Oberlin College
Office of Religious & Spiritual Life news
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An update of opportunities related to spirituality, ethics, culture & social justiceMarch 18, 2013
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Register for the Spring Interfaith Service Day!!!

 

Sunday, 4/7, 1-6 pm, Starting at the Multifaith Center

People of all faiths and philosophies are invited to join in reflective community service in Oberlin and interfaith dialogue. Come join us for the Spring Interfaith Service Day, a campus and community-wide spring service event! The goal is to engage people from a variety of perspectives in service projects and interfaith reflection. This event welcomes people of all religious and nonreligious identities! The afternoon of service will include nonreligious work at faith-based and secular service sites. Sign-in will take place at the Multifaith Center (68 South Professor Street), at 1 pm, and the service will be followed by an interfaith reflection and celebration dinner. The purpose of interfaith service-learning is to work towards common goals while intentionally engaging with diverse perspectives. Please register HERE. Please invite your friends to sign-up, too! For more information, contact: [email protected] or [email protected]. Sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the Bonner Center for Service and Learning, and the Interfaith Student Council.

Register for the Interfaith Leaders Regional Conference

 

Saturday, 4/6, 10 am-2 pm, Case Western Reserve University

Come join in this first campus interfaith leadership regional conference to share ideas and experiences and build relationships with those doing campus interfaith engagement work in our region. Students, faculty and staff are welcome. Transportation from Oberlin will be provided by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life (leaving at 9 am and returning at 3 pm from the Multifaith Center, 68 S Professor Street). To register contact [email protected]Sponsored by Case Western Reserve University, John Carroll University, and Oberlin College.

Apply to Join the Interfaith Student Council

 

DEADLINE: Monday, April 1

Submit forms to: [email protected]

The Interfaith Student Council is a multifaith student advisory board to the Director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life that meets weekly to engage in interfaith dialogue, to plan interfaith programs for the campus (including multifaith vigils, Interfaith Service Days, etc.), and to help promote religious and philosophical pluralism on campus and beyond. It is made up of a diverse group of 12 religious and nonreligious students who are all connected to a religious or philosophical tradition and have an interest in interfaith work. Applications are being accepted now until April 1, after which time appointments to the Council will be made by Deans in Student Life. This is a great way to have an important leadership role in the campus and work closely with the Director of Religious Life. Application materials are available at: http://new.oberlin.edu/office/religious-and-spiritual-life/programs-services/multifaith-initiatives.dot. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].

Active Minds Founder Alison Malmon

 

Tuesday, 3/19, 7:30 pm, West Lecture Hall
Alison is the founder and Executive Director of Active Minds, Inc., the leading national organization that uses students as the driving force to change the perception about mental health on college campuses.  Alison formed the organization following the suicide of her only sibling, twenty-two year old brother Brian Malmon. Wanting to combat the stigma that had caused her brother to suffer in silence and ultimately take his own life, she created a group on her campus at the University of Pennsylvania that promoted an open, enlightened dialogue around the issues. Just after graduating Phi Beta Kappa with honors in Psychology and Sociology in 2003, Alison formed the 501(c)3 organization in order to develop and support chapters of the student group on campuses around the country. From that moment forward, she has served as Executive Director of the non-profit, leading the organization as it engages thousands of student leaders nationwide and promotes a unified national voice for young adults in the mental health awareness movement. In addition to her work at Active Minds, Alison sits on the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Consumer/Survivor Subcommittee, Bringing Theory to Practice Project Planning Committee, and Students of AMF Board of Directors. Sponsored by Active Minds.

Interfaith Vigil for Marriage Equality

 

Wednesday, 3/20, 8 pm, Tappan Square Bandstand
In advance of the Supreme Court's deliberations regarding Proposition 8 and DOMA, join student organizations and local congregations in prayer and witnessing for the right to marry to be extended to all couples. Sponsored by Peace Community Church, the First Church in Oberlin (UCC), Christ Episcopal Church, Oberlin First United Methodist Church, Queers and Allies of Faith, and ORSL.

Fracking and Our Water Supply

 

Thursday, 3/21, 7 pm, Mt. Zion Fellowship Hall (81 Locust Street)

This will be a short presentation about fracking; what it is, how it impacts water, and what communities have been doing about it. We will be joined by activists from Youngstown to discuss what is happening there and how that city has been responding. One person coming will be the Reverend Monica Beasley-Martin.

Communities for Safe and Sustainable Energy Potluck 

 

Friday, 3/22, 5:30 pm, Peace Community Church (44 E. Lorain St)
The purpose is to have a meal and spend time together as a community as well as to let people know what we're getting up to in the community right now.  

Kazim Ali Reads from New Book of Poetry

 

Monday, 4/1, 6 pm, Oberlin Public Library
Don't be an April Fool; come out and kick off National Poetry Month with me at the Oberlin Public Library, April 1st at 6pm. I will be reading from my new book of poems, called SKY WARD, recently released by Wesleyan University Press. Matthew Dickman waxes rhapsodic about SKY WARD here: http://www.tinhouse.com/blog/23538/sky-ward.html.

Convocation: Dr. Lisa Randall, Harvard Theoretical Physicist and Author of Knocking on Heaven's Door

 

Tuesday, 4/2, 7:30 pm, Finney Chapel

One of Time magazine's "100 Most Influential People," winner of a Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship, and described by Newsweek as "one of the most promising theoretical physicists of her generation," Dr. Lisa Randall, the Baird Professor of Science at Harvard University, has been widely honored for her scientific achievements. As one of the most cited physicists studying theoretical particles, Dr. Randall's research into dark matter and extra spatial dimensions has greatly improved our understanding of the Standard Model of particle physics. Dr. Randall's latest book "Knocking on Heaven's Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World" was released this past October. Sponsored by the Office of the President and the Finney Lecture Committee.

Mini Course: Feminine Relationships in Today's Muslim North Africa

 

4/2-4/11, 4:30-5:45 pm, Location TBA

Sponsored by the Mead Swing Lectureship Fund

Tuesday, 4/2 Muslim Relationships: Gender in Muslim Traditions

Thursday, 4/4 Muslim Relationships: Gender in Muslim Traditions 2

Monday, 4/8 Muslim Women between Private and Public Space

Tuesday, 4/9 Feminine Power and Disempowerment through Muslim History

Wednesday, 4/10 Constructing and Deconstructing the Muslim Woman: Muslim Women and the Western discourse

Ottoman Turkish Art and the West: Six Generations of Admiration, Envy, and Acquisition

 

Friday, 4/5, 4:30-5:45 pm, Allen Memorial Art Building, Classroom 1

Sponsored by the Mead Swing Lectureship Committee, Comparative Muslim Cultures and Civilizations, and the Art Department, Walter Denny, professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will discuss the export of Ottoman artistic goods to Europe, the collecting of Ottoman art in the West, the emulation of Ottoman techniques and styles, and the contemporary issues surrounding works of Ottoman art in European and American museums. Arranged by Professor Esra Aiken. For more information please contact Jamie Jacobs at [email protected].

Friendship Day Festival

 

Monday, 4/8, 4:30-6:30 pm, Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse

Come join in the fourth annual Friendship Day Festival, an event that promotes friendship as a radical worldview for fostering interfaith, intercultural, and international justice and peace. The festival will include music, poetry, dance, reflections, and artistic activities for all ages. All are warmly welcome. Sponsored by the Friendship Initiative and the Friendship Circle.

Shane Claiborne of the Simple Way, New Monasticism

 

Thursday, 4/25, 7:30 pm, West Lecture Hall

Shane Claiborne is an activist and author who is a leading figure in the New Monasticism movement and one of the founding members of The Simple Way in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The community was featured on the cover of Christianity Today as a pioneer in the New Monasticism movement. Claiborne is also a prominent social activist, advocating for nonviolenceand service to the poor. He is the author of the popular book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary RadicalSponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and Oberlin Christian Fellowship.

Celebration of Revs. Mary and Steve Hammond's 20th Anniversary of Ministry with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life

 

Saturday, 4/27, Time TBA, Koppes-Norris House (285 East College St)

More information coming soon.

Multifaith Baccalaureate Celebration

 

Sunday, 5/26, 1:30 pm, Finney Chapel

A multifaith celebration with music, blessings, dance, and reflections from many religious and philosophical traditions to inspire and bless Oberlin's Class of 2013.

 

This year's speaker will be Dr. Tarunjit Singh Butalia, secretary general of the World Sikh Council, moderator of Religions for Peace USA, and a board member of the North American Interfaith Network, the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions, the National Religious Coalition Against Torture, and the Journal of Inter-religious Dialogue. Butalia is also president of the Interfaith Association of Central Ohio and co-edited the book "Religion in Ohio: Profiles of Faith Communities" (Ohio UP 2004). He writes for the Huffington Post religion blog and is a research scientist at Ohio State University.

 

All are welcome. Sponsored by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life and the Commencement Reunion Weekend Committee.

Weekly Gatherings
  • Christ Episcopal Church Student Lunch: Mondays, noon, the Rectory (158 Elm Street)
  • Hillel Meeting: Tuesdays, 12:15 p.m., Wilder 216
  • Queers and Allies of Faith: Tuesdays, 8:30 p.m., Multifaith Center
  • A Cappella Chapel Service (led by CREDO): First Wednesdays, 12:15 p.m., Fairchild Chapel
  • Friendship Tea: Wednesdays, 5-6 p.m., Multifaith Center
  • First Church in Oberlin (UCC) Free Student Dinner: Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m., First Church
  • Liberated Unitarian Universalist Voices: Alternate Wednesdays, 7 p.m., Multifaith Center
  • Taize Service (led by Ecumenical Christians of Oberlin): Wednesdays, 7 p.m., Fairchild Chapel
  • ECO Lunch: Fridays, noon, Wilder DeCafe
  • Muslim Students Association Jumah Prayer: Fridays, 12:45 p.m., Wilder 222 
  • Hillel Shabbat: Fridays, Services 5:30 p.m., Dinner 7 p.m., Kosher-Halal Co-op (Talcott Hall)
  • Chabad Shabbat: Fridays, Services 6:30 p.m., Dinner 7 p.m., Chabad House
  • Shamanic Journeying: Second Fridays, 7:30 p.m., 355 E Lorain St., Contact Barbara Fuchsman 774-1804
  • Oberlin Meditators Instruction and Meditation: Saturdays, 10-11:30 am, Asia House Multipurpose Room
  • Oberlin Orthodox Christian Fellowship Divine Liturgy: Sundays, Please contact advisor
  • Oberlin Meditators: Sundays, 11 a.m., Asia House Multipurpose Room
  • Oberlin Friends Meeting: Sundays, 11 a.m., Multifaith Center
  • Newman Mass: Sundays, 5 p.m., Fairchild Chapel
  • Oberlin Baha'i Club: Sundays, 5 p.m., Please contact advisor
  • Oberlin Meditators 25-Munite Meditation Sessions: Sundays-Thursdays, 5 and 8:30 p.m., Wilder 325
  • ECO Dinner and Discussion: Sundays, 5:30-7 p.m., Multifaith Center
  • Oberlin Bhakti Yoga Society Kirtan: Sundays, 7 p.m., Fairchild Chapel 
  • Oberlin Christian Fellowship (InterVarsity): Small and large groups, Please see the OCF website
  • Oberlin Pagan Awareness Newtork: TBA
  • For local worship and meditation opportunities off campus, please visit www.oberlin.edu/orsl/localworship.
 
Meditation of the Week

 

"Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to dwell on past errors. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to speak of self separate from others. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to possess any thing or form of life selfishly. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to harbor ill will toward any plant, animal, or human being. Knowing how deeply our lives intertwine, we vow not to abuse the great truth of the Three Treasures." --Stephanie Kaza

 

Rev. Greg McGonigle

Contact Us

Rev. Greg McGonigle
Director | Office of Religious & Spiritual Life
(440) 935-4629

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