The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii

Open Table Program Archive

Promoting the positive healing role of religion in public life by encouraging dialogue and community building.

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March 7, 2012 - How Will We Live and Where?

The audio file and slides for this program are below.

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Mike Jones (L) and Robert Q. Bruhl (R)

"HOW WILL WE LIVE AND WHERE?"
Professor Willis Moore and Representatives of D R Horton

By 2050, O`ahu's population is projected to increase by 300,000 persons to 1.2 million residents.  Many people of faith, and others, are asking "Where will we live?  What must we pay?"  Some have asked, "Does development absolutely mean the loss of agricultural options?  Can development be done in such a way that preserves open space as small farms?"

The presenting issues in today's Honolulu are proposed developments called Ho`opili, envision La'ie, and also called Koa Ridge. Willis Moore, who teaches at Chaminade University and is a member of the Episcopal Church, chaired a meeting between representatives of D R Horton who presented their plans and thoughts about the Ho`opili project and members of Sierra Club O`ahu Group's Executive Committee.

Although Sierra Club voted to intervene in opposition to Ho`opili, Moore abstained, feeling that in the presentation made by D R Horton were seeds of concern and empathy for both housing options for O`ahu future and agricultural options for the region.

It is Willis' opinion that D R Horton's plans, ideas, and proposals, together with their "track record" elsewhere on the `Ewa Plain, is definitely "a cut above the previous." Members of the D R Horton Team presented at the Open Table.

(Introduced by Professor Willis Moore)

 

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Click here to download:
Hoopili_-_Open_Table_.pdf (6.71 MB)
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November 9, 2011 - CODE BLUE! Can Christianity be Resuscitated to Live Fully in an Exponentially Changing 21st Century Culture?

 The audio and handout for this program are below.

CODE BLUE! Can Christianity be Resuscitated to Live Fully in an Exponentially Changing 21st Century Culture?

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Rev. Dan Hatch   

Using Christianity as a spring board, Dan facilitated a dialogue on the challenges faced by all faith traditions in meeting the challenges of an increasingly “wired” and rapidly evolving global society.

Dan and his family became Hawai‘i residents in 1970 following two years of Peace Corps service in Fiji.  He is a member of the United Church of Christ, ordained in Hawai‘i in 1986 to Intentional Interim Ministries on the mainland. He returned to Hawai‘i in 2002 to continue interim ministries. He was a founding member of The Interfaith Alliance Hawai‘i and an active social justice advocate.  He recently retired to minister to the needs of his grandchildren in California.

In Dan’s words, “I have always been a generalist, a big-picture thinker and, others say, prophetic.  I have a passion for justice, especially as a straight advocate for GLBT rights, economic justice at all levels, and strengthening interfaith relationships.  I am strongly committed to the counter-cultural hard work necessary to become a global society that lives in harmony with the resource-rich environment of this infinitesimal speck of celestial real estate we call Earth.”
 
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Click here to download:
20111109_Code_Blue_handout.pdf (60 KB)
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October 5, 2011 - Faith is a Moving Target

The audio file for this program is below.

Faith is a Moving Target

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Sandra Theunick

Sandra Theunick (Sandy) is the Head of School at St. Andrew's Priory.

Sandy was raised in a rural Midwestern Roman Catholic family. Her high school years, however, were spent in “Washington DC, where she met the women’s religious community that she was later to join – the Religious of the Sacred Heart, an international community establish in close to 50 countries. She spent 28 years in religious life. While in the order, she served as a teacher, campus minister, School Head and congregation administrator. She received her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Masters of Divinity from the Washington Theological Union. After departing the order in 1993, she became interested in interfaith studies and ultimately pursued a two year “ordination track” program in interfaith studies at the New Seminary in New York, NY.

She was ordained to interfaith ministry in 2005. Sandy came to Honolulu in 2007 to serve at St. Andrew’s Priory School as Head of School; a position that she continues to hold. In her spare time she sings in the St. Andrew’s Cathedral choir and serves as a volunteer chaplain for Hospice Hawaii.

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May 5, 2010: How Best May We Care for our Homeless in Hawai‘i?

The audio file for this program is below.  

How Best May We Care for our Homeless in Hawai‘i?  
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Connie Mitchell

Connie Mitchell, Executive Director of IHS

Hawai‘i's homeless population at last count was 6,500 and the problem is growing. Shelters have reached their capacity. Many of the homeless have been priced out of their rental homes. A number are chronically homeless. Some are suffering from mental illness or drug addiction.

They are bounced out of parks, the edge of sidewalks and cars. A growing number are living on our streets in urban Honolulu. One of the solutions is affordable rentals both public and private. Yet
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there is fierce opposition from community groups objecting to homeless housing in their backyard.

One recent proposal was to create a housing structure in Chinatown. This created a storm of controversy and became a political issue. Well-meaning critics argued that concentrating homeless together will exacerbate their problems and pose a danger to nearby schools, businesses and even churches. Connie shared her experience and ideas on how best to care for our homeless in Hawai‘i.

 

 

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April 7, 2010: Nepal: Then and Now (Forty Year Perspective)

The audio file for this program is below. Sorry, the intro did not record for some reason.  

 
 
Nepal: Then and Now (Forty Year Perspective)

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Norma Kehrberg
 
Norma Kehrberg, retired missionary with the United Methodist Church first went to Nepal in 1968 during the time of the absolute monarchy of King Mahendra.  Nepal was a Hindu country and it was against the law for anyone to change the religion of their birth. 
 
While in Nepal Norma worked with the international and ecumenical United Mission to Nepal (UMN) which was primarily founded by an ornithologist missionary in India on part time assignment collecting birds for the Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Norma's last full time assignment in Nepal was as Director of the UMN during which time she negotiated a new five year agreement with the government and participated in the dedication of the 65 megawatt Khimiti hydroelectric plant in the mountains.
 
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March 3, 2010: Justice – Memory – Healing: Paths to Reconciliation

The audio file for today's program is below. In the interests of continuity, I deleted a long, almost silent part in the middle (starting at 27 minutes) which was an epic struggle to get a computer to cooperate.   
 

Justice – Memory – Healing: Paths to Reconciliation   

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Elizabeth Nelson and Linda Rich

Liz and Linda spoke about the Institute for Healing of Memories, an international organization for peace and reconciliation originating in South Africa. They gave a preview of a workshop and facilitator training planned for May. Father Michael Lapsley, the current director, is coming to Hawaii from South Africa to lead the workshop.

“Today we are just at the beginning of building a new society – dealing with the economic, social and psychological and spiritual. If we want the human family to live in peace, we need to grasp that the future of humanity is an interfaith future to learn not just tolerate but to reverence other faith traditions.” Fr. Michael Lapsley

Elizabeth is a RN at St. Francis Hospice and part time Faith Community Nurse at Church of the Crossroads. Linda is the president of the Board of Counseling and Spiritual Care Center, a member of Church of the Crossroads and executive director of The Salvation Army Family Treatment Services.

 
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Click here to download:
Handout_20100303.pdf (16 KB)
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February 3, 2010: Issues of Complex Bereavement due to Sudden and Unexpected Death

The audio file for this program is below. The speaker came a bit late, so a segment of announcements between the introduction and her arrival was deleted.   
 

Recovering from Trauma:
Issues of Complex Bereavement due to Sudden and Unexpected Death
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Rev. Deborah Ball

Rev. Deborah Ball is the Chaplain of Arcadia Retirement Residence.  Rev. Ball’s presentation on Complex Bereavement addresses psychosocial and spiritual aspects of complex bereavement and Inter-Faith Care with grieving individuals and families. The topic is based on clinical-pastoral research she conducted during her Resident Chaplain year at Queens Trauma Center. 

Rev. Ball, who currently specializes in palliative and end-of-life Spiritual Care, has a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, and a Master of Socio-Cultural Anthropology from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

Her cross-cultural and inter-faith experience includes research with the Australian Aborigines; studying Tibetan Buddhism in Nepal; and, Zen Buddhism with Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in Plum Village, France. Rev. Ball has also ministered as a United Church of Christ Missionary in the Philippines, and, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Islamic nation, Niger, in West Africa.

 

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January 6, 2010: Future Light Orphanage and Email Foster Parent Program

The audio files for this program are below.  

Future Light Orphanage and Email Foster Parent Program – An Amazing Partnership

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With Srey Srash, Rob Hail and Jay Jurick

Srey Srash,  one of the orphans from Future Light Orphanage (FLO)
talked about her journey from the Thai Cambodia refugee camp during the
Vietnamese/ Khmer Rouge conflict to her past 15 years living at FLO to where
she is now attending LeJardin in Hawaii on a one year scholarship.

Rob Hail and Jay Jurick related the amazing story of Email Foster
Parents International, which is now planning to expand to other countries.

Email Foster Parents International (EFPI) is the brainchild of Honolulu
Sunrise Rotarian Rob Hail.  Rob envisioned a program that would link
orphaned children in southeast Asia with responsible caring donors through
the use of email correspondence.  It has met with phenomenal success.

The EFPI was inaugurated in the fall of 2000 at the Future Light Orphanage
of Worldmate (FLOW) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.  The facility was perfect for
the pilot program. The Honolulu Sunrise Rotary and volunteers built a
learning center, computer lab and library on campus. Formal English training
is augmented by the many foster parents who visit and/or email their foster
keiki.  Several of our Open Table participants have become email foster
parents and make frequent visits.

Several of the Board members are exploring new partner opportunities in the
Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.  Their Strategic Plan has set a goal
of to provide  services to 2,000 children and foster parents by 2014.  For
more information check out their website www.emailfosterparents.org  . 

 
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November 11, 2009 Part I: Discovering My Roots in Africa

 

Today's program is in two parts. Accompanying slides and the audio file for this part is below. 

Part I  

Discovering My Roots in Africa  

Rev

Rev. Dan Hatch

Dan Hatch was honored earlier this year to participate and preach at the140th anniversary celebration of Inanda Seminary, an orphanage boarding school for Zulu girls, near Durban, South Africa. The thriving school was founded by Dan’s great-great-grandfather and namesake, the Rev. Daniel Lindley.

He shared his experience discovering his roots in Africa, along with photos.

Dan was ordained in Hilo in 1986 to intentional interim ministry within the United Church of Christ in the Northern California/Nevada Conference. After 10 years he served on the judicatory staff of the Missouri Mid-South Conference for 6 years before returning in 2002 to his home in Manoa. Since then he has served as pastor or interim pastor of several Oahu UCC churches.

 

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(for the best viewing, change the View Mode in the lower left corner to "Slides" and click on the slides while listening to the presentation)

Click here to download:
Inanda Seminary’s 140th.pdf (21.9 MB)
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November 11, 2009 Part II: Interfaith Faith Support Ending Domestic Violence

 

Today's program is in two parts. The audio file for this part is below. 

Part II 

Interfaith Faith Support Ending Domestic Violence  

Cecilia_fordham

Cecilia Fordham

The Interfaith Alliance Hawaii, together with a broad spectrum of religious and community service organizations, co-sponsored an historic interfaith forum to support victims of domestic violence, The gathering was called “Partnership of Compassion for The Community”. Cecilia shares some of the highlights of this historic forum and how your church may become part of the solution for this problem.

Cecilia is member of the planning committee of the Forum and a Board Member of TIAH. She has served in lay leadership roles in the Parish of St. Clement and is currently the chair of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai‘i Stewardship Department.

 

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