4:00 pm Central Time on Zoom

The East African community in the Twin Cities is experiencing a crisis of opioid addiction touching the lives of youth, young adults, and their families in our community. Two community leaders will share their perspectives and how they have responded to the crisis.

Mimi Sahlu – Mimi Sahlu is a small business owner. She is a community leader who helps others find resources. She is an activist and voice for East African women.

Abdirahman Mukhtar – Abdirahman Mukhtar worked with the Confederation of Somali Communities in Minnesota, as a youth diversion coordinator and as the youth program manager at the Brian Coyle Center of Pillsbury United Communities, a hub for Somali immigrants. He strives to make a human connection with youth who are homeless, often alienated from their own community. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Daryeel Youth. DARYEEL (which means “care” in Somali) is a volunteer-based Street Outreach effort to support East African youth.

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://augsburg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_PuElVX3XSICp4eSWLYQGxQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Interfaith at Augsburg and the Muslim Student Association thank the Batalden Ethics Grant Program at Augsburg for sponsoring this event.

Interfaith at Augsburg is pleased to announce that Chris Stedman ’08 will serve as Inter-Religious Resource Coordinator for the upcoming year. In this position, Chris will help Interfaith at Augsburg: An Institute to Promote Interreligious Learning and Leadership position itself to enhance interfaith leadership on campus and nationally, a goal identified in the Augsburg 150 strategic plan. His work will include the creation of teaching modules on “interreligious knowledge, skills, and leadership” that can be used in courses such as Augsburg’s professional graduate degree programs. He also will assist in strengthening Augsburg’s Interfaith Ally training. 

Chris is not new to the Augsburg community. In addition to being an alumnus, he has served in a number of capacities since 2016, when he joined Augsburg’s Sabo Center for Democracy and Citizenship as a fellow. Following his time at the Sabo Center, Chris served for two years as an interfaith fellow at Augsburg. Last year, he joined the Department of Religion and Philosophy as an instructor, where he teaches multiple sections of Religion 200.

Outside of his work at Augsburg, Chris is a nationally-recognized writer, speaker, and activist. He is the author of 2020’s IRL (“Essential.” —The AV Club) and 2012’s Faitheist (“Exciting and boundary defying.” —Houston Chronicle). Chris has also written for publications including The Guardian, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post. Most recently, his narrative podcast Unread (“Best Podcasts of 2021.” —Vulture) was released in June. It quickly found an audience around the world, including in Canada, where it hit number one on Apple Podcasts’s Society & Culture chart just a month after its premiere. Previously the founding director of the Yale Humanist Community and a fellow at Yale University, Chris also served as a humanist chaplain at Harvard University and a trainer and content developer for the Interfaith Youth Core. In recognition of his groundbreaking leadership in interfaith activism and humanist community building, Augsburg selected Chris for their annual First Decade Award in 2018.

Thursday, September 30 at 4-5 pm

Webinar format hosted by Augsburg University Events

Event sponsored by Interfaith at Augsburg and Muslim Student Association with thanks to the Batalden Ethics Grant

Please join us for a panel discussion with:

Imam Abdisalam Adam, Assistant Principal of Highland High School in St. Paul, member of the Fridley School Board; former Augsburg Interfaith Fellow

Cadnaan Deeq, former Augsburg student

Farhia Budul, CPRS, CPP, FPRS, Executive Director, Niyyah Recovery Initiative 

Niyyah Recovery Initiative (NRI) is the first Recovery Community Organization in the nation to provide culturally responsive peer recovery support, education, awareness and advocacy in the East African immigrant, refugee, and Muslim population in Minnesota. 

Description: 

At a time when the local Somali community is facing a crisis of opioid addiction, we will hear the perspectives of a community leader and educator, an expert in culturally responsive peer recovery support, and a student. In addition to learning more about the crisis we will focus on ways religious communities, health care providers and Augsburg are responding and might collaborate in the future. There will be time for questions from participants. 

Registration:

Register in advance for this webinar:

https://augsburg.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_lEW5MOKmTZqlCv-eLEEPxQ

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Minnesota Multifaith Network (MnMN) is offering an interfaith convening called, “Discerning our Moral Commitments Together: A Multifaith Conversation on Racial Justice and Human Dignity” on Thursday, June 17, 2021, from 11:00am to 1:00pm CDT. Held online, all faith leaders, interfaith organization leadership and volunteers, people of all faith backgrounds, those of no faith commitments, and everyone committed to the flourishing of all communities in Minnesota are invited to participate in a deep conversation about our shared moral commitments as we grapple with all the ways the pandemic and oppression is causing harm. Speakers and small group circles will help build connections for justice and contribute to deepening a growing multifaith network in Minnesota. Tickets are $10 each with a 50% discount for MnMN members. To become a member, visit MnMN’s website at www.mnmultifaith.org and click “Membership.” Contact info@mnmultifaith.org with questions.

• MnMN’s Website: https://mnmultifaith.org/
• MnMN’s Facebook: @mnmultifaith | https://www.facebook.com/mnmultifaith | #mnmultifaithnetwork