38th Trinity Institute
National Theological Conference
January 22-23, 2008
via live webcast @ TSC

Explore with a panel of leading theologians how religion becomes entangled with violence and what are the resources within each tradition for living together in peace, without losing unique identities.


                                

Tuesday, January 22, 2008 8:00 am 9:00 am 9:15 am 11:00 am 12:15 pm 2:00 pm 3:45 pm 5:00 pm Continental Breakfast Opening Remarks James H. Cone - Presentation and Q&A Reflection Groups Lunch on Your Own Susannah Heschel—Presentation and Q&A Reflection Groups Adjourn (approximate) Wednesday, January 23, 2008 8:00 am 9:00 am 10:45 am 12:00 pm 1:00 pm 2:45 pm 4:15 pm 5:00 pm Continental Breakfast James Carroll - Presentation and Q&A Reflection Groups Lunch on Your Own Tariq Ramadan—Presentation and Q&A Reflection Groups Closing Panel Adjourn (approximate) Reflection groups (6-12), led by local facilitators: Mynti Hossain - Member of the Kalamazoo Islamic Association Anne Reed - Episcopal Diocese of Western Michigan Jeff Haus - Assistant Professor of Religion and History at Kalamazoo College Eric Nelson - Program Officer, Fetzer Institute Gertrude Maurer, CSJ - Spiritual Director, Transformations Spirituality Center Michele Gossman - Executive Director, Transformations Spirituality Center Musette El-Mohammed - Pre-GED/GED Instructor at KPS and Parish Life Ministry at St. Martin of Tours Episcopal Church Cordelia Greer - Professor in the School of Communication at WMU Dr. Morry Edwards, Ph.D - Psychologist Institute conferences have taken the opportunity to engage in small group reflections among peers, led by skilled facilitators. The group process was designed in collaboration with the Education for Ministry (EfM) program of the School of Theology of the University of the South (Sewanee). Many participants have told us that these groups have become for them an invaluable aspect of the conference, so they will again be offered in 2008. These groups provide opportunities to: arrive at a deeper understanding of the presentations through peer learning; reflect on how to integrate conference themes with life and work; build community with colleagues. See schedule for times of reflection groups. Trinity Institute offers two Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for all those who complete the National Theological Conference. To qualify, participants must 1) attend all presentations, 2) fully take part in all small group reflection sessions, and 3) apply for CEUs using a link on Transformations website post conference that will confirm participation and ask for a short reflection on the implications for ministry from the conference. Fee: $18 per day, or $30 for both days. Come and go as your schedule permits. Come and bring a colleague for stimulating discussion, reflection and fellowship. A continental breakfast will be served at 8:00 a.m. on each day, lunch is on your own. View a PDF of the printable flyer for this conference. Register today: Call 269-381-6290 ext 310 or complete the online registration form

James Carroll is a bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction, a former Roman Catholic priest, and a lifelong activist for peace. His recent books include the National Book Award-winning memoir An American Requiem: God, My Father, and the War that Came Between Us; Constantine's Sword: The Church and the Jews -- A History; and House of War (2006), a history of the Pentagon. His regular column for the Boston Globe newspaper engages national and global issues. James H. Cone forged black liberation theology in the crucible of the civil rights movement and has remained on the cutting edge of its development. His ten books began with Black Theology and Black Power and include Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare; God of the Oppressed; and his most recent work, Risks of Faith: The Emergence of a Black Theology of Liberation, 1968-1998. He is the Charles A. Briggs Distinguished Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Seminary in New York City. Susannah Heschel holds the Eli Black Chair on Jewish Studies at Dartmouth. She is the editor of On Being a Jewish Feminist and Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity, an anthology of essays by her father, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and co-editor of Insider/Outsider: American Jews and Multiculturalism. She is the author of Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus, which won a National Jewish Book Award, and the forthcoming The Aryan Jesus: Christians, Nazis and the Bible. Tariq Ramadan writes and speaks on the future of Islam in pluralistic society. Named one of TIME magazine's "100 Innovators for the 21st Century," his widely translated books include In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Muhammad; Western Muslims and the Future of Islam; and Islam, the West, and the Challenge of Modernity. He is currently Senior Research Fellow at St. Antony's College (Oxford), Doshisha University (Kyoto, Japan), and the Lokahi Foundation (London).