INTERFAITH CARE FOR CREATION EVENTS:

Meetings:

Gardens and Composting – May 6, 2009, at Panera Bread South, 4:30-6 or 6:30 p.m.

Weatherization – May 11, 2009, at Panera Bread South, 6- 7:30 p.m.

“Off-the-grid” urban homestead – July 19, 2009 , 406 Sanford Ave., 2:30-4:30p.m.

“Interfaith Garden Project” – Sept. 20, 2009, 301 W. Green Meadows Road, 2:30-4:30 p.m., Rock Bridge Christian Church, Columbia

For information, (573) 443-4717 or mntwelch@yahoo.com

“We Dance So That the People Will Live: Modernity, Tradition, and Religious Performance in the Contemporary Intertribal PowWow”

A Monroe Paine Lecture

By Dennis Kelley
Assistant professor
Iowa State University

May 8, 2009 – 2-3:30 p.m.
Room 114, Arts & Science Building
University of Missouri

Presented by the University of Missouri Department of Religious Studies

For more information:
Dept. of Religious Studies
221 Arts & Science Bldg.
(573) 882-4769
rsinfo@missouri.edu

The panel features:

• Paul Wallace, MU professor emeritus of political science, who has been a consultant on South Asia affairs to the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the Attorney General’s Office among other entities
• Sarah Khan, MU graduate journalism student from Pakistan who worked for two years as a national editor with the Daily Times based in Lahore, Pakistan
• Jeff Stack, coordinator, Mid-MO Fellowship of Reconciliation, an international interfaith pacifist organization

  May 7, 2009 – 7 p.m.
  Room 113, Arts and Sciences Building
  University of Missouri

Questions and comments from the audience encouraged.

Admission is free. For more information about the event, sponsored by the Columbia Peace Coalition,  contact Jeff at 573-449-4585.

News reports of shootings and assaults at houses of worship spotlight the need for ministries to prepare for such crises. This 8-hour course is the first in a series of courses designed for pastoral leaders and those responsible for safety and security in a church environment. The course provides a comprehensive overview of the important steps in planning for a church crisis, reducing vulnerabilities, mitigating a crisis, and dealing with the aftermath of a crisis. A historical perspective of church violence over the last decade will illustrate the importance of preparing a ministry for a risk-effective crisis response.

May 1, 2009 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
National Guard Armory, Columbia Missouri

$125 per person includes references materials

Sponsored by Karis Community Church, Midwest Police Consultants, and Crisis Systems Management, LLC

Presented by Rex M. Scism and Deborah McMahon
For registration and more information, go to www.midwestpolice.com or call (573) 424-3783.

The Rev. Louie Vitale is a retired U.S. Air Force officer who served in the Korean War. He was ordained as a Franciscan priest in 1963. Recently returned from Iran, Fr. Louie will discuss his experience there and the current state of U.S.-Iran relations. Fr. Louie is a longtime peace activist and co-founder of numerous organizations.

April 28, 2009 – 7:30 p.m.
Tate Hall, Room 124
University of Missouri

Free and open to the public. Sponsored by the Columbia Peace Coalition. Donations accepted to help fund Fr. Louie’s tour and work. More information about his organization, Pace e Bene, can be found at http://paceebene.org.

UPDATE: See article “Franciscan priest speaks in Columbia on U.S.-Iran relations” in the Columbia Missourian April 29, 2009

Show-Me Creation Care Conference

Features speakers on environmental consciousness, faith-based stewardship, sustainable communities, recycling and more. Includes recycling collection for used electronics.

April 25, 2009 – 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Community United Methodist Church
3301 W. Broadway
Columbia, Mo.

Workshop leaders include:

• Barbara Buffaloe, a housing specialist with the University of Missouri Extension – speaking on household conservation
  
• Ma’ikwe Schaub Ludwig, who lives at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage and teaches ecovillage design courses, consensus and facilitation – speaking on sustainable communities
  
• Eric Chamberlain, manager of Wind Farm Operations for Wind Capital Group, St. Louis, Mo. – speaking on sustainable communities
  
• Fonda Davis, a teacher who has been recycling for 15 years and bringing Fair Trade to a number of churches in northern Missouri – speaking on simple living
  
• Don Day, who coordinates energy education programs for University Extension – speaking on renewable and sustainable energy
  
• John Hill, director of Economic and Environmental Justice at the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society – speaking on global warming
  
• Cleo Kottwitz, retired United Methodist pastor with a passion to care for God’s Creation and an advocate for the message from Lester Brown’s book Plan B
• Kiersa Toll, a Columbia native who works for the Missouri Recycling Association – speaking on household recycling
  
• Mark Van Patton, a fisheries management biologist for the Missouri Department of Conservation – speaking on the Stream Team
• Rev. Pat Watkins, an ordained United Methodist minister with a passion for raising awareness of the connection between faith and taking care of God’s creation – giving the keynote address and speaking on the green church
  

Participants are invited to:

• Read the creation care information that is shared in the MissouriConference Review
• Share the stories of their faith community’s efforts to be good stewards of the earth
• Have a worship celebration for God’s gift of the earth at least one Sunday a year
• Commit to continuing to live a sustainable life

The conference is open to all faiths. For more information, see http://www.umocm.com/creationcare.htm. Registration is required.

• Read article in the Columbia Missourian

The Islamic Center of Central Missouri will hold an open house on April 19, 2009 (Earth Day) from 10 a.m to 5:30 p.m. The mosque will also have a booth at downtown Columbia Earth Day festivities

The mosque (masjid) is located at 201 South 5th St., Columbia.

Schedule:

10:30 a.m. – Islam 10
11:30 a.m. – The Qur’an and teachings of the Prophet Mohammed
12:30 p.m. – Islam 101
1:30 p.m. – Women in Islam
2 p.m. – Prayer
2:30 p.m. – Prayer and worship in Islam
3 p.m. – Islam 101
4 p.m. – Islamic Finance
4:30 p.m. – Islam 101
5 p.m. – Closing

Walk-ins welcome. Free food, tours of the mosque, Arabic calligraphy and programs through the day. For more information, see www.theiccm.org.

Monday, April 6:
– Taste of Islam, Lowry Mall 12, 2.m. Free food.
– “Roots of Islam,” a lecture by Dr. Robert Baum, chair of the MU Department of Religious Studies, will discuss the origins of Islam, Memorial Unin S110, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, April 7:
– “Women in Islam,” a presentation on women’s status in Islam, followed by Henna designs, Memorial Union N243, 3:30-4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 8:
– “Diplomacy in the Islamic World,” a presentation by Lily Fortel of Peaceworks, discussing her recent trip to Iran and what she learned, Memorial Union S110, 5 p.m.

Thursday, April 9:
– “Islamic Science and the European Renaissance,” a lecture by Dr. George Saliba, professor of Arabic and Islamic Science in the Department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures at Columbia University, discussing the history of Islamic contributions to science, Waters Auditorium, 7 p.m. Reception follows.

Friday, April 10:
– Visit to the Islamic Center of Central Missouri, 201 S. 5th St., Columbia, 1:15 p.m.

All events at University of Missouri except mosque tour.

Sponsored by the Muslim Student Organization-Mizzou Chapter
Contact: muslimstudents.mizzou@gmail.com

Randy Olson, filmmaker & marine biologist

Filmmaker and former biologist Dr. Randy Olson’s documentary film (84 minutes) probes the great communications struggle around evolution vs. intelligent design being waged in today’s mainstream media. Olson’s humorous, enlightening and sometimes sobering journey includes in-depth interviews with top experts on intelligent design, school board members, and lawyers, and footage from an evening with evolutionists who gather for a game of poker and evolution debate.

THURSDAY, March 12, 2009 – NOON
TUCKER FORUM – 85 GANNETT HALL
Missouri School of Journalism

Randy Olson got his Ph.D. from Harvard University in ecology, but has become a well-known film maker of both serious interviews with a wide variety of scientists and fishermen and a series of humorous film shorts that are educational and irreverent. He is a lecturer at the University of Southern California and leads an organization known as Shifting Baselines, that educates the public about the tremendous changes in natural communities that have occurred, to an extent that current generations cannot understand just how biologically rich the world was just a few generations ago.