Spectrum Blog

Adventist Women and the Earth: Undergrad and Grad Student Call for Papers

24 November 2008 | Trisha Famisaran

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"Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to the Ecofeminism"

Conference Date: April 24-26, 2009
Location: La Sierra University, Riverside, California
Submissions Due: Friday, February 13, 2009

Undergraduate and Graduate Student Call for Papers: "Adventist Women and the Earth: A Response to the Ecofeminism" is the theme of the 2nd Annual Young Women & the Word Conference, hosted by the Women's Resource Center and co-sponsored by La Sierra University.

This conference aims to address our responsibility to the earth/environment and to explore connections with gender justice. Ecofeminism brings together ecology, deep ecology, and feminism. Feminism seeks equality of women with men, a transformation of social relations of the ownership of the means of production and reproduction, and changing cultural patterns of violence and male domination.

Ecofeminist theologians, such as Rosemary Radford Ruether, specifically seek to assess cultural and social roots that promote destructive relations between men and women, between ruling and subjugated human communities, and the destruction of the rest of the biotic community, of which humans are an interdependent part. Ecofeminist theologians affirm that we can draw critically from the legacy of the Christian and Western cultural heritage to find usable ideas that might nourish a healed relation to each other and to the earth. The conference planners hope to lead out and show how young Adventist women care about the abuse of the earth and women; and challenge others not only to recognize this problem but to actively create and practice solutions that respect the dignity and value of God's creations.

The main topic will be addressed utilizing discussions on leadership, practical solutions, dialogue on the parallels between our ethic toward the environment and women, and so forth. Visit www.adventistwomenearth.wordpress.com for more information.

Featuring Rosemary Radford Ruether, John B. Cobb, Jr., Jared Wright, Maritza Duran, Ginger Hanks-Harwood, Somer Penington, and others.

Undergraduate and graduate student submissions should be presentable in 15 minutes and aim to connect religion, ecology, and gender issues. Please submit a paper proposal of no more than 250 words to be considered for participation. All paper proposals should be sent to the organizer of the conference, Trisha Famisaran, no later than February 13, 2009. Submissions should be sent electronically in Word format to adventistwomenearth@gmail.com and include the following:

1. Paper proposal of 250 words.
2. A separate page indicating your full name, paper title, institutional affiliation, degree program and major, class standing, telephone number, e-mail address and mailing address.

Because the mission of Spectrum Magazine is community through conversation, we invite participation of all readers in a respectful manner. To comment on the Spectrum Magazine website, one must register with a verifiable identity (email, twitter, facebook) and agree to the following Spectrum Magazine commenters covenant.

The Spectrum Blog Gets Analyzed

23 November 2008 | Alexander Carpenter

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I saw this over at Megan McArdle's blog at the Atlantic. She says that it didn't get her right and I'm dubious about these things, but I ran the Spectrum site and blog through the online Meyers-Briggs blog Typealizer. They both came out the same.

ISTP - The Mechanics

The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment are masters of responding to challenges that arise spontaneously. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts.

The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

Independent of mind and problem-solving, adventure-loving and highly skilled - that probably does describe most of the folks who write (and read) Spectrum. Although I'm pretty dubious about the efficacy (since the conditions change results) of these sorts of tests (and let's make that completely dubious about the Typealyzer), thinking about folks as multifaceted types (which is true) rather than just Left or Right provides a lot more room for conversation and understanding.

I can't really remember what my type is, but it would be interesting to see if all the contributors (and readers) have these types in common.

Do you know your Meyers-Briggs type?

Blonde Redhead - Equus

23 November 2008 | DJ ؟pekdrum

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Thanksgiving at the GC - Cartoon

22 November 2008 | Adventist Caricaturist

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The Adventist News Network reports the church is tightening its belt:

Seventh-day Adventist Church leaders announced financial restraints and cutbacks to deal with the current economic situation, ranging from delaying pay increases and budgeted increases in appropriations to reducing travel budgets and relocating executive meetings. Also, a hiring freeze is in effect for the church's General Conference, one of several entities at the church's headquarters building near Washington, D.C.

[Pictured above from left to right: GC vice presidents Ella Simmons, Armando Miranda, Mark Finley, GC president Jan Paulsen, and vice presidents Pardon Mwansa and Eugene Hsu]

A Worship Service to Remember

20 November 2008 | Bonnie Dwyer

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St. Paul’s Chapel, one of the first buildings to be designated an official landmark by the city of New York, stands on the Columbia University campus at the top of a hill. Walking through Harlem for the first time to get there on a November Sabbath, I was enchanted by the time we reached the 1904 structure of stone and brick built in the Renaissance Revival style, it is as impressive on the inside as the out. (But it is not to be confused with the St. Paul’s Chapel vintage 1766 that stands near the World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan.)

It was at the Columbia University Chapel that Adventist graduate students gathered to worship in 1968, and where the Adventist Forum chapter they formed came into being. So it was only fitting for them to return to this site for a worship service on the 40th anniversary of the chapter’s founding. As Judy Rittenhouse, one of the original members, noted in her remembrances of times past, location, location, location made the services special.

A songfest started the service. Then there was a liturgy with Scriptural readings from Judges, 1 Thessalonians, and Matthew. In his homily Dr. Les Wright drew on these Scriptures to talk about God and His Plan for the future.

Soaring musical numbers made the anniversary event a worship service to remember. Baritone Ralph Candelaria’s gentle rendition of “Give Me Jesus” brought tears to my eyes. Soprano Faith Esham, who planned the service, sang “Bist de bei mir” by JS Bach, her glorious operatic voice soaring through the vaulted space. Glazunov’s violin “Meditation” played by Lynelle Smith and Liszt’s piano “Paysage” played by Russell Chin were punctuated by original poetry by Gina Rae Foster and a reading by Jan Anderson. Don Shortslef on the piano accompanied himself singing an original composition “It Could Have Been Me.” Then it was time for chapter history. After Ron Lawson shared stories from earlier days, one member reminded him of the time limitations in the chapel, and the music awaiting. Tenor Ronoldo Appleton performed a heart-rending version of “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” To close the service all of the soloists plus more musicians from the audience formed a chorus to sing Brahms “How Lovely is Thy Dwelling Place.”

Lovely indeed was the place and the time together. Conversations, usually the centerpiece of Forum meetings, this time were reserved for the steps outside the chapel as people from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and New York greeted each other.
This Forum chapter has made worship a centerpiece of their time together. Visiting with them on this special occasion demonstrated the beauty and power of the worship experience.

Bonnie Dwyer is editor of Spectrum Magazine

For more on the history of the NY Adventist Forum click http://www.mnyaforum.org/ and select the 'History' link on the left-hand-side of the page.

Pacific Union College Mourns

20 November 2008 | Alexander Carpenter

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Due to the outpouring of wide interest and community support through this tragedy, Pacific Union College will be webcasting Thursday's memorial service here.

The college has also set up a memorial site: In Loving Memory

Already it includes hundreds of shared memories, short bios of each young man and stories from the San Francisco Chronicle and the Napa Valley Register.

The following pictures of crosses set up next to the accident site were taken by PUC Film major Tim Wolfer.

Adrian Monk - Hiding

19 November 2008 | DJ ؟pekdrum

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by tedMEDIA productions

Build Muscle

19 November 2008 | Charles Scriven

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Dear SPECTRUM Website Friends,

We’ve been surprised (even if we should have known) by hard times. So the approaching holidays are just what we need. Thanksgiving reminds of us of what we (still!) have to be thankful for. And Christmas, as the poet said, tells “the merriest tale.”

If God was man in Palestine, God has us to be signals of the divine today. And the Adventist Forum has been around for forty years now, challenging everyone to engage in conversation about this stupendous fact. I am writing today to ask you to put your faith and generosity behind this effort — behind SPECTRUM, a magazine you know you can trust, and behind the SPECTRUM website, with its ever-provocative give-and-take about the meaning of the Gospel for today.

For tax purposes, it makes sense for you to think about this now. But the best reason to think about it is that our mission of “creating community through conversation” depends on you and others like you.

The wider church is under assault, with popular culture either ignoring it, attacking it or propagating deceptive stereotypes about it. Adventism is in the line of fire, too. And it’s not enough just to be indignant. The best response is for people of faith to find new strength through imagination and tenacity.

Your gift this Holy Season will, quite simply, build muscle. It will help keep SPECTRUM and the website provocative and lively. It will help give energy and hope to Adventism’s thoughtful wing. It will, in short, help fortify resources for renewal that are as basic as bread.

We’re called to be the body of Christ: the courageous few who, by God’s grace, create light and dispel darkness. That calling requires us to support and strengthen the intelligence of faith.

I’m asking that you consider helping this effort. Click on the button below to contribute. We all know the economy is a challenge; but I cannot overstate how much your gift will matter and how much it will be appreciated.

Thank you so much. Your contributions will put a ribbon on Christmas, especially for the people who do the daily work of writing and editing the magazine and website.

Sincerely,

Charles Scriven
President, Adventist Forum