Process & Faith

Process Pop-Up: New Streams: Finding Faith Online
2024-03-21 17:00 - 18:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Where do you find inspiration? In a house of worship? Or do you find your faith is fed more these days through online media?

In those halcyon days before Covid, most people never heard of podcasts, and almost no one listened to two to three hour conversations on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify. But the pandemic threw all of us into online spaces we didn’t even know existed. Podcasting is big news.

According to Nancy Marshall (also known as The PR Maven) in an article for Forbes magazine, “Nowhere is the podcast more popular than in the United States, which lays claim to the most podcast listeners in the world (over 100 million). The growth in recent years has been astounding. Nearly 80% of Americans over the age of 12 are now aware of podcasts—up more than 30% from a decade ago. Even in 2015, only a minority of Americans considered listening to podcasts in their day-to-day lives. So much has changed in less than a decade.”

Some of those podcasts and online experiences are now devoted to explorations around faith and spirituality. In the progressive space, podcasts like Homebrewed Christianity, (Re)Thinking Faith, Brew Theology, War Machine, Hunger for Wholeness, several from Richard Rohr’s Center for Action and Contemplation, and others are gaining new listeners every day.

Of course, churches had to respond to the fact that their doors were closed too, and worship streaming became the new norm, with varying degrees of success. But some organizations found a way to deliver high quality worship experiences via Zoom, Facebook, and YouTube.

This event will gather a panel of speakers who have been using new media to talk about and experience faith online. We’ll find out how this has impacted them and their listeners as we open our minds to new ways of being faithful.

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Matt Baker, War Machine

Matthew hosts War Machine, a podcast for theological nomads at the intersection of radical theology, philosophy, and western esotericism. He previously produced The Catacombic Machine, and Interrupted, the official podcast of the Westar Institute. Matthew is also a musician, professional graphic, sound, and instructional designer, and currently working as Organizational Change Management Lead for Veolia North America.

Kate Eaton, Mishkhah

Mishkhah was founded in January 2010 by Kate Eaton to reveal the mystery of Christ by stirring the senses and opening the heart. Through careful integration of music, images, textures, found objects, light, movement and prayer, we are invited to rediscover the landscape of our souls as we encounter the Holy. Kate brings her experience in directing the arts and music for the first 20 seasons of the Wilderness, a Sunday night service at Saint John’s Cathedral in Denver, CO. Since 2007, the Wilderness has drawn hundreds of new worshipers and regularly gathers a congregation of 100+. Since founding Mishkhah, Kate has partnered with churches, conventions, conferences and a seminary to share her experience in creating worship environments. Her passion lies in returning to the rhythm of the liturgy and to spiritual practices that have shaped people’s lives over centuries.

Robert Nicastro, Hunger for Wholeness

Robert Nicastro is a Ph.D. candidate in the Theology and Religious Studies program at Villanova University. He is also the producer of the Hunger for Wholeness podcast for the Center for Christogenesis. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Arts in Theology from Saint Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Maryland. His research focuses on the interrelationship of cosmology, theology, and philosophy, and the implications of a coherent metaphysical worldview for addressing issues of social and enhancement technologies.

Josh Patterson, (Re)Thinking Faith

Joshua Patterson is the founder and host of the (Re)thinking Faith Podcast. He is a former pastor turned professional brewer with a deep love for theology and philosophy. Josh is a Process-Relational thinker who also finds deep resonances with the mystics. On his good days, Josh likes to describe himself as a Podcaster, Theologian, Philosopher, and Mystic. Josh is a published author with continued aspirations to write and speak about the beautiful world of Open and Relational Theology.

Janel Apps Ramsey, Brew Theology

Rev. Janel Apps Ramsey (MA), is an Interfaith Leader living in Denver, CO. She is Co-Director of Brew Theology, an interfaith organization that helps create communities of conversation, and hosts a podcast of the same name. She is also a community organizer working on Climate Justice in an interfaith setting. She was born and raised in the Church of the Nazarene, served in ministry for over 20 years in many positions. She published an edited volume of essays called Women Experiencing Faith. This volume asked women to reflect on what it means to be female and have faith. She is married and has two cats. She loves Fiona the Hippo, washi tape, moose watching, hanging out in the mountains, and doing many different arts and crafts.

Process & World-Building in Dune Messiah
2024-03-24 16:00 - 17:30, 2024-04-07 16:00 - 17:30, 2024-04-14 16:00 - 17:30
Through the intersections of environment, religion, self identity, and government, participants in this learning circle will explore themes of environment, terrain, and traveling through the religious life.

Our reading of Dune Messiah will consider process themes found in Whitehead’s Process and Reality, while engaging with care to not overlay process theology on Herbert’s work. Rather, the conversation series will consider elements of Herbert’s world-building that are shared with Whitehead’s philosophy of organism. In the consideration, careful attention will be paid to the impediments to process principles in the establishment of institutions of any type.

Some experience with Whitehead’s philosophy is preferred but not required. Dune Messiah will be read over four weeks, with excerpts from Whitehead coupled with each reading.

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Poetry for the Journey: Creating a Spiritual Space for People of All Paths
2024-03-27 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-04-03 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-04-10 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-04-17 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-04-24 10:00 - 11:30, 2024-05-01 10:00 - 11:30
We are delighted to present the spring 2024 session of Interfaith Explorations. Hosted by Bethlehem Centre in collaborative partnership with the Interfaith Center of Arkansas, the Cobb Institute and Process & Faith, “Poetry for the Journey” is a six week online series that will provide an inclusive environment for individuals from different religious traditions and spiritual independents to come together to share and discuss poetry.

The group’s primary focus is on “spiritual poetry”, a term inspired by Jane Hirshfield, an acclaimed poet, essayist, and translator with ten collections of poetry. On the Poetry Foundation’s website, Hirshfield shares 22 spiritual poems that delve into themes such as permeability, embracing life with a resounding ‘Yes,’ abundance, longing, spiritual dialogue, love, vibration, and meditation. These are the kinds of themes we will explore during the class sessions.

The selected poems will be ancient, classical, and contemporary works from diverse cultures and faith backgrounds. They will be presented in English to ensure accessibility for participants. The poems will serve as launching pads for reflection and discussion, allowing participants to contemplate on various aspects of everyday life, historical moments, and philosophical ideas.

The interfaith exploration series will be held on Wednesdays, with a guided exploration of three poems during each session. The three poems for each week will be distributed before the class so that participants can read them in advance if they wish.

Experienced facilitators of poetry explorations will lead each of these sessions. Zoom details will be sent to register participants.

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Process Pop-Up: Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God
2024-04-30 17:00 - 18:00
Millions of people yearn for a profound relationship with the ever-present God who is loving, inclusive, persuasive, and uncontrolling. This understanding of God makes sense and aligns with the Bible, science, the inclusive love and justice of God, and with our lived experience.
From this reality, a new book has emerged, Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God: Sermons, Essays, and Worship Elements from the Perspective of Open, Relational, and Process Theology, edited by Jeff Wells, Vikki Randall, Thomas Jay Oord, and Nichole Torbitzky. Three of those editors will join us for a conversation about the book and the hopes they have for its impact in the world.
This book is the first-of-its-kind—drawing together a rich and diverse compilation that explores how to preach, teach, and practice Open, Relational, and Process theological perspectives in local faith communities. It is a much needed resource for pastors, ministers of worship arts, lay church leaders, professors of preaching, worship, and practical theology, and anyone seeking a deep understanding of God that aligns with the Bible, science, and inclusive love and justice for all life on Earth.
Comments about the Book

Just about everyone knows that large numbers of people—especially younger and more educated people—are dropping out of church. To stop this trend, some focus on hot music or cool graphics or casual dress or catering to what people want politically. But more and more of us are coming to the conclusion that many people are leaving because they see deep and significant problems in what most Christians believe and preach. This book could help tens of thousands of churches and pastors imagine a better way forward… real-life sermons from the fresh and needed perspective of open, relational, and process theology. Enthusiastically recommended!

– Brian D. McLaren, author of Do I Stay Christian?

Anyone who ventures behind a pulpit is taking a risk, wagering there’s good news left in our ancient texts. Too often, the goodness of God is hidden under the bushel of Almighty dogma and a controlling tradition. In this timely and needed volume, you hear from a staggeringly diverse collection of proclaimers who haven’t escaped the call to preach but insist the goodness of God should not be compromised because the power of God is love. I’m thrilled to have a preaching book to recommend without hesitation!

– Tripp Fuller, host of Homebrewed Christianity

For far too long, classic Christianity has held to a view of God as unchanging and the nature of God’s interaction with the world as controlling. Scripture presents God as creative and responsive, however, intentional, initiating, and influenceable—a God who works in partnership with humans. This book demonstrates through the preaching of Scripture that God’s good, loving, dynamic power operates in process with the freedom of others. God takes risks that may lead to evil and suffering, as well as to the righteous work of cooperative partners.

– Karen Strand Winslow, author of Imagining Equity: The Gifts of Christian Feminist Theology
About the Facilitators

Jeff Wells is the lead pastor of the Church of the Village, a progressive, radically inclusive, and anti-racist community in New York City. He preaches, practices, and promotes process-relational and open & relational theology. He is a lifelong passionate advocate for social and economic justice and for the common thriving of humans and other-than-human beings. Jeff is an active member of the Alliance for Ecological Civilization, a gathering of activists and thought leaders from around the world. He co-edited (with Thomas Jay Oord, Vikki Randall, and Nichole Torbitzky) Preaching the Uncontrolling Love of God (SacraSage Press, April 2024), a collection of sermons, essays, and worship elements from the perspective of Open, Relational, and Process theology. In 2022, he helped found and co-chaired the Living Earth Movement. With theologian and environmentalist, John B. Cobb Jr., he authored the short book, Is International Cooperation Possible? A Bold Appeal for a Living Earth (2022).

Nichole Torbitzky is Associate Professor of Religion and University Chaplain at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO. Her current research investigates Whiteheadian notions related to Christian atonement theory. She serves as the editor for the lectionary commentary series sponsored by Process & Faith, a program of the Center for Process Studies. She also serves as editor for Lindenwood University’s student research journal, the Confluence.

Vikki Randall lives in Monrovia CA, and has 28 years of pastoral experience, serving large and small churches, mostly in PCUSA. She did her M.Div. studies at Fuller Seminary, and received a D.Min. in spiritual formation from Azusa Pacific Seminary, where she has served as adjunct faculty in undergrad theology for 20 years. She is founding pastor of Haven Fellowship, an intentionally inclusive and affirming faith community. She is passionate about transformation and experiencing God’s presence.

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Buddhist Process Explorations
2024-06-19 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-07-17 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-08-21 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-09-18 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-10-16 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-11-20 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-12-18 17:00 - 18:00
A Discussion Group About the Exploring, Sharing, and Practice of Buddhist Process-Relational Thought

At face value, the Buddha’s Dharma and Whitehead’s Process Philosophy seem to characterize reality in very different ways, and for different reasons. The Buddha taught that reality as we typically experience it is an impermanent, selfless and dissatisfying process of cyclic becoming continuously powered by compulsive attachment and aversion grounded in delusion. The Buddha prescribed various methods we could deploy in order to go beyond this painful and immiserated condition, methods which involve thorough analysis and deconstruction of our habituated and self-limiting assumptions about ourselves and the world as well as means of cultivating more purified states of awareness and embodiment so that we can awaken to the way things really are and unleash our core potential.
Whitehead elaborated a systematic philosophical scheme, replete with foundational metaphysical categories, that reconstructs reality as a cumulative process of concrescence whereby many diverse feelings creatively synthesize into a novel experience, aiming towards satisfaction and lured to completion through divine persuasion. For Whitehead, many of the issues in philosophy and society at large could be traced to various fallacious conceptions concerning nature, language, and experience which he sought to rectify with his panexperiential, process-relational Philosophy of Organism.

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Process Pop-Up: The God of Tomorrow: Whitehead and Teilhard on Metaphysics, Mysticism, and Mission
2024-06-26 17:00 - 18:00
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Can a holistic approach to theology and mission engage productively with science, culture, and the challenges of our time?
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Alfred North Whitehead came from very different religious backgrounds yet a study of their ideas shows a number of important and helpful synergies.
In this event, Dr. Bruce Epperly, a public theologian skilled at sharing process ideas in digestible ways, will examine these two important thinkers’ ideas. He’ll show the ways in which their themes converge and examine how this synergy can help us plan strategies to join God’s adventure of the universe in our own spheres.
In his recent book, The God of Tomorrow: Whitehead and Teilhard on Metaphysics, Mysticism, and Mission, Epperly argues that both thinkers call for a theological adventure that embraces change and evolution and sees God as a dynamic and transformative force in the universe. Whitehead’s metaphysics of love and Teilhard’s metaphysics of spiritual evolution offer a synthesis that challenges traditional notions of God and invites us to recognize the mystical and transformative potential within ourselves.
Check out this recent review of Bruce’s book by Dr. Jay McDaniel on his blog Open Horizons!
Quote from the Book

As pilgrims of the future, Whitehead and Teilhard charted a forward looking theological and cosmological vision that inspires an adventurous faith… Our hope to meet the challenges of the future can only be inspired by a God of Tomorrow, whose wise creativity enables us to meet the technologies and changes of the future with wisdom and compassion.

About the Speaker

Rev. Bruce Epperly, Ph.D., is a teacher, pastor, spiritual guide, writer, lecturer, retreat leader, and reiki teacher. He is the author of over 70 books, including Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job, Process Theology: Embracing Adventure with God, Become Fire: Guideposts for Spiritual Pilgrims, One World: Process Theology and the Lord’s Prayer, Piglet’s Process: Process Theology for All God’s Children, and Restless Spirit. He is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ. He has served on the faculties of Georgetown University, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Wesley Theological Seminary, and Claremont School of Theology.

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Process Pop-Up: Hinduism, Ever-Evolving
2024-07-16 17:00 - 18:00
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How might process thought and Hindu traditions be in relationship?
In his video, “Evolution and Vedanta,” Swami Padmanabha talks about God or Love as the ultimate supreme reality, and how God along with all realities is dynamic, ever-evolving, and growing. Reality is not made up of fixed, changeless substances; rather, it is marked by what he calls “deep evolution” – a sacred evolution at the very depths of reality.
In this conversation, Dr. Jeffery Long, a practitioner and theologian in the Vedanta tradition of Sri Ramakrishna as well as a scholar of process philosophy and Asian studies, and Swami Padmanabha, a leader and teacher in the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism, will share their thoughts on resonances between their two Hindu traditions and process thought.
They’ll explore such areas as:

The dynamic nature of God and reality
Texts and tradition as “ever fresh,” especially in Vaishnava traditions and the tradition of Sri Ramakrishna
Human purpose, consciousness, and “radical personalism”
Astonishment and surrender; divine will, human choice, and grace

Quotes

“Far from being opposed, love and non-duality are two sides of the same coin. When you have one, you have the other.”
Jeffery Long, Ph.D.

“If divine love is a force of constant expansion, it must surely affect the Divine, who is love personified. A God affected by ever-evolving love becomes equally ever-evolving, inviting us to an ongoing, never-ending journey of progress and development.”
“We are to keep pace with an ever-evolving reality that we are part of, with an ever-evolving God we are tied to, and thereby with an ever-evolving tradition to which these very principles are revealed to us.”
Swami Padmanabha

About the Speakers

Swami Padmanabha

At an early age, Swami Padmanabha delved deeply into the theology of diverse mystical traditions. After taking up Gaudiya Vaishnavism in 1999 at the age of 19, he has dedicated himself to an extensive study of the Gaudiya scriptures under the guidance of his various mentors. Fluent in English and Spanish, Swami has written hundreds of articles in both languages, with his first two books published in English and in the process of being translated to other languages. For the past twenty years, he has traveled around the world and lectured in universities, ashrams, and yoga studios. All of his numerous talks and seminars are available online for free at swamipadmanabha.com. As a leader of spiritual retreats and communities, he inspires both practitioners and visitors with his penetrating teachings and personal example.

Jeffery D. Long, Ph.D.

Jeffery D. Long, Ph.D., Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies for Elizabethtown College, specializes in the religions and philosophies of India. He is the author of several books and numerous articles and editor of the series Explorations in Indic Traditions for Lexington Books. In 2022, his book Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds received the Rajinder and Jyoti Gandhi Award for Excellence in Theology, Philosophy, and Critical Engagement. He has spoken in numerous venues, both national and international, including three talks at the United Nations, and he has been interviewed for a PBS documentary on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda and for the History Channel series Holy Marvels.

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Process Pop-Up: Pasts and Futures of Islamic Process Theology
2024-08-08 17:00 - 18:00
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In this Pop-Up, Jared Morningstar will present Islamic process theologies, overviewing resonances between existing Muslim philosophies and cosmologies with contemporary process perspectives, and also exploring the emerging forms of explicit Islamic process theologies.
Some topics to be explored in this pop-up include:

Intellectual and spiritual developments in Islamic history that are resonant with process thought
Muhammad Iqbal’s Islamic process theology and the influence of Alfred North Whitehead and Henri Bergson on his thought
Adis Duderija’s scholarship on progressive Islam and process thought
Recent Muslim engagement with Gilles Deleuze as another form of Islamic process thought

This conversation will introduce these different historic and contemporary forms of Muslim process thinking, exploring the possibilities for further development as well as the barriers to broader interest in Islamic process theology.

Quote

“Process-relational thinking allows Muslim intellectuals to deconstruct dysfunctional ideas from both Western modernity and Islamic traditions while also encouraging the creative reconstruction and synthesis of material from both of these spheres, leading to more holistic and dynamic responses to the challenges of contemporary times.”
Jared Morningstar, “Process-Relational Thought and Islam: Proposing a Novel Framework for Constructive Engagement with Modernity” in Open and Relational Theology and its Social and Political Implications: Muslim and Christian Perspectives.

About the Speaker

Jared Morningstar

Jared Morningstar is an independent scholar living in Madison, Wisconsin with academic interests in philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, comparative religion, metamodern spirituality, and interfaith dialogue. His work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict, contemporary nihilism, and the “meaning crisis,” among other things. Jared graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in 2018 with degrees in religion and Scandinavian studies and currently works for the Center for Process Studies, the Cobb Institute, and the Psychedelic Medicine Association. You can find him at https://jaredmorningstar.com.

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Process Pop-Up: Faith & Feeling
2024-10-01 17:00 - 18:00
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For both Schleiermacher and Whitehead, God is not “up there somewhere.” Rather, God is most readily found by looking inward, to where God is experienced.

In theological circles, German philosopher Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) may be best known for his text, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers, his effort to defend religion from Enlightenment skeptics. He’s also been a subject of interest to process thinkers like Philip Clayton, Thandeka, and, more recently, Chad Bahl. In his doctoral research, Chad has been putting Schleirmacher’s thoughts on faith and feeling into conversation with the work of Alfred North Whitehead.
He has found that “In both process thought and Schleiermacher’s philosophy, the essence of existence is not lifeless matter or dogmatic precepts. Rather, it is lived experience. In this lived experience, we are interconnected both as human beings and in fellowship with the Divine.”
Schleiermacher is known for talking about faith as a feeling of “absolute dependence.” Resonant with Whitehead’s thinking about God’s aims for every actual event, Chad describes this as a “natural result of being in tune with our deepest intuitions. It arises from our recognition of the presence and purpose of God in our lives.” As we cultivate our awareness of God—through spiritual practices like contemplation—this feeling naturally arises as a kind of “God-consciousness” that is “developed as we experience community with others, fellowship with the Divine, interaction with nature, the Gospel story, and much more.”
While each of us may experience the Divine differently, it is this “personal perception, (not reason, dogma, or scientific proof), which serves as the centering principle for faith.” According to Chad, attuning to this interior faith and feeling is crucial to human life. “We become fully actualized human beings when we realize fellowship with the Divine in our experiences of both Creator and creation.”

About the Speaker

Chad Bahl

Chad Bahl, DThM candidate at Northwind Theological Seminary, specializes in the study of Open and Relational Theology. Bahl is the author of God Unbound: An Evangelical Reconsiders Tradition in Search of Truth, the author/editor of Deconstructing Hell: Open and Relational Responses to the Doctrine of Eternal Conscious Torment, and, most recently, the author of Mornings with Schleiermacher: A Devotional Inspired by the Father of Modern Theology.

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Process & Presence
2024-10-22 16:00 - 17:00, 2024-11-26 16:00 - 17:00
An Exploration of the Intersection between Zen Buddhism and Process Philosophy

Led by Reverend Reirin Gumbel (resident priest, Milwaukee Zen Center) and Jay McDaniel (Chair, Center for Process Studies), this conversation will explore the synergies between Zen Buddhism and Process Philosophy, with a particular emphasis on Taoism as a foundational source for Zen.
Gumbel and McDaniel will use China Root: Taoism, Ch’an, and Original Zen by David Hinton (Shambhala Publications, 2020) as a springboard for discussion. Participants are encouraged to read selected short sections of the book in advance of each session to enrich the dialogue.

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Christian Process Explorations
2024-10-28 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-11-25 17:00 - 18:00, 2024-12-23 17:00 - 18:00
A Discussion Group About the Exploring, Sharing, and Practice of Christian Process-Relational Theology

This learning circle focuses on the exploring, sharing, and practice of Christian process-relational theology, as relevant to all age groups: children, teenagers, adults, senior citizens. We meet monthly to discuss process-relational ideas and practices in local settings like churches, religious education, hospitals, and recovery groups. Together we explore how to share those ideas, as well as how to embody their wisdom in daily life situations. This is co-sponsored by the P&F Christian Path Group.

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Interweavings: Sacred Practices, Dynamic Texts
2024-11-13 17:00 - 18:30
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We may be Muslim, Christian, Jew, skeptic, or non-believer, but we are each united in our humanity and the stories of the Bible bond us through that essential humanity…our very lives inform the way we enter the biblical text, and the biblical text ‘speaks’ to us through the context of our lives.
How might ancient texts speak to us afresh today? Can pre–modern practices be revitalized and re-imagined to address modern concerns?
Rabbi Leila Gal Berner and Sheri D. Kling strongly believe that there is still something life-giving in both ancient texts and pre-modern practices, and that both can be explored in dynamic ways while still being grounded in timeless wisdom.
Once Rabbi Berner was introduced to the Christian contemplative practice of lectio divina—a Latin phrase meaning “sacred reading”—she immediately fell in love with its ability to drop her into a living experience of biblical text. She wanted other Jews to have that same experience, and created a uniquely Jewish expression of lectio divina that she has named Kriat Hakodesh (Reading the Holy) reflected in her book, Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path.
Sheri Kling has had similar experiences with Christian contemplative practices, and has refashioned three of them—lectio divina, praying with icons, and praying with the imagination—into a transreligious practice she calls Dream Divina. While the target of contemplation in her practice is one’s individual dream and its images, the underlying spiritual “technologies” of the Christian practices still carry the same power to reveal the presence of the Sacred.
In this event, Rabbi Berner and Dr. Kling will share their own experiences with reshaping traditional practices to reawaken modern sensibilities to potentially transforming encounters with texts and with God.
About the Speakers

Rabbi Leila Gal Berner

Rabbi Leila Gal Berner was ordained at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College and holds a second ordination from Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (of blessed memory). She received her doctorate in medieval Jewish history from UCLA. She is Chair of the Bible Department of the ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal Ordination Program where she teaches biblical and medieval history, feminist thought, and midrash. Dr. Berner has taught in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at American University and George Washington and Emory universities, and Swarthmore and Reed colleges. She is the author of Listening to the Heart of Genesis: A Contemplative Path. You can find out more about Dr. Berner on her website www.rabbileila.com

Sheri D. Kling

Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton, FL. Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology. She is a theologian, songwriter, and spiritual teacher, as well as a faculty member of the Haden Institute, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups, and offers courses, concerts, and spiritual retreats. She may be found online at sherikling.com

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By registering for and attending this event, I grant permission to Process & Faith and the Center for Process Studies for the rights of my image, likeness, and sound of my voice as recorded on audio or video in this event. I waive any right to inspect or approve any resulting products wherein my likeness or name appears. My presence in the event (in person or online) constitutes my consent to such photography, filming and/or recording and to any use, in any and all media in perpetuity, of my appearance, voice and name for any purpose whatsoever.

John Cobb & Friends: Relational Abrahamic Faiths
2024-12-03 09:00 - 11:00 | Live Zoom Sessions
Several locations around the world have taken concrete steps toward interreligious understanding and relationship by creating communities of faith that house all three Abrahamic traditions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The House of One in Berlin, Germany and the Abrahamic Family House on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi are two such communities. Each has its own unique way of approaching its mission.
Seeking to learn more, Sheri Kling, director of Process & Faith, reached out to invite a representative from each community to join her in this presentation to the Cobb & Friends gathering. Rabbi David Rosen and Imam Osman Örs readily agreed. They’ll share highlights and images from their communities and discuss the joys and challenges they’ve experienced. Dr. Kling will facilitate the conversation.
Speakers

Rabbi David Rosen serves as Special Interfaith Advisor to the Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi. Rosen has been advancing understanding and good relations between religious communities for more than forty years – from the time he served as rabbi of the largest Orthodox Jewish congregation in South Africa, during his tenure as Chief Rabbi of Ireland; and throughout the last more than thirty years based in Jerusalem. In addition to interreligious representation and education, his work involves mediation and peace building and he is heavily involved in multi-religious engagement on ecological issues. Among the various awards and recognition he has received, Rabbi Rosen was granted a papal Knighthood in 2005 for his contribution to Jewish-Catholic reconciliation and in 2010 he was made a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II for his work promoting interfaith understanding and cooperation.

Imam Osman Örs holds a Masters Degree (M.A.) in Islamic Sciences, Education, and Anglistics from George-August University in Göttingen, Germany. Since 2015, he has worked as a theological advisor and imam at the House of One Foundation in Berlin. He also collaborates with Demokratie Leben in combating antisemitism and racism, conducts educational workshops, and addresses theological and liturgical aspects of interreligious unity at the House of One. In addition to his work at the House of One, Osman Örs is involved in various community roles. He has been a member of the coordinating committee of the Berlin Forum of Religions since 2016 and is a charter member of the Council of Imams of Berlin since 2021. Osman Örs is committed to fostering interfaith dialogue and combating discrimination in Berlin’s religious communities.

Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton, FL. Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology. She is a theologian, songwriter, and spiritual mentor, as well as a faculty member of the Haden Institute, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups, and offers courses, concerts, and spiritual retreats. She may be found online at sherikling.com.

This event is co-sponsored by the Cobb Institute and Process & Faith.
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John Cobb & Friends: A Season of Darkness and Light
2024-12-17 10:00 - 12:00 | Live Zoom Sessions
Cosmologically, this period of late fall marks the increase in hours of darkness until the winter solstice when the hours of light begin to make a return. Many religions have major holidays during this period. For some, the period of darkness is not feared but is celebrated as a time of rest and renewal or of waiting in a kind of pregnant pause. Most celebrate the increase in light and see this turning of the season as the welcome return of the energies of rebirth and growth.
In this Cobb & Friends gathering, Dr. Sheri Kling, director of Process & Faith, will introduce some of the major holidays in late fall and early winter, noting their significance in each tradition. We’ll look at Diwali, Advent, Hanukkah, St. Lucia Day, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Epiphany, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, and Lunar New Year.

Sheri D. Kling, Ph.D., is the director of Process & Faith with the Center for Process Studies and interim minister of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bradenton, FL. Sheri earned her Ph.D. in Religion: Process Studies from Claremont School of Theology. She is a theologian, songwriter, and spiritual mentor, as well as a faculty member of the Haden Institute, adjunct faculty with Claremont School of Theology, and the author of A Process Spirituality: Christian and Transreligious Resources for Transformation. She regularly delivers dynamic “Music & Message” presentations to groups, and offers courses, concerts, and spiritual retreats. She may be found online at sherikling.com.

This event is co-sponsored by the Cobb Institute and Process & Faith.
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