November 14, 2008 | Miroslav Volf has been appointed a research scholar for a joint initiative between the Witherspoon Institute and the Institute for Theological Inquiry, a division of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation in Efrat, Israel. The project will engage world-class theologians to break new theological ground on focused research topics in areas critical to Judaism, Christianity and world culture. Through its research, ITI aims to develop rich new foundations for cooperative Jewish-Christian understanding, as well as spiritual and moral values that will bear on global religious, cultural and political life in the 21st century. This three-year initiative (2008-2010) will conduct its first meeting November 30-December 1, 2008.
Fall 2008 | Miroslav Volf to co-teach Faith & Globalization course with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Miroslav Volf, Center Director and Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, will co-teach a course this fall with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Titled “Faith and Globalization,” the course is being designed jointly with Yale Divinity School and Yale School of Management.
November 7-9, 2008 | Miroslav Volf joins a team of foremost thought leaders at the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda. This summit, co-hosted by the Government of Dubai, brought together for the first time 700 members of the network of Global Agenda Councils to address in an integrated and proactive way the most important challenges facing the world. The meeting focused on the current financial crisis, which is in the process of profoundly transforming the economic, business and political landscape of the future and which must be met with reflection on how to shape the post-crisis world and how to strengthen and improve global, industry and corporate governance. Reflecting the need for thoughtful small-group deliberations, the summit was uniquely structured, consisting mostly of simultaneous Council meetings interwoven with designed opportunities for interactions with the broader network.
October 17-24, 2008 | Andrew Saperstein visits Seoul, Korea, assisting Youngnak Presbyterian Church and other Korean church and missions leaders in understanding how to constructively engage with Muslim communities in Korea and abroad. Established in 1945 by twenty-seven refugees from Soviet-occupied Korea, and with a membership of more than 20,000, Youngnak is one of the largest churches in Seoul, and one of the largest Presbyterian churches in the world. During his time in Seoul, Dr. Saperstein spoke twice on the topic “The highest of callings: loving our Muslim neighbors – and our Muslim enemies – with the love of Christ,” made a presentation on the question “Why Are (Some) Muslims Angry at the West and at Christians?” and participated in multiple panels and informal discussions with local church and missions leaders on matters of Muslim-Christian relations.
September 18-19, 2008 | “Are We Safe Yet? Vulnerability and Security in an Anxious Age.” The fourth annual Sarah Smith Memorial Conference on Moral Leadership was held at Yale Divinity School. This year we sought to address a common concern for all – from global leaders around diplomatic tables to local families around the kitchen table. The conference was to bring thoughtful engagement regarding the constructive role faith can and does play in public leadership. The conference sought to address such pressing questions for those working in the fields of politics, law and divinity, but with direct impact on and participation by those in business, medicine, the media, the academy and in various other spheres of life in society.
September 10-12, 2008 | Andrew Saperstein speaks at the conference “Religious Faith, Torture, and Our National Soul,” Mercer University, Atlanta, Georgia. The conference was being organized by David P. Gushee of Mercer University and Evangelicals for Human Rights in cooperation with the nation's top thinkers and leaders in the anti-torture community.
August 31, 2008 | Andrew Saperstein speaks at the Islamic Society of North America’s Interfaith Unity Reception to follow up on the ongoing Common Word initiative and the recent Common Word conference hosted at Yale. In Columbus, Ohio.
August 17 and 27, 2008 | Andrew Saperstein, Associate Director of the Reconciliation Program, leads a forum at Chicago’s LaSalle Street Church. In the forum he explored key dimensions of Muslim-Christian reconciliation in our day, with particular attention given to the ongoing “Common Word” initiative.
July 24-31, 2008 | Loving God and Neighbor in Word and Deed Workshop and Conference 2008: “Implications for Christians and Muslims.” The Yale Center for Faith and Culture Reconciliation Program convened this conference at the Yale Divinity School. Conference objectives included the exploration of ways in which the common commitments could help rectify distorted perspectives Muslims and Christians have of each other and repair relations between the Middle East and the West.
July 3-5, 2008 | Cornerstone Festival, Bushnell, Illinois. Center director Miroslav Volf led a three-session seminar on “Us vs. Them: Identity, Otherness, and Reconciliation” at the annual arts and music festival.
June 8-10, 2008 | “Envision:
The Gospel, Politics, and the
Future” Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey. Andrew Saperstein,
associate director of the Center’s Reconciliation Program,
led a four-session seminar on “The Holy Land and Reconciliation”
at this national conference.
May 18-20, 2008 | World Economic Forum. Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. Miroslav Volf participated in the 2008 World Economic Forum on the Middle East, the foremost global gathering of political, business, and cultural leaders. This year’s meeting focused on exploring the impact of long-term global trends on the Middle East. The meeting was jointly sponsored by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum and the Government of Egypt.
May 8, 2008 | St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth, County Kildare, Ireland. As part of a colloquium on “‘Otherness’ in our midst: Culture, Migration, and Religious Identity: The Place of the Immigrant in the Irish Religious Landscape,” Miroslav Volf offered the keynote Devlin Lecture.
April 19, 2008 | Elmbrook Church, Brookfield, Wisconsin. Miroslav Volf presented two theological reflections on forgiveness and reconciliation.
April 18, 2008 | University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin. As part of the annual “Geneva Forum” lecture series sponsored by the Geneva Campus Church, Miroslav Volf spoke on “Can We Forgive Without God?”
April 16, 2008 | Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Christian Scharen gave the opening keynote lecture at the Project Connect Annual Gathering, “Vocational Discernment with Young Adults.”
April 9-11, 2008 | St. John’s Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. Christian Scharen participated in the Collegeville Seminar on Practical Theology.
April 1, 2008 | Overseas Ministries Study Center, New Haven, Connecticut. Rick Love, postdoctoral fellow at the Center’s Reconciliation Program, spoke on “Blessing the Nations in the 21st Century: A 3-D Approach to Apostolic Ministry.”
March 31, 2008 | St. Michael’s College, Colchester, Vermont. Miroslav Volf spoke on “Identity and Otherness in a Fractured World.”
March 7, 2008 | Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Miroslav Volf presented the 2008 Weber Memorial lecture on the topic of “God and Human Flourishing.”
March 6, 2008 | First Presbyterian Church, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Miroslav Volf spoke on love of God and of neighbor in Christianity and Islam.
February 29, 2008 | Florida
Southern University, Lakeland, Florida. Miroslav
Volf presented the 2008 Warren W. Willis
Lecture in Religion, on “Christians and Muslims: Loving God and Loving
Neighbor.”
February 29-March 2, 2008 | Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea, Palm Beach, Florida. Miroslav Volf spoke and preached over the course of the weekend for the 2008 Smaltz Fellowship weekend.
February 27-28, 2008 | Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida. Miroslav Volf was the 2008 Kistemaker Lectures speaker, presenting a series of four lectures over the two days on the ‘Common Word’ between Christians and Muslims.
February 18, 2008 | Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. Christian Scharen presented the lecture “Worship in a Secular Age: ‘Worship Wars’ and the Conditions of Possibility for Worship Today.”
February 15-16, 2008 | Believers in Business III, New Haven, Connecticut. The YCFC, in partnership with the Yale School of Management, hosted its third annual conference for Christian MBAs.
February 6, 2008 | Andover Newton Theological Seminar, Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Christian Scharen presented the lecture “Worship in a Secular Age: ‘Worship Wars’ and the Conditions of Possibility for Worship Today.”