Tag: faith and justice symposium

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Kindschi Faith and Justice Symposium

Artwork from Joel Mulindwa's "Chaos Portfolio"
By Jax Johnson

Beginning on January 30th and continuing through February 2nd, the Center for Faith, Justice and Global Engagement will host their annual Kindschi Faith and Justice Symposium, which will be centered around the theme of “War and Conflict: Creating Sanctuaries in Times of Violence”. 

The Symposium will feature five different events throughout the week:(1) a lecture with Belinda Bauman, (2) a workshop with Elsa Barron, (3) an art gallery opening and discussion with Houghton alumnus Joel Mulindwa, (4) a lunch discussion with Theodore Kuchar, and (5) a panel discussion on conflict-induced migration. 

As the director of the Center for Faith, Justice and Global Engagement, Brian Webb has worked to organize this event and says that he is, “excited about this year’s speakers, who will address conflict from many different perspectives, including its impact on immigration, the environment, social justice, and interpersonal relationships.” He also talks about this year’s theme, saying, “‘War and Conflict: Creating sanctuaries amid the violence’ is certainly appropriate for today. While the war in Ukraine looms large in our minds, there are many other conflicts going on around the world today from Afghanistan to South Sudan to the Congo to Yemen. Conflict is not only horrific in its own right, but it also exacerbates other global challenges including human migration, hunger, and poverty.” 

Of the five symposium events, all will host a variety of perspectives and ideas. The first event is a lecture given by Belinda Bauman on Monday, Jan. 30., from 7. to 8:15 p.m. in Library 323. Bauman’s lecture is titled, “From Wrong to Strong: How Trauma Can Forge Resilience” and follows the topic of trauma and how to overcome it. 

The second event is a symposium workshop with Elsa Barron called “Faith in the Future: Environmental Peacebuilding in the Face of Conflict and Climate Change”, which discusses the connection between conflict and climate change, and how the two can have a strong impact on the other. This workshop will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 31, from 4:30 -5:45 p.m. in Library 323. 

On Tuesday, Jan. 31.,from 7-8 p.m. in the Wesley Chapel Art Gallery, there will be an art gallery opening and discussion with Artist and Houghton alumnus Joel Mulindwa, who brings light to the stories of both the victims and the perpetrators of war. 

On Wednesday, Feb. 1, a lunch discussion will occur from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the South End Dining Hall with conductor Theodore Kuchar, who will  talk about the dynamics between Russia and Ukraine to illuminate the complexities of the situation. In conjunction with this event, Kuchar will lead the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine in the Westley Chapel at 7:30 p.m. that same night;tickets for the concert can be purchased from the Houghton Hub. 

The symposium will close with a panel discussion on conflict-induced migration on Thursday, Feb. 2, from 7-8:15 p.m. in the Center for the ArtsRecital Hall. This event will present stories of those who have been affected by conflict , while also showing the hope that can be gathered. 

The Kindschi Faith and Justice Symposium offers a wide variety of events that shed light on the impact of world conflicts, as well as the stories of those who have been impacted by them.   By participating in these events, people have the opportunity to learn something new while connecting this knowledge with a foundation in faith. ★

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Stories In Focus

Learning to Love Our Neighbors

Every year, the Faith and Justice Symposium challenges Houghton College students and the wider Houghton community to consider a social justice issue through the lens of the Christian faith they share. From Wednesday, September 21 to Friday, September 23, this year’s Symposium, entitled “Loving our Neighbors,” will explore immigration and refugee issues with two keynote speakers, a coffeehouse, four workshops, and the screening of a documentary.

fjs-quoteThe selection of a topic for the Faith and Justice Symposium is based both on student feedback from the past year and on what subjects are timely in wider society. This year’s topic was chosen by the Symposium Advisory Team, which includes Brian Webb, Sustainability Coordinator, and Kristina LaCelle-Peterson, Professor of Religion. According to LaCelle-Peterson, they agreed that the issue of immigrants and refugees was relevant due to the current political climate and refugee crisis.

“According to the UN there are over 65 million displaced people in the world, over 21 million of whom are refugees,” said La-Celle Peterson. “Christians around the world are reflecting on what they can do and what churches can do to help displaced people rebuild their lives. We want to be part of that effort.” She continued, “Even aside from a discussion of refugees, the issue of immigration is on people’s minds, especially because of the election cycle we’re in. We wanted the Symposium to be a place where we can move beyond the sound-bites which are often misleading or simply playing on fears, and reframe the discussion on Jesus’ call to love our neighbor.”

Webb and LaCelle-Peterson also invited the two keynote for this year’s Symposium: Jenny Yang, the Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief, and Danny Carroll, the Blanchard Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College.

“We always try to get a diversity of keynote speakers,” said Webb. “We wanted people who could approach it from different angles. Jenny Yang is a well-known advocate on immigration justice issues. She’s highly regarded in Christian justice related circles on this issue. Danny Carroll comes more from an academic perspective, and has more of a theological background. He is a highly regarded scholar on biblical approaches to immigration.”

Yang will speak in chapel on Wednesday, while Carroll will both speak in chapel on Friday morning and will lead one of four workshops on Friday afternoon. The other three workshops will be led by speakers with a variety of perspectives on immigration and refugee issues. A representative from the Wesleyan Church will discuss the denomination’s approach, while an individual from the Christian Reform Church’s “Blessing Not Burden” campaign will discuss their organization’s attempt to reframe the immigration debate in terms of immigrants as a blessing to society. Another speaker who works in economic development in Buffalo will talk about how immigrants contribute to positive economic benefits of the country to which they immigrate.

“The workshops bring the opportunity to interact more closely with the speakers,” said Emily Barry ’17, who is part of this year’s Symposium Student Planning Committee. “It’s you in a classroom, so it’s more personal. They open it up for questions, and you can pick their brains how you want.”

On Thursday, the Symposium will present an “Engaging the Arts” coffeehouse organized by the student planning committee. It will feature live music and stories from Felix Madji, a second-year student at the Houghton in Buffalo campus and a refugee from the Central African Republic, as well as an art auction, participatory art project and free coffee. The Houghton College Gospel Choir will also make an appearance. This event is intended to help convey the human aspect of immigration and refugee issues, which is an overwhelming goal for this year’s Symposium.

“My hope is that students would see that these are real people with real stories,” said Webb. “Their stories matter, and we as Christians can value their stories and experiences in a way that uplifts the individual. Instead of arguing the ideology of an issue, I’d rather that people experience the real-life stories of ordinary people, and then frame their perspectives on the issue around what they learn.”

The wish to showcase the stories of real people is also why the Symposium will screen the film “Documented” on Friday. The documentary features Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist who came out as an undocumented immigrant in a New York Times Magazine cover story in 2011. Webb believes Vargas’s story is an especially powerful one.

“His story is actually what changed me 180 degrees on the immigration issue,” said Webb. “Just hearing his experiences as an undocumented individual helped me see this a really different light than I had grown up with.”

The Symposium, “Immigration and Refugees: Loving our Neighbors,” will begin on Wednesday in chapel with Jenny Yang, and continue through Friday. The full schedule is available on the Houghton College website.

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Opinions

Response to Molly Little’s Chapel

“What did you think of the chapel speaker?” It was the phrase that made its rounds across campus after Molly Little, a UN representative and former Houghton Grad, gave the opening lecture for the annual Faith and Justice Symposium. She was honest about her struggles with faith and gave no indulgence to optimism; and naturally her provocative chapel speech ignited strong opinions throughout campus. The controversy was evident. Many people even debated whether somebody like Little should be allowed to speak in chapel. All the while, others commended her for her direct and refreshingly cynical approach.

Jawin If I’m being honest I do not think anybody liked Molly Little’s talk. It is hard to watch someone share intimate moments of despair and like it – that would be sadistic – but her message was incredibly moving and her raw truth-fullness was at its very least thought-provoking. I would hope that those who appreciated Little’s speech, like myself, did so not for the sake of controversy, but to preserve the integrity of her vulnerability. That being said, not everybody was appreciative of Little’s sheer bluntness and some found her despondency off-putting. I would like to carefully remind this group that yes, Molly Little is responsible for her ideological communication, but we as listeners are equally responsible for our reactions.

It is incredibly easy to come into chapel and evaluate speakers based on our own personal  theological expectations. We want to be energized. We want to be refreshed and we want that warm feeling in our belly that reminds us that the Holy Spirit is real; but chapel isn’t about that. It is about lifting one another up and becoming one worshipping body under Christ. So when people like Molly Little come and, by their own admission, state that their “faith is a skeleton of what it used to be” and that they greatly struggle to find power in the Christian life, we shouldn’t feel offended by their theology because that is a selfish reaction to their pain. We are acting as if Little’s struggles are inconvenient to our personal lives of faith, and as a result we degrade and ostracize her from the body of believers. This type of reaction has no redemptive power. Instead, we must lift her up in prayer.

Opinions_JD_QuoteI don’t know Molly’s pain, I can’t give her an answer, but her lack of faith is not absurd. I too know of an individual who at the height of His calling proclaimed, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me,” and then rose again in glory. And if the Lord of our hearts can feel the burden of His calling and rise from the depth of despair, why do we have difficulty believing similar instances can happen and be restored in the Christian life?

You don’t need to agree with Molly Little’s ideas. You don’t even have to like what she said, but you need to be empathetic and appreciate her honesty. Would it be easier if Little’s message was all roses and rainbows? Of course. But it wasn’t and even still our God has the ability to work in her, through her and with her, because that’s who God is. His grace is not contingent on our eloquence or our eligibility. It just is, and because of this we have hope for our most despondent situations, stories and friends.

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Arts

Master Ceramicist Coming to Houghton

Houghton alumna Jennifer DePaolo is a ceramicist who will be visiting Houghton next week. Gary Baxter, the ceramics professor here at Houghton and her former teacher, remembers her fondly and said, “She was a good student, got into a prestigious program.”

Courtesy of chceramics.wikispaces.com
Courtesy of chceramics.wikispaces.com

After graduating from Houghton, DePaolo traveled as a studio artist to Kenya, Tanzania, Mexico, Britain, China, and Spain. During these travels, she sought out the culture of art around the globe along with other artist connections.

She then acquired her MFA from New Mexico State University and decided to stay as a faculty member, teaching ceramics. Acting as teacher’s assistant and field coordinator, she also participated in the Land Arts of the American West program offered by New Mexico State University. DePaolo has been featured in several exhibits, such as Dispersal/Return Exhibition at the University of New Mexico Art Museum, the Land/Art statewide exhibition (also through the University of New Mexico Art Museum) and Art in Craft Media at the Burchfield Penney Art Center in Buffalo, NY.

Now DePaolo is in New Mexico working at the Harwood Art Center as the community outreach coordinator. Her work includes working with the volunteer corps, networking with the adult art community, and writing grant proposals for all the Harwood programs. Additionally she curates exhibits, mentors interns, and helps to develop programs. At the same time she is also working as a studio artist.

DePaolo will bring her wealth of experience and skill to the Fine Arts Seminar class this semester, benefiting students and faculty alike. She will also be giving a demonstration in Gary Baxter’s ceramics classes on throwing clay and using slip as a decorative paint.

During the week of October 2nd when DePaolo is here at Houghton, she will be glazing and wood firing many of her pieces which she is either shipping to Houghton or bringing along with her. As a practicing artist, she never stops making work. Much of DePaolo’s work is about food and hunger, which echoes the theme of the Faith and Justice Symposium for this year, and will be an interesting addition to the thoughts that have already been stirred starting Wednesday of this week.