Here is a letter from Executive Director and El-Hibri Chair, Najeeba, highlighting the Institute’s ongoing commitment to Interfaith at Augsburg.

Dear Friends of the Interfaith Institute, We are excited to be in touch with you as we close out our academic year in 2023! It has been a very full year. We have built collaborations with campus partners, offered programming that has touched the lives of Augsburg students, and helped our faculty and staff respond effectively to concerns related to religious diversity. We have been at the table to help convene solutions to concerns on the opioid crisis, participated in national gatherings on how spirituality can heal our nation and helped to spread the model of interfaith engagement we are building at Augsburg. We have a full year of programming planned for next year! We’re happy to share with you what we have been doing for the past two months. Please enjoy our latest updates!

Goodbye to our 2023 Interfaith Scholars!

Interfaith Scholars is a specialized course dedicated to teaching students about religious diversity, interfaith peace-building, and leadership skills. The course concludes with the Sending to celebrate Augsburg’s commitment to shaping interfaith leaders and the accomplishments of graduating Interfaith Scholars.

This year’s Interfaith Sending was a success. The evening featured a world map that marked the many places across the globe connected to Augsburg’s community and readings selected by students from Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, and Secular traditions. Link to readings. Next year we are excited to host the Interfaith Scholars course again. Executive Director and El-Hibri Chair, Najeeba Syeed, will be the instructor for the course. Select class sessions will be opened to the whole campus so students and staff can benefit from interfaith panels and programs connected to the course throughout the year.  We expect it will be a fantastic year of interfaith learning and growth!

A Campus Visit with Regent Karim El-Hibri ’06

We were honored to host Karim El-Hibri ’06, he met with Najeeba Syeed, El-Hibri Endowed Chair and executive director of the Institute. We are so grateful to Karim and his family for making our work possible on interfaith peacebuilding and healing on campus, in communities, and across our country.

Spiritual and Mental Health

Our interfaith scholars hosted a discussion on spirituality and mental health with fellow students and a local counselor. This semester we have been finding an increased interest in interfaith activities and mental health. The staff of the Center for Wellness and Counseling and the Interfaith Institute met this semester to plan programming for next year. We will be focusing on recovery and interfaith concerns and look forward to collaborating with Campus Ministries on addressing these topics as well.

 

 

 

 

On October 12, we will be hosting an event open to the public on Busshō Lahn’s new book on the intersection of spirituality and mental health, Singing and Dancing are the Voice of the Law: A Commentary on Hakuin’s “Song of Zazen.”

Our executive director has authored an article on religiously competent models of community-based intervention in recovery. This publication will be available for healthcare practitioners as a resource. Najeeba is working with the Institute Coordinating Committee members, nursing faculty Katie Clark, and social work faculty Ankita Deka on research related to opioid use and intervention in Muslim communities. This groundbreaking research led by Dr. Deka is some of the first that has been published on this topic.

Community Health and Healing Dialogue

We are pleased to announce that we have received a grant from Interfaith America that will expand our Interfaith Scholars programming to give students the opportunity to serve in the Healthcare Commons, a program led by Dr. Katie Clark. Our executive director will be teaching students in the Interfaith Scholars course, next year we have students from Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and other backgrounds who will be working on issues our unhoused neighbors face in the Twin Cities under the guidance of Dr. Clark and Professor Syeed.

On May 10, our executive director lectured on forgiveness and multifaith engagement for the Minnesota Multi-faith network.

National Engagement

We are excited to be poised to have a seat at the table at a number of new national initiatives addressing interfaith issues and collaborations.

Our executive director will be presenting two sessions at Interfaith America’s 2023 Interfaith Leadership Summit, the largest gathering of higher education professionals and students in the country in August. We look forward to sharing our Augsburg interfaith model with campuses around the nation!

See https://www.interfaithamerica.org/summit-2023/

Our executive director will be joining the Powering Pluralism Summitt 2023 held by the Aspen Institute in DC, she is a member of the Powering Pluralism network and was selected as a member of their cohort of interfaith leaders in 2020.

Link: https://www.aspeninstitute.org/programs/powering-pluralism-summit/

Our executive director will be joining colleagues from Notre Dame Law School and the Emory University School of Law, Center for the Study of Religion and Democracy to present on democracy and faith at the 2023 Parliament of World Religions, the largest interfaith conference on the globe, held in August.

Read more here about the program https://parliamentofreligions.org/

 

Every Spring Augsburg holds a ceremony called the Interfaith Sending to honor graduating Interfaith Scholars. 

Interfaith Scholars is a specialized course dedicated to teaching students about religious diversity, interfaith peacebuilding, and leadership skills. The course concludes with the Sending to celebrate Augsburg’s commitment to shaping interfaith leaders and the accomplishments of graduating Interfaith Scholars 

This year’s Interfaith Sending was a success. The evening featured a world map that marked the many places across the globe connected to Augsburg’s community and readings selected by students from Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Secular traditions. ( Download Ceremony Readings)

It was a meaningful gathering; a reminder that we are each rooted in cultural and spiritual identities and that our identities are gifts to one another and the communities we participate in.

Thank you to this group of Interfaith Scholars and leaders who will go forth from Augsburg rooted in who they are to share their perspectives, convictions, and gifts with others and create a more caring world.

Congratulations to all the graduating Interfaith Scholars! 

Next year we are excited to host the Interfaith Scholars course again. Executive Director and El-Hibri Chair, Najeeba Syeed, will be the instructor for the course. Select class sessions will be opened to the whole campus so students and staff can benefit from interfaith panels and programs connected to the course throughout the year.  We expect it will be a fantastic year of interfaith learning and growth!

It’s February: Black History Month.  In recognition of this month commemorating Black culture, identity, pride, and contributions to America, the Interfaith Institute will be featuring scholarship, writing, and art showcasing Black religious/spiritual/worldview diversity.

February 1st:

Teaching African American Religious Pluralism – Monica Coleman

Download the article

 

February 9th:

Meditations of the Heart – Howard Thurman

Howard Thurman (1899-1979), was a theologian and pioneer of the nonviolent civil rights movement of the 20th century. His vocation was inspired by the stories of the religious faith maintained and grown amongst the slaves in the United States. He was a Baptist pastor, but he found wisdom in Quaker mysticism from Rufus Jones and in the teachings of Gandhi. Thurman’s focus on interfaith was most influential when it came to unifying people of diverse backgrounds to fight for a common cause. He approached it in a behind-the-scenes way, inspiring others to use their gifts to pursue justice and celebrate marginalized identities. He was a mentor to civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Pauli Murray,Vernon Jordan, James Farmer, Whitney Young, and Bayard Rustin.

Meditations of the Heart is a collection of fifty-four of Thurman’s most well-known meditations, featuring his thoughts on prayer, community, and the joys and rituals of life. Within its pages are words that sustain, elevate, and inspire. From “A Man Becomes His Dream” to “I Need Courage” to “The Season of Remembrance,” Thurman addresses life’s moments of trial and uncertainty and offers a message of hope and endurance for people of all faiths.

 

 

February 13th:

Check out these resources on the experiences and contributions of African American Muslims in history from Islamic Network Group. (Islamic Networks Group (ING) is a peace-building organization providing face-to-face education and engagement opportunities that foster understanding of Muslims and other misunderstood groups to promote harmony among all people.)

 

 

 

Enslaved African Muslims in the United States –  Sylviane Diouf

Play video

 

Experiences and Contributions of African American Muslims in History –  Imam Faheem Shuaibe

Play video

 

Dear Friends of the Interfaith Institute,

I am so pleased to be starting off our new year with you! We are excited to bring programming to you that continues to co-create a more caring world, build community, and foster collaboration. Our theme for this year and much of our programming is “Interfaith Leadership and Healing in Times of Crises.” We believe that this year presents challenges for us all and also promises the ability to work together to solve issues we face.

Augsburg, deeply rooted in the Lutheran faith to serve and practice hospitality, continues to offer the world a beautiful example of how to build connections across diversity. It is in fact, our differences that animate our collective strength. Coming together in fellowship to learn about each other’s worldviews and traditions allows us to dull sources of fear, open threads of conversation, and build a relational ethic of care.

We are also planning programs on timely issues involving recovery and faith communities and leaders. Our Institute staff is working closely with campus partners to offer programming to faculty, staff, and students in various sessions across campus in 2023.

Campus-wide highlights include:

• Interfaith Lunch and Learns geared toward students, faculty, and staff learning about each other’s traditions (January – April).
• Presenting to a retired group of Augsburg faculty and staff on Interfaith topics (January 11th).
• Participating in Augsburg’s annual Leadership Institute, a campus-wide training day for Augsburg student leaders, by teaching a workshop on Interfaith Advocacy Skills (January 21st).
• Focus Campus-wide Conversation topics of Interfaith (Feb 9th).
• Interfaith Sending is student-led worship showcasing Interfaith Scholars coursework and leadership skills and celebrating Augsburg’s religious diversity (April 25th).
• Collaboration with Augsburg’s Sabo Center, to host a dinner bringing neighborhood faith communities and Augsburg staff together for a meal. This will be a chance to deepen relationships with the broader Cedar-Riverside community, as well as an opportunity for neighbors of different faiths to learn more about each other.
• Interfaith in the Workplace. We trained over 300 employees in one of the largest construction companies in the country on how to navigate religious diversity. We look forward to continuing to offer these highly impactful sessions with other workplace sites across the country.

Interfaith Scholars Course Topics for the spring: Sacred Texts, Interfaith Leadership, Interfaith Peacebuilding Skills, Faith and Intersectional Identities, Interfaith Activism, Interfaith on College Campuses, Interfaith Leadership in Non-religious settings (ongoing).

 

Upcoming 2023 Events

I am delighted to share the Inaugural Interfaith Symposium – March 2, 11:00 am CT

We are so excited to announce our first Annual Interfaith Symposium. This signature event will be hosted each March. The goal is to bring the best minds and practitioners from around the globe to our campus. Najeeba Syed will be sharing a lecture on our 2023 theme, interfaith leadership, and healing in times of crisis.

We look forward to making this an annual tradition and hope you will be a part of it!

 

 

 

With warmest personal greetings in this new year,

Najeeba Syeed

El-Hibri Endowed Chair and Executive Director

Augsburg’s Interfaith Institute

 

Gratitude for the Darkness

Reflection by Jane Ulring, Managing Director of the Interfaith Institute.

In November of my second year in seminary, my health began to gradually deteriorate. The doctors couldn’t decipher my symptoms, and I was left to muddle through three years of fear and discomfort. There’s one evening from the worst Winter of my illness that stands out in my memory. Searching for comfort, I attended a candlelight Advent vespers service. As worship concluded, the pastor prompted us to share what we were grateful for as we anticipated Christmas. My spirit was not in a space of gratitude that night. I was hurting and weary and didn’t want to give thanks. But as I sat there in the dim candlelight some thoughts flickered forth: I was grateful for the gentle, intimate privacy the darkness of vespers provided while I was so raw and unwell. And I was grateful the service was at 6:00 pm, before I was too tired to go out. And then I realized, for the first time in my life, I was grateful for winter’s early nightfall.

I kept pondering these small gratitudes long after worship finished. Growing up, I always found Winter’s short days to be a nuisance. But now, I began to wonder if there was a wisdom dwelling within Winter’s long nights, and if I had, until now, failed to understand Winter’s role in the balance of things. These thoughts returned the next day when, feeling worse than the previous day, I woke from a late afternoon nap relieved to see the sun was setting; inviting me to curl up and go back to sleep.

So, I began learning about seasons and creation, curious about what I had failed to understand about the natural world. I sought out eco-theologies that celebrated Earth’s gifts and learned more about local ecosystems and environmental movements. Two books, in particular, helped me grow: Earth-Honoring Faith by Larry Rasmussen and Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. These authors taught me the Earth is a complex sacred being, with wisdom to share if I learned the languages of trees, plants, waters, and seasons. This animated way of interacting with the world was different from the Christian example I grew up with. I was taught to think about nature as something passive I had dominion over, not a living being to learn from, grow with, and mutually care for.

I now relate to Winter as a sacred teacher of rest; her long nights hospitably offer me the gift of respite essential to life’s flourishing. I’ve often made negative associations with the darkness accompanying Winter’s short days. I connect darkness with endings and death and lack. But reframing Winter’s darkness as a holy invitation to rest, has helped me see new attributes. Winter’s teachings have helped me discover darkness is a source of beginnings, revitalization, and life. For instance, in scripture creation begins in darkness, a formless void. And the darkness of sacred text, home to the first act of creation, is echoed in our ecosystems today. Life begins in wombs and beneath the soil where there is no light.

Reframing the meaning of Winter’s long, dark nights inspired me to incorporate Winter Solstice into my faith practice. It is a holy day that reminds me of the fundamental relationship darkness has with rest, and with acts of creation and new beginnings. The Solstice occurs on the longest night of the year and marks the transition from night growing longer to night growing shorter. It is the apex of a natural cycle of contraction, when days shorten and lengthening evenings invite me and all living beings into a season of rejuvenating rest. It’s a time to conserve our energy, a time to reflect, a time to heal. Solstice also marks the moment this natural cycle of contraction transitions into expansion again. The days stretch gradually longer on the other side of Solstice and invite me to gather the lessons I’ve learned from a period of reflection, anticipate how the energy I’ve stored will inspire me to grow, and imagine what I’m called to create now that I am restored by darkness.

It is a holy day that reminds me of the fundamental relationship darkness has with rest, and with acts of creation and new beginnings.

I rarely get to experience the fullness of Winter’s gifts because the patterns of my lifestyle, society really, rarely slow down the way Winter would advise. My workday remains on a 9 to 5 schedule, and I often fill my evenings with additional activities, like going to the gym, or gathering with friends. And as Winter’s nights grow longer, I still generally gripe about the shortening days. However, there is an invitation I now know I’m ignoring when I whine about winter’s supposed gloom; a sacred call from the darkness to slow down, to shed responsibilities, reflect, and restore.

Regardless, when Winter Solstice rolls around I remember the holy shadows of that evening vespers service. I remember how exhausted and vulnerable and lonely I was, and how Winter’s shroud felt so stabilizing and relaxing. As I anticipate Solstice this year, I remain thankful for Winter’s wise and resounding invitation to the sacred practice of rest as part of creation.

 

The Northern Hemisphere Winter Solstice is December 21.
This article was originally published in December 2021.

Dear Friends of the Interfaith Institute,

Since my first day on August 1st, I have already hit the ground running and I would like to share a glimpse of the Institute’s exciting work with you.

This October, by vote of the full faculty and then Board of Regents, I was incredibly honored to be appointed to the rank of Full Professor, with tenure and a university wide appointment which means I can work with all departments across campus. This demonstrates Augsburg’s commitment to the success of the Institute at all levels. We were so blessed to have Nancy and Karim E-Hibri visit us on campus this semester and inspire our students in so many ways. We are thankful for their involvement and support.

As our team works to build the Institute, we are focused on three elements of interfaith transformational work: Care, Community, and Collaboration.

Our goal is to build on spiritual ethics of care within and across traditions of community to expand our collective capacity for compassion. We know we can only do this by creating intentional communities that bring us together, closer, and connected with a purpose for solving dire issues of our time. Ultimately, we want to collaborate in innovative ways to be the peacebuilders who are celebrated in so many holy scriptures and sacred teachings.

This semester, we have already participated in seven public events. Some examples include:

Giving a keynote on how to educate children K-12 in peace and environmental ethics  for the National Conference on Spirituality in Education at Columbia University.
Lecturing on care and community which will reach tens of thousands at the Annual Festival of Faiths, one of the largest annual interfaith events in the country.
Presenting research on addressing mass incarceration from an interfaith perspective, using a restorative justice lens at a conference in Pasadena sponsored by Fuller Seminary and Interfaith America.

We have also been deeply involved with campus based programming, offering a well attended chapel session on interfaith vocation, guest lecturing in religion and communications courses on Augsburg’s campus, and continuing the Interfaith Scholars course which 12 campus leaders from diverse communities attend. We look forward to expanding campus based programming in collaboration with academic departments, campus ministries, student organizations, and off campus community partners.

This year, we have prioritized the current opioid crisis as a programmatic issue building on the programming done by our Institute and campus partners last year, led by Fardosa Hassan on our staff. This is the focus of our academic research and intervention. We have been convening campus partners to address the issue and to build an interfaith framing to expand faith leaders’ capacity to help stem a crisis which has cost more than 100,000 lives across the country and especially concentrated in communities who face other barriers. Our Institute will be publishing best practices and offering public educational programming  that can be utilized nationally for communities who are experiencing parallel addiction crises impacting youth and young people.

We can only be successful if we partner with you, to see a world where people care more, build stronger communities and collaborate to end conditions of despair and violence.

We hope you will consider supporting our work for Give to the Max Day going through Thursday, November 17.

Blessed are the peace makers!

With love and peace,
Najeeba Syeed