religion
March 13, 2025
GC hosts science and religion conference
This past weekend, Goshen College hosted the Conference on Religion and Science, an event which has been held almost every year since its creation in 2001. The conference took place over three days, from Friday to Sunday, with a session each day, along with meals shared together at Westlawn and at an Amish restaurant. There were also discussions, including a student-only session and a worship service which were not public. The keynote speaker for the entire weekend was Sarah Fredericks, associate professor of environmental ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Over the course of the three days, Fredericks...
March 13, 2020
‘The model of the true self’: conference explores religion and science
Dr. Michael Spezio, a psychologist and neuroscientist from Scripps College in Claremont, California and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, offered the keynote address at Goshen College’s 20th annual conference on Religion and Science on Friday. Spezio’s lecture was called, “Imagining the True Self,” which introduced the series for the weekend, “In Whose Image? Perspectives from Interactions of Brain Science and Abrahamic Mindfulness.” The series explored how religion can help science find the truth by offering a different perspective on what it means to be human. To make his point, Spezio showed two images of famous French sculptures that...
April 5, 2019
Hayhoe calls for loving ‘our global neighbor’
This past weekend, Goshen College hosted the 19th annual conference on religion and science. The conference included a series of lectures, two of which were open to the public, as well as multiple discussion sessions that were reserved for registered participants. The keynote speaker was Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric climate scientist and a professor and director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University. Hayhoe’s research focuses on developing and applying high-resolution climate projections in order to better understand what climate change means for people and their natural environment. Hayhoe gave an in-depth look at the science behind climate...
March 15, 2018
Goshen hosts annual religion and science conference
This last weekend marked the 18th Religion and Science Conference held at Goshen College since 2001. Each year, up to 50 pastors, scientists, mathematicians, theologians, and students gather to listen to three lectures by a main speaker, and then interact with pervasive subject matter in discussion groups. It is an opportunity to engage with people of different worldviews and beliefs and expand one’s own understanding beyond their sphere of experience. This year, the speaker was Dr. Muzaffar Iqbal, a Sufi Muslim with a background in scientific research and Islamic study. He is the founder-president of the Center for Islamic Sciences...
April 13, 2017
Minority Ministry Council reconnects and shares
The Minority Ministries Council (MMC) has convened once again from March 29 to April 1, many years after the dissolution of the Council in 1973. The reunion took the form of a conference: “Black, Brown, and Mennonite: Lessons from the Chicano, Puerto Rican, and Black Freedom Movements for the Mennonite Church.” When former members of the council arrived, they took part in oral history interviews, which organizers of the conference and Goshen College history students recorded to be transcribed held in the Mennonite Church USA Archives for future access. The students responsible for the interviewing were a collection of five...
April 13, 2017
Helping to feed America with a ‘Cup of Cold Water’
The goal of any church is to help people who are in need. Whether that be through giving presents to children at Christmas, giving school supplies to less fortunate children or helping people find God, churches aim to help people. At several churches in DeKalb County, Indiana, giving free meals to the hungry are how they help out the community. I grew up in the Waterloo United Methodist Church (WUMC) and in 2012, we started serving a free meal every Wednesday to anyone who needed or wanted it. The program was called Cup of Cold Water (CoCW) and it was...
April 6, 2017
Conference combines science and religion
This weekend, the public is welcome to join scientists and theologians for the 17th annual Conference on Science and Religion. This year’s conference will feature Niels Henrik Gregersen, professor of systematic theology at the University of Copenhagen. The theme of the conference is “Deep Incarnation: From Cosmos to Commitment.” According to Carl Helrich, professor emeritus of physics, Gregersen, like featured speakers before him, chose the theme of the weekend. “[Gregersen’s] topic,” Helrich said, “is one he has been developing for a number of years.” Gregersen’s prior work has focused mostly on creation and Christology, as well as the philosophy of...
March 30, 2017
Muslim experiences on a Christian campus
Every morning, Sara Azzuni, wakes up before the sun rises. After pinning a brightly colored hijab around her face, Azzuni kneels toward Mecca – which in this case, is toward the door of her dorm room in Yoder hall. Azzuni, a second-year nursing major from Palestine, is one of five Muslim students who attend Goshen College, which is a Mennonite-affiliated school. Other students include Nasim Rasoulipour, Yazan Meqbil, Alhassan Barrie and Ameera Alshuga. According to Bob Yoder, campus pastor, 85.1 percent of Goshen College students identify as Christians, and only 1.8 percent identify as “non-Christian” faith groups, such as agnostic,...
March 16, 2017
Making connections from across the desk
On Jill Koop Liechty’s desk sit stacks of carefully-cut-out inspirational quotes and Bible verses. “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness can never extinguish it.” –John 1:5 More quotes, photos of her family and keepsakes from her time spent abroad cover the walls of her office in Newcomer Center. “I try to have a theme,” she said. “I think about what quotes or Bible verses would work together.” The bulletin board outside of her office is just as full as the one inside, but this time there are posters of campus events, various announcements and the same cut-out...
January 14, 2016
SSTT to provide international experience to high schoolers
Goshen College received $600,000 from the Lilly Endowment Foundation in early December to establish a Study-Service Theology Term. Starting in the summer of 2017, this offshoot of GC’s nationally recognized Study-Service Term program will provide a group of 20 diverse high school students interested in theology and ministry with an opportunity to study for two weeks in Guatemala or another Latin American country. Upon returning, the students will be required to do service within a congregation or church-related organization. Priority will be given to high school junior and senior students from the Latino and African-American communities, either locally or from...
September 24, 2015
GC and EMU withdraw from CCCU
In a joint release on Tuesday September 21, both Goshen College (GC) and Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) announced they are voluntarily withdrawing their membership from the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU). After GC and EMU decided to update their non-discrimination policies and allow hiring of married queer faculty this past July, the CCCU board expressed concerns and decided to consult with all member presidents regarding the possibility of changing EMU and Goshen to affiliate status. The CCCU board requested that all members wait to withdraw until the conclusion of the listening process. According to a CCCU press release,...
March 26, 2015
Annual Conference on Science and Religion
This past weekend, Goshen College held its 14th Conference on Science and Religion. The conference included discussion sessions, devotionals and several lectures with retired Princeton Professor of Philosophy Wentzel van Huyssteen. Van Huyssteen was born and raised in South Africa. His interest in religion comes in part from parents, who were missionaries. He has an extensive academic background in the intersection between science and religion. Topics discussed during the conference ranged from free will to the distinction between humans and animals. Van Huyssteen addressed the human capacities for religion, morality and cognition. “No language can be spoken for which the...
March 19, 2015
What does Catholicism look like at Goshen College?
The Goshen College Catholic community meets every Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. in the third-floor connector for a small group discussion. This semester, the group is focusing the discussion on apologetics. Apologetics is a branch of theology devoted to the reason-based justification of faith. Hannah Quast, campus minister for the Catholic Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, said that this series “has been training us in how to defend and explain our Catholic faith with kindness and confidence!” Quast, who leads the Goshen Catholic community meetings, said that the discussion content is determined by the needs and desires of the current...
October 8, 2014
Afternoon Sabbatical: Portugal And Spain, A Shared History
The influence of Muslim presence on Spain and Portugal will be examined during the Afternoon Sabbatical on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Dean Rhodes, professor of Spanish, and Annette Johnson, a guide for Venture Forth Iberia in Spain, will present on the shared, but also unique history of Spain and Portugal through Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula. The program, titled Portugal and Spain: Common Neighbors with an Uncommon Past, will include a luncheon and lecture. The luncheon will consist of Spanish and Portuguese cuisine and the lecture will focus on the influence of the countries’ history on their modern lives and...
March 12, 2014
Moritz to Speak at Annual Religion and Science Conference
Goshen College’s 14th annual conference on Religion and Science will bring new light to human uniqueness and the image of God. The conference, held this Friday through Sunday at the Church-Chapel, is a weekend created to provide a space for discussion and dialogue between religion and science topics, all prompted by a special lecturer. This year’s speaker is Joshua M. Moritz, a lecturer of philosophical theology and natural sciences at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., as well as adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of San Francisco and managing editor of the journal of Theology and Science....