Spring 2010

January 15: Wallace Charles Smith, President of Palmer Theological Seminary. “A World Beyond Babylon” (Isaiah 40:3-5).  We will gather for our annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration.

Wallace Smith on Obama Video of Windows of the World:

Wallace Smith on Barack Obama
On Racism
Are We Seduced By Babylon's Glory?
Sense It, See It and Say It
Martin Luther King Jr.
There Is A World Beyond This

January 22:   Andrew Exum, Fellow with the Center for a New American Security, Author of This Man’s Army: A Soldier’s Story from the Front Lines of the War on Terrorism. See http://www.cnas.org/node/737 "God or Country? “Balancing Faith and National Service in America".

View clips from Windows:

Tattoo
Intervention
Balancing a Life Lived in Faith

January 29: Rev. Dr. John Azumah, Ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Ghana, and Director of the Centre for Islamic Studies, London School of Theology.  “Christian Responses to Islam in Africa”.  Dr. Azumah is the author of The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A Quest for Inter-Religious Dialogue (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2001) and has written articles on the subject in various academic journals.

February 5: Steve Boyer, EU Professor of Theology.  “Aslan De-Clawed: The Narnia Movies and the Spirit of the Age”. Two Hollywood films have been produced that have the same name as C.S. Lewis’ famous children’s stories.  Are they faithful adaptations of Lewis’ own Christian vision?

February 12: Brenda Salter-McNeil – Faith Forum 2010 (Feb 10-12).  Dr. Salter-McNeil is a dynamic preacher, evangelist and thought-leader with over 20 years of experience in the field of racial and ethnic reconciliation.

February 19:  Jennifer Halteman Schrock, Faculty Coordinator of Public Programs, Merry Lea Environmental Learning Center of Goshen College.  “Just Eating?  Practicing Your Faith at the Table”. Every meal we eat has a story behind it.  Some are stories of health and justice; others speak of environmental degradation and oppression.  Through story and scripture, poetry and photographs, our speaker will approach the central moral issues that confront us at our dinner tables.

February 26:  Spring Break Commissioning Service.  Andy Horvath will facilitate a formal commissioning of Eastern students who will spend their Spring Break on Eastern-sponsored trips (academic, athletic, missions).

March 12:  Kevin Maness, EU Assistant Professor, Media Studies and Tyler Flynn EU Assistant Professor, American History. “Popular Film and the Christian Viewer”.  Come explore whether or not Christians should embrace popular film, a pervasive, controversial, but potentially enriching art form.  How might film challenge us ethically, theologically, socially, and aesthetically?

March 19: TENTATIVE Ray and Adalia Schellinger Gutierrez, co-founders with the women of Tijuana, of Deborah’s House: a ministry to victims of domestic violence.  Deborah’s House brings together a diverse mix of services, including crisis intervention, healthcare, shelter for victims, counseling and education for both victims and abusers who find themselves in this difficult situation.

Members of the Public Welcome: Windows on the World RSVP Online Form for the Food Sovereignty Panel Discussion facilitated by the School of Leadership and Development.

March 26:  Drick Boyd, Associate Professor of Urban Studies, Melissa DeLong, Activist, and Bryan Miller, Executive Director of Ceasefire New Jersey.  “Heeding God’s Call”.  How a group of churches and faith-based activists are seeking to reduce the flow of illegal guns into our communities, challenging political leaders to change laws that make the purchase of illegal guns possible.

April 9: Jenny Hwang, Director for Advocacy and Policy/Refugee and Immigration Program, World Relief.  “Welcoming the Stranger: A Biblical Perspective on Immigration”.  Voices on all sides of the immigration issue argue strongly for action and change.  Christians find themselves torn between the desire to uphold the rule of law and the call to ministry to the vulnerable.  Our speaker will offer a biblically based response to immigration.

April 16: Panel Discussion - “Feeding the World”:  A panel of experts and activists working on issues of food security will engage the Eastern University community in discussion about the implications of global and local food policies - their impact on community development around the world, as well as our responses to these as Christians.  Students from Eastern University’s economic and community development programs will also share about their work globally and locally.

April  23: Arli Klassen, Executive Director, Mennonite Central Committee. “Speaking with the "Enemy"”.   What is an appropriate role for an agency of the church involved in peace-building work in countries that have been defined as "the enemy" by our government?