Stuff for the Spirit

Contacts:
Rev. Mark Whitlock, Co-Director, phone (949) 955-0014
Rev. Najuma Smith, Alumni President, Phone (323) 873-7724 USC Launches Third Annual Program for African American Clergy and Lay Leaders For Immediate Release Los Angeles - The USC Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute is now accepting applications for its 2008 program. Created to develop a new generation of black church leaders in California, the program trains emerging and established African American clergy and lay leaders in community organizing, economic development and leadership strategies. “This effort is important because the essence of the struggle for black equity is based in the black church,” said the Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, John R. Tansey Professor of Christian Ethics, and director of USC’s Passing the Mantle program. “If you want to affect the larger black community, your point of contact will ultimately include the church.”

The USC Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute, known as PTM, includes dynamic speakers and structured mentoring meetings with leading ministers in the Los Angeles area. PTM is led by the Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, the former pastor of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church Los Angeles. The institute is co-directed by Rev. Mark Whitlock, founder and pastor of Christ Our Redeemer African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Rev. Eugene Williams, founder of Regional Congregations and Neighborhood Organizations. Prof. Donald E. Miller, executive director of the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, completes the leadership team as co-principal investigator.

The institute takes place August 3-9, 2008 at the University of Southern California and is limited to 40 pastors, lay leaders, and community development professionals. Clergy and lay leaders in California will be given priority consideration. The application deadline is May 30, 2008. Program tuition is $500, which includes accommodations, materials, food, and fellowship with other church leaders. A limited number of scholarships are available for those with financial need.

The Passing the Mantle Clergy and Lay Leadership Institute is supported by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation (http://www.irvine.org/). PTM is housed at the University of Southern California’s Center for Religion and Civic Culture, (www.usc.edu/crcc), a catalyst for new partnerships and research on the role of religion in society.

For more information on the Passing the Mantle program and to download an application, please visit www.usc.edu/ptm, or call 213.740.8562.

New Book Answers Jewish Questions about Islam
 
An Introduction to Islam for Jews by Reuven Firestone

What does the Qur’an really say about Jews? Why is Jerusalem so important to Muslims? Is hallal the same thing as kosher?

Jews have today, as never before, a pressing need to understand the history, theology, and practice of Muslims and Islam. In An Introduction to Islam for Jews Firestone explains the remarkable similarities and profound differences between Judaism and Islam, the complex history of Jihad, the legal and religious positions of Jews in the world of Islam, how various expressions of Islam (Sunni, Shi`a, Sufi, Salafi, etc.) regard Jews, the range of Muslim views about Israel, and much more. He addresses these issues and others with candor and integrity, and he writes with language, symbols, and ideas that make sense to Jews. An Introduction to Islam for Jews is both readable and reasoned, presenting to Jewish readers for the first time the complexity of Islam and its relationship towards Jews and Judaism.

Reuven Firestone is professor of Medieval Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles and director of the Institute for the Study and Enhancement of Muslim-Jewish Interrelations (ISEMJI), a program of the Center for Religion and Civic Culture at the University of Southern California. An ordained rabbi, he received his Ph.D. in Arabic and Islamic studies from NYU.  Firestone is the author of Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam (Oxford University Press); Children of Abraham: An Introduction to Judaism for Muslims (Ktav); Jews, Christians, Muslims in Dialogue: A Practical Handbook, with Leonard Swidler and Khalid Duran; (Twenty-Third Publications) and The Revival of Holy War in Modern Judaism (forthcoming).

Price: $18   
Binding: Paper; 304 pages; 6″ x 9″
ISBN 0-8276-0864-1
Publication Date:  August 2008

For more information or receive a press kit please contact Arielle Levites (800)-234-3151 ext. 5601 or email: alevites@jewishpub.org

Direct from Religion News Services:

RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY PROGRAM LISTINGS
FOR MARCH 21, 2008
A Production of Thirteen/WNET New York

** MEDIA ADVISORY ** MEDIA ADVISORY ** MEDIA ADVISORY **
This week’s edition of the PBS newsmagazine program RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY (distributed Friday, March 21 at 5 p.m., check local listings) will feature the following reports:

• After Obama’s Speech — Bob Abernethy is joined by Reverend Richard Cizik with the National Association of Evangelicals and Dr. Robert Franklin, president of Morehouse College, for a studio discussion focusing on the prophetic preaching tradition within the Black church and what role religion can play in racial reconciliation.

• Easter Music — Kim Lawton looks at the many ways that music helps convey the mood and message of the Easter season.

SPECIAL NOTE:  This week on the show’s “One Nation: Religion & Politics 2008 Blog” available at http://www.pbsorg/wnet/religionandethics/blog.html, hear sound bites from Senator Barack Obama’ speech about America’s racial divisions and the controversy surrounding his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and listen to what prominent African-American religious leaders are saying about race and religion in this campaign.

To request a transcript of these reports, send an e-mail to schultzm@religionethics.org or go to the program Web site at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics where the transcript and streaming video of each segment will be available after 8:30 p.m. on Friday.

For information, contact:
Mary Schultz
Director of Communications
Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly
202-216-2394
schultzm@religionethics.org

 Below is a copy of a release I’d like to share with our community.

New online survey helps Christians define their faith

  For Immediate Release                                                                                     Feb. 26, 2008

                                                                                                                                         18-08

Contact:      The Rev. Marsha Cutting, M.Div., Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counselling
Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
(519) 884-0710 ext. 3576 or mcutting@wlu.ca

or                 Kevin Crowley, Associate Director: News and Editorial Services

Wilfrid Laurier University (519) 884-0710 ext. 3070 or kcrowley@wlu.ca

WATERLOO, ON. — If you identify yourself as Christian, what kind of Christian are you? That’s the question being asked by researchers in an online survey designed to give participants personalized insight into their faith.
The Rev. Marsha Cutting of the Waterloo Lutheran Seminary heads a team of researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University, Liberty University and Boston University in developing the research instrument, called the Inclusive Christian Scale.
After responding to questions about their faith, participants will receive a score showing where their beliefs lie across six different emphases that an individual Christian might have: Congregational Involvement, Evangelical, Christian Conservative, Golden Rule, Activist, and Mystical. Participants are then asked how accurately they feel these scores reflect their own understanding of their faith.
“We need to have a good instrument that accurately represents the people we’re trying to study,” said Cutting, an associate professor of pastoral care and counselling at Laurier. “Our research on religion and its relationship to other issues is undercut if we can’t do a good job of defining who is religious.”
Researchers hope to attract participants representing different ages, genders and ethnicities. Those interested in participating can visit www.religiosityscalesproject.com.
The instrument being tested in the study will be used in research that examines how religion relates to specific subjects such as health, prejudice or voting behaviour.
The Inclusive Christian Scale is the second part of the larger Religiosity Scales Project. It is designed to address the limitations of previous scales, which tended to be more conservative in nature and didn’t accurately capture the full range of Christian faith.
All responses are completely anonymous. For questions regarding the survey, please contact Cutting at 519-884-1970 ext. 3576 or mcutting@gmail.com.

 Bible Confession of a Killer

According to a recent article

convicted killer Garry John Mills, senteced to 10 years in prison for the death of his wife, recently confessed and lead police to the shallow grave where his wife was buried, after reading a Christian Bible in prison.  Mills, has been incarcerated about 3 year on his 10 years sentence when he decided after reading the bible that he would confess his deed.

     The law of Attraction is a law that most of us have used in our daily life way before we were even aware of it.  How many times have you thought about or daydreamed about something and soon afterwards it happened.  Have you ever thought about a friend that you had not seen in a very long time, and then out of nowhere that person either contacted you or sent you a message?

     These are all examples of the Law of Attraction at work, and although some religious people may want you to think that the Law of Attraction is contridictory to there bible scripture, it is not.  Jesus used the Law of Attraction in many of the miracles that he performed.   And he told his people that all that he do and more, they can do also.