To Our WesleyNexus Colleagues:
“Persevere in Hope, Faith and Joy”
That served as the theme of the 238th Session of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, meeting on ZOOM June 1-3, 2022. It is based on a selection of Scripture in Hebrews Chapter 12, verses 1-3, in which the author, having spent many previous passages recognizing the suffering, sacrifices and even persecutions of the faithful in the congregation receiving the letter, encourages the saints to persevere in their witness to Jesus. Here is the way the New English Bible conveys the text:
“And what of ourselves? With all these saints in this cloud of witnesses, we must throw off every encumbrance, every sin to which we cling, and run with resolution the race for which we are entered, our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom faith depends from start to finish: Jesus who, for the sake of the joy that lay ahead, endured the cross, making light of its disgrace, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Good advice, certainly, even though our tribulations may seem mild in comparison to the challenges those Christians faced under the yoke of Rome. Nevertheless, many people in our social context suffer acutely, especially those families who are personally impacted by the loss of children to gun violence, the scourge of racism, and displacement by wildfires, floods and tornadoes. Those of us unscathed too easily overlook the privileges we enjoy, continuing to assume “it can’t happen to us” – until it does.
Like those in the congregation addressed in Hebrews, our endurance appears shortlived: thoughts and prayers are characterized by “cheap grace” to use Bonhoeffer’s term. Our congregations too easily accept the status quo – until it is too late. We can no longer accept the easy answers when our most basic institutions are under attack, when even the Supreme Court has become politicized and our basic rights and freedom, including our right to have our votes counted and recognized, are being threatened. Too many Christian believers have succumbed to political duplicity and conspiracy theories, while others of us in a more progressive camp sit idly by. It is the season to become active with alternatives that can lift up those victimized by an oppressive economic system, those left hungry and homeless mired In poverty. It is a time for action. not with band-aid activities but by engaging the decision-makers in our state legislatures and Congress. Our charge from the scripture does indeed require perseverance – with hope, faith and joy.
We continue to give thanks for our generous contributors. We encourage you to share comments, articles and insights that will help us all weather these difficult times.
Blessings,
Maynard Moore and the rest of the WesleyNexus team
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Institute On Religion in an Age of Science
67th Annual Conference
June 26-July 3, 2022
Star Island, New Hampshire
“We” & “They”: Cross-cultural Conversations on Identity
| In-person or online Register Now Become a sponsor Sponsor the 2022 Conference Conference venue Star Island | “Who am I? How do I fit into the world around me? How am I different?” Questions like these are central to the elusive notion of identity—to how we establish and maintain perceptions of “self” and “other,” “we” and “they.” Identifying ourselves and others in categories defined by gender, ethnicity, nationality, religion, economic status, physical and mental abilities, and other markers stimulate a sense of “we-consciousness.” They influence our choices about who we trust and consider part of our “tribe,” in biological, socio-cultural, and “ultimate” terms. How we perceive and enact our identities influences how we love, create, and discover, and whether we construct systems of oppression and war. Through multi-religious and scientific frameworks including biological, psychological, sociological, and anthropological considerations, this conference will explore core concepts of identity. We invite you to engage in cross-cultural conversations and participate in envisioning a global cultural transformation in which the presence of diversity need not provoke disharmony.Questions include: Are there prevailing scientific understandings of self, and if so, what are they? How do specific world religious traditions understand individual and social identities and otherness? In our dynamically interconnected global society, how can science and religion help us comprehend the limitations and purposes of identity? What cultural assumptions and historical, religious, political, and philosophical blind spots inhibit our understanding of our own and others’ identities? How can we engage in cross cultural conversations that transcend the “allergy to the other,” increase respect and understanding, and contribute to justice and peacemaking? We look forward to your joining us in the beautiful environs of Star Island for this rich exploration. Presenters include: Dr. Mustafa Cabir Altinas; Dr. Dylan Belton; Sally Bowden-Schaible, LCPC; Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock; Rev. Dr. Amy Butler; Dr. Paul Carr; John Calvin Chatlos, MD; Dr. Mahjabeen Dhala; Martin Hargrove, Sturgis Music Fellow; Dr. Douglas Hill; Jason Keune, MD; Dr. Eduardo Mendieta; Dr. Michal Meulenberg; Rev. Dr. E. Maynard Moore; Timofej Murašov; Dr. Andrew B. Newberg; Dr. Stephen W. Ragsdale; Donna Roberts, filmmaker; Rabbi David Rosen; Dr. Tinu Ruparell; Dr. Michael Ruse; Lama Losang Samten; Swami Sarvapriyananda; Dr. Roger Stork; Dr. Marlena Studer; Lili Almási Szabó; Dr. Joe Wiley; Dr. David B. YadenChaplain: Rev. Dr. Dorsey O. Blake |
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“Identity and the Brain:
The Biological Basis of Our Self”
Please join IRAS for the next session of our monthly webinar series, Science, Religion, and Society. On June 28, 2022, IRAS will host a live session at 9:30 a.m. EDT, featuring
Dr. Andrew Newberg Research Director at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia
Respondent: TBD
June 28, 2022, at 8:30 am Central time, 9:30 a.m. Eastern time
Presentation Overview:This presentation will cover the current neuroscientific understanding of the self and personal identity, focusing on religious and spiritual perspectives. We will consider how the brain helps us to construct and maintain our representation of the self and what happens when we have self-transcendent experiences. This information will be helpful from both the psychological and spiritual perspective for understanding human identity.
Presenter Background:
Andrew B. Newberg, M.D. is currently the Research Director at the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University and Hospital in Philadelphia. He is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Medicine and Nutritional Sciences, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Radiology at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Newberg has been particularly involved in the study of mystical and religious experiences, a field referred to as “neurotheology”. He has published over 250 peer reviewed articles and chapters on brain function, brain imaging, and the study of religious and mystical experiences. He has published 12 books which have been translated into 17 different languages, including the national best-sellers, “How God Changes Your Brain” and “Why God Won’t Go Away: Brain Science and the Biology of Belief”. He was listed as one of the 30 Most Influential Neuroscientists Alive Today by the Online Psychology Degree Guide.
The IRAS webinar is FREE but registration is required
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CNJgpXHHRw-iveR0ja4f5Q
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Rev. Dr. Dawn Stewart Responds to Conference Resolution Questioning Climate Science
WesleyNexus supports the science behind the understanding that our climate is changing, that humans are a major cause and that we as a species must respond to this planetary threat. In the recent Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, there was a resolution which muddied this issue. Rev. Dr. Dawn Stewart was one of the respondents against this resolution. We have included her text below. While the resolution passed with a slight majority, WesleyNexus remains committed to the position presented by Dr. Stewart. Dawn Stewart is a pastor in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference and a member of the WesleyNexus BOD.
Thank you Bishop, I am Rev. Dr. Dawn Stewart pastor of Covenant UMC and a member of the Wesley Nexus Board. As a scientist and a pastor, I am dedicated to the pursuit science and faith in service of the world. I rise to speak against this motion.
Like our Wesleyan Quadrilateral offers tools for shaping theology, science offers two tools for evaluating good science: hypothesis testing and peer review.
The hypothesis of global warming has been validated with scientifically validated data repeatedly by the international scientific community. The current warming trend is of particular significance because it is unequivocally the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over millennia.1 It is undeniable that human activities have warmed the atmosphere, ocean, and land and that widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere, and biosphere have occurred. Unless rapid, transformative action is taken to shift human activities and reduce carbon emissions this trend will continue.
The other tool science offers is peer review for research. The research advocated by this resolution is not widely reviewed and seems to be predominately supported and funded by fossil fuel companies.
This proposal appears harmless, even valuable, but in a world of overwhelming information this proposal will distract from the urgency of the need to develop carbon reducing energy sources and to better steward God’s gift of creation.
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Video: Einstein and the Quantum: Entanglement and Emergence with Brian Greene
Brian Greene, professor of physics and mathematics, is renowned for his groundbreaking discoveries in superstring theory, including the co-discovery of mirror symmetry and of spatial topology change. He is known to the public through his books, The Elegant Universe, The Fabric of the Cosmos, and The Hidden Reality, which have collectively spent 65 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. The Washington Post called him “the single best explainer of abstruse concepts in the world today.” Professor Greene hosted two Peabody and Emmy Award winning NOVA miniseries based on his books and is a frequent television guest, joining Stephen Colbert seven times and playing himself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory. He has also had cameo roles in a number of Hollywood films including Frequency, Maze and The Last Mimzy. With producer Tracy Day, Greene co-founded the World Science Festival and he is the Director of Columbia University’s Center for Theoretical Physics. (http://www.briangreene.org/about/)