Mahle Lecture Series
2013 LECTURE
Mahle Scholar in Residence
Dr. Joerg Rieger
Dr. Joerg Rieger is the Wendland-Cook Professor of Constructive Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Lecture Title
Occupy Religion?: Reimagining the God of the Multitude
Tuesday, April 9, 2013 7 p.m.
Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University,
1531 Hewitt Ave., Saint Paul 55104-1284
Inspired by global mass protests, Dr. Joerg Rieger invites us to “occupy religion” as a public rethinking of the nature, purpose, and functions of theology—God-talk. He claims that the world is in need of liberation more than ever, with the preferential option for the poor at the heart of progressive religious traditions. “Occupy religion” challenges religious doctrines and social teachings that provide sanction and justification for economic and social inequality. It doesn’t mean using force to take over holy sites or worshipping spaces, but rather indicates the conceptualization of a democratic and participatory space for religious life, with active engagement to make this a reality. Dr. Rieger will propose a “theology of the multitude,” based on the Greek New Testament term ochlos, meaning a crowd or mass of people, as well as the term laos, meaning the common people. By reimagining radical images of God, alternative understandings of power, economics and community emerge, stimulating people to make a difference not only for enough to go around, but in transforming the heart of how our common life is produced.
Additional Workshops
Sunday, April 7
Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church
511 Groveland Ave., Minneapolis, 55403
9:30am Sanctuary Service & 11:00am Adult Education
Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church,
585 Fuller Ave., St. Paul, 55103
4pm—7pm Open Workshop for Congregations and Supper (free)
RSVP to the Wesley Center, 651-523-2750 or nvictorinvangerud01@
hamline.edu
Wednesday, April 10
Anderson Center, Hamline University
9:30am—11am Progressive Religious Leaders
brunch (free)
RSVP to the Wesley Center, 651-523-2750 or nvictorinvangerud01@
hamline.edu
Past Mahle Lecture Speakers
2012 LECTURE
Mahle Scholar in Residence
Dr. George 'Tink' Tinker
Lecture Title
World Balance vs. Personal Salvation in American Indian Postcolonial Perspective
Dr.
Tinker explored the worldview of American Indian peoples' respect
for creation, the whole of the created realm, and for all our
relations. Respect emerges out of the perceived need for maintaining
balance in the world around us. Thus, American Indian spirituality is
characteristically oriented toward the everyday and the ceremonial
balancing of the world and our participation in it. In contrast to the
view of 'world balance' is the western commitment to 'individualism',
and its impact on Christian theology and spiritual formation. Dr.
Tinker believes that given the reality of the eco-devastation
threatening life today, the survival of American Indian cultures and
cultural values may make the difference for the survival and
sustainability for all the earth as we know it.
Additional Workshops
"General Conference 2012 - Act of Repentance to Indigenous Peoples"
A conversation with United Methodists
“Year of the Dakota—2012: Remembering, Honoring and Truth-Telling”
Panel Presentation
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- Dr. Chris Mato Nunpa
is a Dakota historian, elder, and activist from the Pezihutazizi Otunwe
(Yellow Medicine Community) in southwestern Minnesota. He is the
retired Associate Professor of Indigenous Nations & Dakota Studies
(INDS) at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Currently,
he teaches as Community Faculty member at Metropolitan State University,
St. Paul.
- Dr. Waziyatawin
is a Dakota writer, teacher, and activist committed to the pursuit of
Indigenous liberation and reclamation of homelands. From the
Pezihutazizi Otunwe (Yellow Medicine Village) in southwestern Minnesota,
Dr. Waziyatawin currently holds the Indigenous Peoples Research Chair
in the Indigenous Governance Program at the University of Victoria.
- Dr. George "Tink" Tinker,
a member of the Osage Nation (Wazhazhe), is the Clifford Baldridge
Professor of American Indian Cultures and Religious Traditions at Iliff
School of Theology in Denver, Colorado.
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