Shanta Premawardhana

Jig-Saw Theology or Poker Theology? Wait! Is there a Poker Theology?

by Shanta Premawardhana
1
| Act Locally, Church-Based, Shanta Premawardhana, Theology, War & Militarism
May 11, 2012

The church plays by jigsaw puzzle theology but the world plays by poker theology, remarked a participant at the NATO/G8 teach-in event at the Chicago Temple, last Sunday night. A jigsaw puzzle is a problem that many people will come together to solve and gain satisfaction in the result, while poker is about winners and losers, who keep poker-faced in order to hide their feelings from others. Can the faith communities win the struggle for justice when they are playing by a different set of rules, he asked, or is there a poker theology?
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SCUPE Board Member Leads Veterans on Trip to Vietnam

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Uncategorized
April 22, 2012

Rev. Dr. Ken Bensen, past president of Habitat for Humanity, Michigan and SCUPE board member just returned from leading a team of Vietnam Veterans on a two week-long home building trip to Vietnam. “The healing for the vets was real,” said Bensen reflecting on the accomplishments of the trip.”More than...
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A New Generation of Matthew 25 Christians

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Asset-Based Community Development, Community Development, Community Organizer, Loyola University, MASJCD
April 16, 2012

Jim Wallis gave the Stan Hallett lecture at Loyola University on April 11th, in support of scholarships for students of the MA in Social Justice and Community Development, a joint program of SCUPE and Loyola University. Stan Hallett, a guiding voice in the establishment of the program from its origins at North Park University was an urban planner, entrepreneur, professor, theologian, community organizer, political strategist, conflict mediator and environmentalist.
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Church as an Economic Being

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Ecclesiology, Presidents Blog, Shanta Premawardhana, Urban Ministry
April 10, 2012

A graphic published in Christianity Today magazine in April 2011 offered a telling picture of the economic value of a church to the local community. Based on the research by sociologist Prof. Ram Cnaan of University of Pennsylvania and published as The Other Philadelphia Story: How Local Congregations Support Quality...
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Nigerian Christians and Boko Haram

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Global, Uncategorized
February 12, 2012

Christians in Nigeria are facing severe violence. SCUPE alum and former member of Ellis Avenue Church, Dr. Obed Dashan is in the front-lines of that struggle. The former principal of Gindiri School of Theology in Plateau State, Nigeria, he and his wife Phena did their M.Div.s at the Associated Mennonite...
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Learning from Jane Addams and the Closing of Chicago’s Hull House

by Shanta Premawardhana
1
| Community Development, Non-Profit
February 6, 2012

It was with great sorrow and dismay that we watched the iconic Chicago institution, the Jane Addams Hull House Association close its doors last week. An organization that throughout its 122 year history served Chicago’s immigrant and poor communities was offering a variety of services to over 60,000 Chicago residents...
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Interfaith Relations and Dialogue a Core Competency — SCUPE Board of Directors Accepts Business Plan

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Uncategorized
February 4, 2012

To its core competencies developed over its 35 year history — urban contextual theological education and culturally rooted (specifically African-American and Latino/a) theological education — SCUPE will add Interfaith Relations and Dialogue. SCUPE’s work in this area will be spearheaded by its president, Rev. Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, whose expertise...
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Week of Prayer for Christian Unity with the Focolare Community

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Ecclesiology, Ecuminism
January 24, 2012

On Saturday, January 21st, I spoke at the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity event organized by the Focolare community in Chicago. The Focolare movement which began as a lay Catholic intentional community has spread throughout the world celebrated 50 years in the United States last year. I have been...
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“God of Israel” in Ecumenical Contexts

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Ecuminism, Uncategorized
January 18, 2012

“If we don’t address the religious justifications for occupation and violence, and help change that narrative, it is hard to imagine that any political settlement will be possible, and even if it happens that it will hold,” I said in a speech to a group of about 100 German pastors...
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Christian self-understanding in the context of Buddhism — Current Dialogue

by Shanta Premawardhana
Comment
| Ecuminism
January 14, 2012

The latest issue of the World Council of Churches’ journal on interreligious dialogue and cooperation Current Dialogue was issued last week. In this issue are the papers presented by Christian theologians who are also scholars of Buddhism. I organized this conference on Christian self understanding in the context of Buddhism...
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