Student religious leaders (Rabbinic students, Christian seminarians, and others) are invited to explore together what it means to serve as a religious leader in the multifaith setting of 21st century America using case-study methods. Students have the opportunity to attend the Parliament for the World’s Religions in Melbourne, Australia in December 2009.

Travel Stipend Applications are due September 24, 2009. See below for details.

Dates, Times and Location

• 5 Tuesdays: October 13, 20. November 3, 10, 17. (No class October 27)
• All classes held from 4:15 - 6:00pm at Auburn Seminary, 121st and Broadway, Manhattan (Stewart Room).

Background: The most effective religious leaders in America understand not only how to serve their own faith communities, but also how to reach across lines of religious difference and how to speak to broad audiences. The course will give seminarians the opportunity to explore their responsibilities to communities outside their own faith tradition and to learn skills and best practices for effectively reaching across lines of faith as part of their ministry. The course and associated travel stipends are funded by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Course Faculty

• Rabbi Justus Baird, Director, Center for Multifaith Education, Auburn Seminary
• The Rev. Dr. J.C. Austin, Director, Center for Church Life, Auburn Seminary

Course Details

The educational goal of the minimester is to evaluate your responsibilities to other faith communities and to the ‘public square’ as assessed through analysis of case studies.

New York Learning Sessions: Five sessions will examine actual case studies of religious leaders and the challenges they and their communities have faced with regard to multifaith issues.

1. October 13: Introduction to Case Method and the Inaugural Prayer for President Obama by Rick Warren
2. October 20: A Mosque in Palos Heights, IL
3. November 3: Trouble in Troy, MI (National Day of Prayer fiasco)
4. November 10: Sign of Division
5. November 17: Cases and news events from students

Participation Requirements

• After the initial class, read and analyze each case prior to class.
• Engage the issues surrounding each case during the class discussion.
• Between classes, participate in an online discussion by posting and commenting on relevant news items. Participants must have or open a Facebook account to participate in the online forum. Students will be required to post a minimum of 1 news item and make 3 comments in the private, online forum.

Registration

To register for the course, e-mail the following information to Cristian Martinez at cjm@auburnsem.org. Other questions about the course may be directed to course faculty Rabbi Justus Baird at jnb@auburnsem.org.

• Name
• Seminary affiliation and current year of study (1st, 2nd, 3rd...)
• Cell phone number
• Mailing address
• Whether you intend to submit an application for a travel stipend.

APPLICATION FOR TRAVEL STIPEND

Five (5) $1,800 travel stipends, to be used for travel to the Parliament in Melbourne, will be distributed to course participants through the following application process:

Write a 600-word essay titled: “Why I Would Like to Participate in the Parliament of the World’s Religions.” The essay should consist of two (unequal) parts:

1. Looking Back: Briefly explain whether/how you have encountered and dealt with the reality of other religious believers and/or other religious traditions in your life. (This part is primarily informational. Part B is the pivotal part of your essay.)
2. Looking Forward: Explain how you hope to be a religious leader (broadly defined) in a multi-religious world. What are your thoughts about the most pressing reasons for interreligious engagement? How does your vision of religious leadership fit into that understanding? What obstacles do you expect, and how will you overcome them?

Stipend application essays will be evaluated on the basis of their creativity, concreteness, indication of commitment, and religious grounding.

Essays should be 600 words or less. At the top of your essay, include the following information: a) Name; b) Seminary you attend; c) Your academic year; d) your e-mail address and cell-phone number.

E-mail a completed essay in Word or PDF format to Cristian Martinez, cjm@auburnsem.org. Applications are due no later than Thursday evening, September 24, 2009, at midnight. Notifications will be made by Sunday, September 27.