The Seminary Explores

This podcast was the final Seminary Explores program with Dr. Gerald Christianson who announced his retirement after 44 years of being a host of the program. He discussed the goal of the program, the types of interviewees the program sought to interview, and the theological underpinnings which guided the program.

He also talked about the justice issues he wish he had pursued. In addition, he recalled excitement on doing live shows in which an adult Sunday school class would observe the interview and then be able to ask the guest speaker questions following the recording. The podcast ended with him signing off for the last time. (Or is it?)

Interfaith Connection’s executive producer and host Jackie Fuller joins Katy Giebenhain for a conversation about Fuller’s interfaith work in the Washington, D.C. Metro area and the upcoming Religion Communication Congress 2020 which is sponsored by The Religion Communicators Council.

The March 17-21 Religion Communication Congress 2020 includes speakers:

• Wajahat Ali, CNN Contributor and Contributing Op-Ed Writer to The New York Times
• Rabbi Rick Jacobs, President of the Union for Reform Judaism
• Amelia Kegan, Legislative Director, Domestic Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation
• Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, Senior Religion Fellow for the Sikh Coalition and a Visiting Scholar at NYU’s Center for Religion and Media and others.

Thank you to the Church of the Epiphany for kindly providing our interview site.

Alex Hayes, Managing Editor of the Gettysburg Times, shares his belief that for a local newspaper to survive it must be local.  Despite, and perhaps because of, the competition from on-line news, people still want to read about their neighbors, their town councils, their courts, and their sports events, even if one reads it as an e-edition.  Furthermore, the newspaper, whether the New York Times or the Gettysburg Times, offers a much higher degree of reliability than on-line news which is often driven by unverified opinion or worse—a development in American history that is a major departure from the past and often disturbing as well.

Pope Frances has called a special meeting in Rome for February 2019 to address the scandal in the Roman Catholic Church concerning the abuse of boys by priests, but will it be enough?

Dr. Christopher Bellitto, Professor of History , Kean University, and author of “Renewing Christianity.”, explores the history and future of this ongoing crisis. How it has been handled and ignored in the past and what is being done about it now. He believes that–despite the bishops’ historic reservations toward “secular” interference—the first call when abuse is suspected must be to the police.

On the 50th anniversary of the Tet Offensive, Lt. Col. (ret.) Thomas Dombrowsky a Vietnam War combat veteran and Adjunct Professor, Gettysburg College, asks what we have learned: the trauma of veterans was not so much outright hostility as disinterest or silence; we should not blame the soldiers for bad policy; and, above all, we need to think beyond the end of hostilities so that winning the peace becomes as important as winning the war. On the positive side, he notes that two American presidents, Obama and Trump, have visited Viet Nam.

Dr. Strobert explores the nature of “friendship” in contemporary society with Pastor Fritz Foltz. Pastor Foltz discussed the changing nature of friendship from the biblical texts to the Church Fathers to the present technology of Facebook. He also shared his introduction to “professional” friendship roles in the professional sports and gambling industries.

Argentina beyond “Evita”: a bustling nation with a strong professional class, a varied economy (especially agriculture and manufacturing), and exceptional scenery. The younger generation, represented by this team Rotary International team made up of attorney Marinal Ramos, attorney Melisa Cruzat and business administrator Leandro Marquez, is fully aware of the troubles of the distant past but has only experienced democracy and an open society in which women are making themselves felt especially in the field of law.

Dr. Largen continues her discussion with Rev. Shafer as he talks about the interfaith reality in which we live, and the way media technologies—including the news media—can foster both positive and negative attitudes about different religious traditions, including Christianity.

Dr. Largen speaks with Rev. Eric Shafer about the interface between religion and the media, particularly as it relates to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, both past and present.  He describes the historic openness of the Lutheran church to current media technologies, and expresses optimism for the future.