Sunday Seminars
Following Services - 11:30 a.m.
Lenten Sunday Seminar Series
The Gift of Immigrants
In this period of turmoil as immigration law and enforcement collides with the Biblical call to offer friendship to the stranger, let’s take some time this Lent to explore The Gift of Immigrants. The Sunday Seminar Committee began working on this topic last fall, long before the election, and with no crystal ball to enable us to foresee the outcome for our refugee and immigrant communities. We are very proud that our efforts have borne fruit, and that we will all have multiple opportunities to better understand the challenges of human movement around the globe.
We will begin with a pre-Lenten look at opposition to immigration on March 2, and we will then learn specifically about Muslim, Mexican, and Latinx immigration, about our international students, and about the impact of hunger and poverty on the refugee and immigrant community. Perhaps you might ask yourself: Do I know the difference between immigrant and refugee status? Do I understand the asylum process? Do I grasp the process by which an individual makes their way to this country and then seeks to build a life here? Do I know WHY people still long to move themselves and their loved ones to the United States, despite the tremendous difficulties involved?
Please join us for any and all Sundays in Dowd Commons at 11:30 and participate in getting to know our neighbors! Below are the first few seminars we have planned:
March 9th, Dr. Simee Malik, Vice-President of the Chagrin Valley Islamic Center. Muslim Immigration: We’re from Around the World.
March 16th, Veronica Isabel Dahlberg, Founder and Executive Director of HOLA Ohio. Advocating for Immigrants in an Era of Uncertainty.
March 23rd, Amanda Powell, Campus Minister for United Protestant Campus Ministries (UPCaM). What’s It Like to Be a College Student in 2025?
March 30th, Nicole Schmidt, Midwest Senior Regional Organizer for Bread for the World. Bread for the World.
April 6th, Rev. Max Rodas, Pastor in the Church of the Nazarene, and Executive Director of Nueva Luz Urban Resource Center. Compassion Transcends Theology and Religion.