Profile by Gustav Spohn, Director of Communications and Publications, Yale Divinity School

Over the past decade, Yale Divinity School has made significant progress toward enhancing the training of theological students for service in a multi-religious world.  That growth has included establishing programs with an interfaith focus, the hiring of faculty with expertise in non-Christian religions, conferences and programs with an interfaith emphasis, and leveraging the resources of the wider Yale University community.

While YDS traces its Christian heritage back three centuries, there is a growing recognition on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle that interaction with other faith traditions—and people representing those faiths—is not an option but a necessity for theological training in a globalized 21^st century.

The level of interfaith experimentation on campus is palpable and is sharpening the desire for an even more robust emphasis. The YDS curriculum, coupled with other Yale resources—including the Department of Religious Studies—provides a rich framework for exploration of many faith traditions, and every YDS student is required to take at least one course on a non-Christian religion or a course in the relationship between Christianity and other religions.

Some of the formal aspects of YDS’s commitment to interfaith perspectives include a rewording of the School’s mission statement in 2011 to include specific reference to “scholarly engagement with Christian traditions in a global, multifaith context”; adoption of an inclusivity statement in 2010 that notes YDS’s tradition of welcoming “people of various religious and nonreligious traditions, drawing wide the circle to include myriad perspectives”; and the requirement, adopted in 2000-01, that every M.Div. student study non-Christian religions.  Taken together, these elements provide a firm foundation for taking interfaith training to new levels at the Divinity School.

Multifaith engagement at YDS goes well beyond official commitments and guidelines, however, touching the day-to-day fabric of life at the Divinity School, where Christian students may sit side-by-side with a Jewish student or a Muslim student during the course of a lecture or special event, at chapel, or over lunch.

At the heart of the School’s expanding interfaith activities, and a source of inspiration for students interested in learning about non-Christian faiths, are teachers who are deeply engaged in exploration of other religions.

In the last decade alone, several new faculty with expertise in non-Christian religions and with strong ties to other University departments joined YDS—including John Grim and Mary Evelyn Tucker, authorities in Asian religions and ecology, who also hold appointments in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies; Chloë Starr, who has expertise, among other things, in Chinese religions and globalization and who has a joint appointment in East Asian Languages and Literature; and Sallama Shaker, who teaches Islamic studies.

These faculty join others engaged in interfaith work who have a long-standing presence at Yale Divinity School: Miroslav Volf, the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology, founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, and author of Allah: A Christian Response; and Lamin Sanneh, the D. Willis James Professor of Missions and World Christianity and the author of such volumes as Piety and Power: Muslims and Christians in West Africa.  Sanneh was one of the principal organizers behind the “Accra Charter of Religious Freedom and Citizenship,” which affirms that “faith gives its noblest expression in settings where all are free to follow their religious convictions.” He has served on the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with Muslims.

Curricular offerings in non-Christian religions during 2012-13 alone include, among others, “African Religion: Theological Inquiry,” “Judaism in the Time of Jesus,” “Christian-Muslim Dialogue and Understanding History and Theology,” and “Faith and Globalization.”  YDS students are also encouraged to take full advantage of the wealth of resources in Yale’s Department of Religious Studies, which offers significant instruction in non-Christian religions.

Supplementing the curricular offerings are events that highlight interfaith and ecumenical issues, both on and off campus. Some of the campus events in the past several years include a two-week summer institute for young people of various faiths entitled “Paradigms and Practice:  Approaching Islam-West Relations”; a talk by Interfaith Youth Core President Eboo Patel on the increase in anti-Muslim sentiments in the U.S. since 9/11 and opportunities to encourage greater interfaith understanding; and comments by Walter Cardinal Kasper, the Vatican’s top official for ecumenical relations, who argued that ecumenical dialogue is not an option but a moral obligation for all Christians.

Off campus, delegations of YDS students, faculty, and staff regularly attend the Parliament of the World’s Religions.  Students at the 2009 Parliament in Melbourne, Australia were enrolled in the YDS course “Walking Gently on Common Ground: An Introduction to Inter-religious Engagement.”  In June 2010 representatives from YDS and other Yale entities joined with people from over 45 countries at a conference in Alexandria, Egypt on the theme “Initiatives in Education, Science and Culture: Toward Enhanced U.S.-Muslim Countries Collaboration.”

Yale Divinity School recently expanded its formal student exchange program to include oversees institutions based not only in predominantly Christian Europe but in Asia as well.  The goal is to give YDS students an opportunity to be immersed for a semester in the culture of countries where the dominant religion is not Christianity.

During his tenure from 2002-12, former Dean Harold Attridge worked diligently to collaborate closely with the wider University, leveraging additional interfaith dimensions at YDS.  Attridge served as co-chair of a university-wide search committee that in 2007 brought a new chaplain to Yale, Sharon Kugler, well known for her groundbreaking interfaith work at Johns Hopkins University.  In announcing her appointment, Yale President Richard Levin hailed Kugler’s “success in building programs that support numerous faiths, by her work to facilitate interfaith dialogue.” Kugler is also a lecturer in interfaith dialogue at YDS.

One interfaith initiative that has blossomed in the last decade is the Yale Center for Faith and Culture, which encompasses both a “Reconciliation Program” aimed at improved Christian-Muslim relations and a “Faith & Globalization” component.  The Faith & Globalization initiative took hold in the 2008-09 academic year, featuring a course co-taught by Miroslav Volf and, for its first three years, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.  The course aims at demonstrating the positive results that people of diverse faiths, working together, can accomplish.  Another Center for Faith and Culture initiative was an eight-day conference in July 2008 that drew scores of prominent Muslim and Christian leaders from around the world and ended with a unanimously accepted declaration for mutual respect, understanding and further interfaith discussions.

Yale Divinity School should be “unashamedly Christian, but not narrowly Christian.”  That formulation of the school’s theological posture fairly reverberated on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle as YDS’s new dean, Gregory Sterling, introduced himself to the YDS community in August 2012, when he succeeded Attridge at the helm.

The new dean’s vision for 21^st century theological education left little doubt of his intention to continue, and build upon, Yale Divinity School’s historic commitment to interfaith and ecumenical engagement.

“The increasing representation of practitioners of other faiths and stories about them means that it is no longer possible to think of the Christian faith in a hermetically sealed environment,” Sterling said.  “We must now think of Christianity in light of other faiths. I plan to make YDS a place where we think of Christianity in a global context . . ..  We will operate from a Christian perspective, but remain open to what we can learn from other faiths.”

Further links and media:

Click here for digital resources, including video archives and podcasts.

Student testimonials:

Delfin Bautista ’10 M.Div.

"My studies at YDS have helped me shape and embrace a multi-vocalic identity that is rooted in Catholic principles and in my Latino heritage yet open to insights provided by other faith traditions and cultures."

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Kaji Spellman ‘06 M.Div.

"My time at YDS was like a walk through the enchanted forest. At every corner, there was something new, something amazing to discover as I learned to look at the world through the eyes of a theologian. Nothing was as I expected, and nothing stayed the same. In this enchanted forest, learning was dynamic, challenging, soul-shaking, and blessed."

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Agnes Olusese ‘10 M.Div.
“Through both the Master of Divinity and the Certificate in Security Studies programs I have been able to examine causes of conflict—religious and political—and ways different factions constituting the International community have been trying to resolve conflict.”

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Rachel Watson '10 M.A.R.

“While at YDS, I have developed a taste for the study of the Bible as literature, and not as the kind of literature that makes Book-of-the-Month clubs, but as the kind of art that wrestles with the human condition in the most surprising, gritty, and stubbornly hopeful ways.”

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Jesse Zink '12 M.Div.

“Divinity school, it turns out, is an excellent place to land after time as a missionary, and Yale Divinity School perhaps best of all. At Yale, I found a small group of folks who were also returning from overseas experience. In the Annand program, I found spiritual direction and support that helped me wrestle with what direction(s) I was headed in and the vocation to which God was calling me. In corporate worship—Berkeley morning prayer at the crack of dawn (or close enough), ecumenical worship in Marquand, or sung vespers with the richly resonant voices of my Lutheran colleagues in Nouwen chapel—I brought my anxieties and hopes before God.”

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Ashley Hurst '12 M.Div.

“YDS became the laboratory for our calls.  The place where we could mix and mingle new ideas, theologies, and perspectives together and see what happened.  YDS was both a place of distillation—getting to the essence of faith, hope and love—and a place of expansion, creating a space to encounter different faith traditions, practices and experiences.”

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Elyssa Kanet ’14 M.A.R.

“I came to the Divinity school at Yale because of my interest in pursuing future graduate study in religion as well as my interest in Religion and Ecology—a little-known but developing field! As an observant Jew the choice to attend divinity school may seem at the very least surprising or, at the most, heretical! However, my study of religion is not merely an academic endeavor; it is also something close to my heart and which guides my life. Many academic programs are known to promote an intellectual and detached environment for the study of religion. And while I acknowledge the clear ideological differences between myself and others at this school, I also acknowledge that a program which is both a community of faith and a community of scholars is a rare and beautiful thing. I feel privileged to be a part of it.”

Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center

In Conversation with Adam Segulah Sher, Program Manager:

Deep in the wooded countryside of Falls Village, Connecticut, the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center is a place of gathering where views all along the rich spectrum of belief converge for engaged dialogue and deep reflection. This “400-acre sanctuary in the Berkshires” hosts a dynamic set of activities that spark journeys for mind and spirit alike. Throughout its multiple incarnations, the center has been host to an impressive array of programs that connect participants to the environment, their own spirituality, and their roles in social justice.

A primary focus of their transformational work addresses issues of Jewish diversity within the community through educational and communal experiences. People arrive at the retreat center from all walks of life and participate in conversations and activities while removed from the hassles and trappings of modernity. An intrinsic element of the retreat experience at Isabella Freedman is the long-standing commitment to environmental awareness and preservation. Who could help but to be in awe of nature’s humbling beauty in such an idyllic setting? Environmental work within the broader community through the Adamah program includes, among other projects: farm education, farm to table food work, connecting people with the larger food movement and the Jewish food movement, Jewish environmental fellowships, donating food to people in need, and cultivating questions around the spirituality and ethics of the food movement that faith traditions can inform.

Even the simple, often taken for granted and hurried act of consuming food is subject to measured reflection and meditative awareness in a communal setting. At mealtime, blessings are given before and after eating, and spiritual practices surrounding food and eating are discussed. Participants are equally invested in their intent and desire to connect as deeply as possible to the spiritual and general experiences of eating in a context rooted in community that has an ample supply of tradition, teachings, and practices surrounding food consumption and sharing. Blessings and song sheets are made accessible so that, after every meal, the gathered group sings a song and issues thanks to the source of food, life, and community. This practice is not constrained by any strict traditional protocol but is more of an adaptation that gives people an opening to an alien or unknown experience that can then become their own.

Part of the core structure that underlies everything is a unique sense of community in which people evolve through sharing experiences rather than through specific, regimented ideas and practices. Isabella Freedman affords its participants the chance to initiate conversations amongst individuals who arrive at the retreat center from so many different walks of life, with varying levels of exposure to Jewish texts and teachings, and such diverse backgrounds in the faith. As with an interfaith experience, the convergence of divergent perspectives creates experiences that enrich and transform everyone involved. Among their emerging formal interfaith programs, Isabella Freedman recently hosted an Interfaith Educators Conference, featuring 90 representatives of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities. Among the questions brought to the table were: What are we going to teach our children about each other? In religious schools, what kind of interfaith work is happening? How do we coordinate ways of teaching children about other religions and people? This conference set out to begin the discussion around an unaddressed niche within interfaith conversations.

The retreat center is not specific to one stream  of Judaism, or religion in general; it’s an “all-stream organization.” The annual celebration of Sukkot Harvest Festival, also called Sukkahfest, is a radiant example of this inclusive approach to gathering. Here, all-stream Judaism is understood as the next level of pluralism, a term that connotes a move beyond pluralism to a place in which people move beyond learning to trying different things. The larger contextual framework at play is understanding cultural, religious, and ethnic diversity through an ecological lens. Isabella Freedman doesn’t just view diversity as a good thing; they believe it’s really what’s necessary for the rising of our ecosystem. In same way that niches in the ecosystem mutually support each other, this is a positive, necessary, and beneficial part of community, not a problem or something that needs to be resolved. Numerous other retreat offerings are available year-round--including site rentals for organizational retreats, weddings, and family gatherings--and the center sponsors financial aid programs for participants with diverse economic profiles. Non-Jews are welcome to attend retreats.

Isabella Freedman is a unique sanctuary where people can meet over common passions and interests, as showcased by some upcoming themes: “Judaism and Baseball,” "Blues for Challah" (Grateful Dead Weekend), “Torah Yoga,” and “LGBTQ Teen Shabbaton.” The two-year institutes promote professional and leadership development for emerging and established leaders of all ages. These offerings train everyone from priestesses, to spiritual directors, to prayer leaders, to yoga instructors in the Jewish Tradition. The ripples that spread from the transcendent eco-spiritual experiences shared at the center will continue to reach far beyond its bountiful acres.

Selected press links:

Isabella Freedman, in the words of past participants:

Above all else, Isabella Freedman has helped me to stop theorizing a kind of Judaism that doesn't make sense to me and start practicing a kind of Judaism that does. It has evolved my awareness and responsibility for environmental and social issues; it has taught me to grow and process my own food; it has provided me with richer communication skills; and it has introduced me to forms of Jewish prayer, study, and ritual which continue to lead me to a deeper integration of body, mind, and spirit.

—Jordan Schuster, Adamah Alum and Retreat Participant

The weekend was magical and transformative. Not only did we have an amazing time, but the retreat had a real and lasting impact on how the students thought about themselves, spirituality, and their relationship to Judaism.

—Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg, Tufts University Hillel

Isabella Freedman is a place where all people, including Orthodox Jews, can feel at home and part of an intentional community. I have witnessed participants feel—and have felt myself—transformed by the spirituality that is so much a part of Isabella Freedman’s mission.

—Rabbi Naftali Citron, The Carlebach Shul

In conversation with Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, Ph.D., Director of the Department of Multifaith Studies and Initiatives, Associate Professor of Religious Studies:

For more than twenty years, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) has recognized the need for Jewish leaders to understand other religious traditions and has required its students to engage in multifaith work, through a minimum of two semester-long courses. RRC’s unique stance among rabbinical seminaries garnered an award from the Interfaith Youth Core and successive, multi-year grants from the Henry Luce Foundation. These grants fueled the department into high gear, giving RRC the opportunity to expand and experiment in a number of dynamic directions.

An annual four-day retreat for 16 emerging Muslim and Jewish religious leaders from a range of religious training programs became a central component of the college’s multifaith work. This pioneering project aims to provide an incubator for far-reaching Jewish-Muslim partnerships and to develop cohorts of influential young leaders who take skills, relationships and understanding back to their respective communities. Before the Luce grants, RRC had taught a course on Islam for Rabbis. Afterwards, the college was able to tailor that course into a service learning experience that explored new ways to teach students about Islam beyond the classroom. RRC partnered with Muslim graduate students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Middle East Center to brainstorm innovative ways of teaching Islam in a Jewish venue. Rabbinical students have gained valuable leadership skills by developing one-on-one relationships with Muslim counterparts, studying religious texts, and visiting mosques. An intimate multifaith salon brought students into dialogue with leaders of other faiths; a continuing education program for RRC graduates this spring will help practicing rabbis understand Islam in America via video conferences with four renowned Muslim scholars.

The College has pursued yet another innovative interfaith partnership in its regular activities with Lutheran Theological Seminary and with Palmer Theological Seminary (formerly Eastern Baptist). Students from RRC are paired with Lutheran Theological Seminary students for an entire semester to undertake deep textual analysis. This Jewish-Christian encounter through text brings together ten students from each campus, and each week features a new text from the respective faith traditions. This year, RRC partnered again with LTSP for an innovative course based on the Harvard Pluralism Project case study initiative and hopes to continue work with Palmer as well.

New multifaith courses continue to emerge.  At the suggestion of State of Formation Contributing Scholar Michael Ramberg,, RRC class of 2012, RRC students recently worked with Shane Claiborne, founder and leader of The Simple Way movement on several service projects in Philadelphia’s inner-city Kensington neighborhood that demonstrate Christian intentional living. Claiborne took the volunteers on a “reality tour,” pointing out problems and the religious groups working to address them.
In addition to their intensive interfaith study, RRC students participate in social justice initiatives. Shepherded through the Social Justice Organizing Program by Rabbi Mordechai Liebling,  students combine rigorous coursework with supervised internships in which they cultivate relationships with a number of pioneering, dedicated organizations in Philadelphia. For example, an RRC student is currently interning with the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). HIAS was founded originally by Jews to help Jewish immigrants but has since expanded to assist all immigrants with legal aid work and refugee resettlement. Student interest in environmentalism and interfaith work has led to a partnership with New Jersey-based environmental justice group Green Faith, which educates worshippers at churches, synagogues, and mosques. Courses at RRC such as “Food Justice,” and “Money in Our Lives and Society” enlarge the students’ visions. Rabbi Liebling and Rabbi Kreimer join forces to supervise interns working in social justice and interfaith contexts.

By searching for meaning outside of its own walls, RRC has enriched the lives of its own students and others for decades. Its trailblazing efforts make it an especially rewarding setting for future scholars and activists who are dedicated to forging new partnerships and finding new paths for constructive collaboration.

Further Links:

• Leadership profile of Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer on Harvard’s Pluralism Project
• Multifaith Studies and Initiatives at RRC
• Rabbi Dr. Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer’s RRC blog, Multifaith World
• RRC employs the Harvard Case Study Method: Case Study
• Videos from the 2009 Garrison Retreat for Emerging Muslim and Jewish Leaders
• Videos from talk at RRC by Rabbi Daniel Brenner on multifaith education for middle schoolers

RRC, as narrated by Michael Ramberg, Class of 2012:

“In the extraordinarily rich learning environment of RRC, my interfaith opportunities have been among the most rewarding.  My interfaith classes and internships have exposed me to academic perspectives on Islam, in-depth text study with a diverse group of Christians, interfaith organizing for immigrants' rights and case studies on challenges around religious pluralism.  The result of this training is that as I prepare to graduate in June I am open to the tremendous beauty in other religions and I am committed to being a leader in creating genuine pluralism.”

]]> http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/04/divinnovations-profile-2-dominican-school-of-philosophy-and-theology/feed/ 0 http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/03/divinnovations-profile-1-claremont-lincoln-university-claremont-school-of-theology/ http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/03/divinnovations-profile-1-claremont-lincoln-university-claremont-school-of-theology/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 04:04:02 +0000 DivInnovations http://www.stateofformation.org/?p=4437

Claremont Lincoln University

In conversation with Jon Hooten, Special Assistant to the President for the University Project and Ph.D. candidate:

Claremont Lincoln University and Claremont School of Theology may be tucked away in an idyllic setting in sunny California, but they are in no way removed from issues of social justice. Claremont Lincoln University and Claremont School of Theology offer a vast array of degree tracks in, among other subject areas, Interreligious Studies, Muslim Leadership, Practical Theology, and Ministry. Among a host of pioneering initiatives, such as the recently launched Initiative for Engaged Ethics, the Center for Engaged Compassion, and the Center for Global Peacebuilding, Claremont Lincoln has recently partnered with Rockhill Farm, which was established in 2009 in Bakersfield, Central Valley, CA .  This groundbreaking collaboration embodies the spirit of engaged social justice that is a hallmark of the Claremont name. As an outgrowth of their relationship with Rockhill Farm, Claremont Lincoln established the Rockhill Institute, which offers community-based theological education through rigorous intellectual training, spiritual awareness, and political organizing to service underprivileged communities. Fernando Jara, one of Claremont’s M.Div. students, founded Rockhill Farm to rehabilitate male drug and alcohol users (primarily ex-criminals) through a ‘boot camp’ model. Their motto speaks volumes about their dynamic mission, which seeks to work alongside its participants as they journey toward recovery and self-discovery: “Courage. Self-mastery. Empowerment.” The program encourages reentry and residency through fitness training programs, theological study (now with Claremont faculty members!), developing analytical reasoning skills, and assisting with the maintenance of a farm--including the business side of the industry. This project exemplifies the valuable cooperation between dedicated faculty and inspired students that can build bridges toward achieving social justice that reach beyond the classroom, into communities in need.

Fernando Jara speaks:

Interview with Forward Thinkers: California's Everyday Leaders

Seeds of Change Interview

Claremont and Rockhill, as narrated by Claremont M.Div. candidate and President of Rockhill Inc., Nora Jacob:

“The men of Rockhill Farm have already been receiving a superb biblical education five days a week from my fellow M.Div. student and Rockhill Farm founder, Fernando Jara.  What's most exciting to me about the Rockhill Institute is that its students -- who include all the men of the Farm -- are now being challenged to apply their learning not only to their own lives (transformation from the inside out, personally) but also to the possibilities of making positive changes in their community (transformation from the inside out, societally).  On February 12, 2012, Fernando and I co-founded a new congregation, RockHill Disciples of Christ, in Bakersfield as another, complementary way to focus social justice work in the Central Valley.  Bakersfield is California's 9th largest city and has had major problems with drugs and gang violence. Fernando and the men have connections throughout all levels of the community there, and the church outreach is beginning to take shape, again, to make a positive difference from the inside out.  The single most touching moment I've experienced -- as co-pastor of the new church, pastoral care provider to the men of Rockhill Farm, and President of Rockhill Inc. -- was rehearsing the men of Rockhill Farm to serve as Deacons for the new church.  Each had to confront the question of ‘worthiness’ for service, and each had to answer it for himself.  Imagine someone who's working in various ways to heal his own life, then standing up and saying, ‘YES, I am worthy in God's eyes!’”

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The DivInnovations series represents an exciting new collaboration that State of Formation and the Journal of Inter-Religious Dialogue are embarking upon in an effort to capture dynamic research, initiatives, partnerships, and projects (particularly interfaith in nature) at seminaries, divinity schools, and graduate theological settings in general across the nation. We will be posting profiles of institutions both on the State of Formation blog through this account and in each issue of the Journal. We invite you to be in touch about nominating your institution for a profile by emailing our liaison and profile developer, Sophia Khan.