Spiritual Benefits of Cross Registration

Friends:

This past Monday the Deans took a look at cross registration statistics--and will do so again at the next Deans meeting. The previous week the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees indicated the great importance of encouraging cross registrations.

I think a great benefit of taking a course in another institution is spiritual.

Most think that the benefit of cross registration is in learning from a distinguished professor or fulfilling a degree requirement. The obstacles are traffic and where to park and an unfamiliar campus.

The spiritual benefit is that cross registration forces us to 'dig deeper' in our faith--to open ourselves more to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

• We meet good people and build relationships.
• We see that others--often in different ways from ourselves--have been called by God.
• We learn from the gifts that God has given to others.
• We begin to see--through class learning and formal/informal discussion--that our theological worldview might need to develop more fully.
• We learn from the example of others' dedication to following Christ.

All of this requires a bit of humility and modesty on our part.
The experience of cross registration, can, in its way, help us to be more like Christ 'who humbled himself' for our salvation.

Peace,
John

Deans' Council Meeting

Friends:

Yesterday the Consortium Council of Academic Deans met at Wesley.
As usual, the meeting was interesting:

• We reviewed recent data on Cross-Registrations [sentiment is very strong for actually attending a class on the campus of another member school],
• Discussed having a common block of time for Consortium courses [there is sentiment to mix courses on ecumenism throughout the week since courses schedules are now quite complex]
• Spoke of the Speaker for the Consortium 40th Anniversary in April of 2011
• And even--at the suggestion of an enthusiastic Dean--discussed a Consortium Cup for Football!

And these are just a few of the items.
The Deans are an insightful and hard-working group.

Peace,
John

Campbell Lectures

Friends:

I was honored to give the annual Campbell Lectures for the
Lehigh Valley [PA] Conference of Churches last Thursday. This was the 19th
year for the lectures--predecessors included Cardinals Avery Dulles and Walter Kasper.

I spoke on Spiritual Ecumenism.
The assembled ecumenists were very affirming and asked a lot of good questions.
A couple of those in attendance were formerly here in Washington but now are serving in Pennsylvania.

My presentations will be available through the website of the Conference.

During the day, I had an opportunity to tour the facilities of the Conference of Churches.
I was impressed by their extensive ministries to the poor--programs included efforts in affordable housing, employment, food distribution....

Peace,
John

Dr. Douglas Fry--Studies Shed Light on Peacebuilding

Dr. Fry--American Expert on Anthropology and on Peace/conflict--now teaching in Finland and doing research for Arizona University--gave an outstanding presentation for the Science and Religion Group this past Saturday at WTU.

He was most gracious and updated us on data from around the world.
I will no longer believe that conflict is inevitable--he has too much data on peaceable groups around the world.

The questioning was intense and interesting in itself--it went on for quite some time and the dialogue continued over lunch.

I think that it is getting to be time to take some of this data and see how it might give insight into ecumenical reconciliation. Perhaps I can get to it this summer.

Peace,
John

Visiting Richmond

Friends:

I had a very good visit to Richmond last Thursday.
The day was sunny--great for the drive down.
Everyone at Virginia Union University School of Theology was, as normal, gracious but even more 'sunny.'

Dr. Kinney had more than a few interesting things to say--one that stuck with me is the fact that, if you are involved in the church long enough, you see some cycles--and know that you have to adjust your thinking and action--and realize that questions and issues arise periodically.

I met with Bishop Shannon Johnston of the [Episcopal] Diocese of Virginia.
He was most gracious and welcoming.
I talked with him about what is going on in the Consortium.
And learned from him of his recent trip to the Middle East.

It was a fine day for conversation and learning.

Peace,
John

The Inaugural Al-Alwani Lecture

"Washington as a Site for Muslim-Christian Encounter"
Dr. Richard J. Jones

"Two Generations of Islamic Scholarship for Interreligious Understanding"
Dr. Zainab Alwani

Friends:

I must confess to being a bit nervous as I was preparing for the initial lecture to be given by Dr. Richard Jones, holder of the Al-Alwani Chair for the Consortium on Thursday evening March 11th. I was wondering--who would come, would the Alwani family be pleased with the outcome, would Dr. Jones put the finishing touches on well?....

My worries were groundless.

The Alwani family, along with other dinner guests, came early to the Virginia Theological Seminary. We had a chance to meet and talk and get to know each other a bit better--of course we were disappointed that Professor Alwani could not come from Egypt, his current home, to be with us. But we did have a good time. Shortly before seven-thirty,we went to the auditorium.

A number of distinguished Muslim and Christian leaders were awaiting us as we appeared as were faculty members from VTS and students interested in Muslim-Christian relations.

Dr. Jones' Inaugural lecture, complete with a map of our region was very well received. Our former Board Chair, Mr. James Lowe, later remarked how on how personal and engaging--as well as informative--his whole talk was.

Dr. Zainab Alwani, daughter of Sheik Alwani, spoke for the family--and gave a wonderful overview of how her father came to his scholarly and legal views.

Both presentations can be found on the Consortium Website, http://www.washtheocon.org/.

It turned out to be a most satisfying evening--the beginning of a special contribution to mutual understanding by the Consortium.

Peace,
John

Making of a Catholic President--Dr. Shaun Casey--Newseum Panel

Friends:

As you know, I sometimes let the press of business overwhelm me--and I neglect this blog.
That time has come and gone.

About 180 folks gathered on March 8th--including a number of colleagues and friends--to listen to Dr. Shaun Casey of Wesley discuss his book on the John Kennedy Campaign with John Sigenthaler [who worked for Robert Kennedy in 1960] and Sander Vanocur [who covered the 1960 and was a panelist for one of the debates]. This was a very interesting panel--Casey citing the archives and reports and Sigenthaler and Vanocur providing very interesting anecdotes as to what was happening 'on the ground.'

The discussion was lively as well.

Peace,
John

Influence Across Cultures

Friends:

Last night at VTS, Dr. John Yieh gave his Professorial Lecture.
Dr. Yieh is a NT scholar of note.
He has been in recent years the organizer of the Consortium Biblical Group.

His paper was very interesting.
In particular I was struck by his method in cross cultural sharing--learning from each other while maintaining and enhancing our identity. I am looking forward to reading the paper at leisure.

Peace,
John

Monthly Prayer for Christian Unity--Are You Called?

Friends:

Recently I felt called by the Spirit to pray with others for Christian Unity.
I ask a few friends for their reflections--and received suggestions and affirmation.

This led to the following:


I am thinking of:

• A monthly prayer time with at least one other person—this could be the seminary community prayer time, a small group that prays, two individuals who get together or a dialogue over the phone. I think it needs to be with someone else or a group. Ecumenism is essentially relational. So while I pray for unity each day as part of my personal prayer, I think that this prayer must have some dimension of relationship
  
• I believe that the prayer together could be 10 minutes and should be no more than an hour. This will be a judgment of those who feel called to pray.
  
• Since traditionally Wednesday and Friday have been special times of prayer [and fasting], I think that these would be the appropriate days.
  
• I asked for a commitment for March, April and May. The Weeks of March 14th, April 11th and May 9th would be my choices. The individuals would pick the time based on their schedules.
  
• Prayer together might usually include a sharing of intentions, time for silent prayer and a short time for bible sharing/communal prayer [e.g. morning prayer]
  

I feel this is the work of the Spirit—who will guide us.


I will offer some suggestions for the prayer each month.
If you are interested in the suggestions for March, send me an email at
crossin@washtheocon.org.


Thanks.
John