Embedded Files
Sign up for our newsletter to stay in the know!
Together we continue the work of repair—one text, one meal, one conversation at a time.
Together we continue the work of repair—one text, one meal, one conversation at a time.
What is Scriptural Reasoning?
What is Scriptural Reasoning?
Scriptural Reasoning (SR) brings people of different faiths together to read and discuss their sacred texts—not to agree, but to explore differences and learn to “disagree better.” The practice deepens understanding of one’s own and others’ traditions while forging strong interfaith bonds. Now practiced worldwide, even in conflict zones, SR is expanding to include communities whose wisdom is passed on through objects, songs, dances, and stories rather than written scripture.
Watch this brief Interview by KARE 11 with Chaplain Kelly Figueroa-Ray, Dr. Peter Ochs, and David Ford talking about the practice of Scriptural Reasoning. To read the article on the KARE II website, click here.
Year II Recap
Year II Recap
Reparative Scriptural Reasoning
Reparative Scriptural Reasoning
The 2025 Spring Mahle Lecture afforded participants the opportunity to engage in meaningful interfaith dialogue, learn from global Scriptural Reasoning leaders, and reflect on how sacred traditions can guide efforts to repair our world.
Date / Time: Tuesday, April 8, 2025
Venue: Kay Fredericks Room, Klas Center, Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN
Attendance: ~100 participants seated at 18 Scriptural Reasoning (SR) tables
"reparative"
adjectivere·par·a·tive [ri-ˈpa-rə-tiv]1: of, relating to, or effecting repair2: serving to make amends"reparative"
From Foundations to Repair
From Foundations to Repair
Dr. Rocío Cortés Rodríguez, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Theology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, giving her keynote lecture on "Scriptural Reasoning and Indigenous Wisdom" at the 2025 Spring Mahle Lecture, April 8th event.
Year I (2024) introduced the basics of SR. Year II (2025) advanced the conversation by asking how SR supports reparative work—socially, spiritually, and environmentally—across diverse traditions.
Pre-Public Event High Tea & SR Facilitator Training
Pre-Public Event High Tea & SR Facilitator Training
Pictures from the Pre-Public Events: High Somali Tea with MFA Pipers: Wesley Center Department’s Multi-Faith Alliance (MFA) Scholars meet with Mahle Keynote Participants over Somali tea and Samosas. "Leading an SR Group" SR Faciliator Training and Catered Dinner with local community members interested in leading their own Scriptural Reasoning Group, all Mahle Keynote Participants and MFA Scholars participated either as trainers or as part of SR groups for the training
New Local Community Members Practice Facilitating SR Alongside Expert Keynote Participants
New Local Community Members Practice Facilitating SR Alongside Expert Keynote Participants
Pictured here is newly trained Ailya Vajid (right), Associate Chaplain for Muslim and Interfaith Life, Chaplain's Office at Carleton College facilitating a table at the SR Workshop alongside Keynote Participant and expert SR Facilitator, Dr. Ashleigh Elser (left).
"Leading an SR Group" Training on Monday, April 7th: The 2025 Mahle Keynote Participants led a special training for those interested in starting and leading SR groups in the Twin Cities. The training was a first step towards facilitator certification. Chaplain Kelly will hold an additional trainings for those interested in certification to start new SR Groups.
Practicing New Skills: At the public SR Workshop the next day, there were six newly trained facilitators leading their own table with the support of an expert in SR facilitation.
Study theme: “Repair” (texts chosen by Keynote Participants from the Qur’an, Hebrew Bible, and New Testament).
The Potluck Project Presentation
The Potluck Project Presentation
Viveka Hall-Holt from Paths of Understanding presents "The Potluck Project," while Mahle Lecture participants enjoy a buffet dinner.
While enjoying a buffet that accommodated common dietary needs, attendees heard from Viveka Hall‑Holt (Paths of Understanding) on The Potluck Project—an initiative that combats polarization by convening neighbors for shared meals across difference.
“When people of diverse cultures, traditions, and identities gather together in public, the larger community breathes a sigh of relief.” —The Potluck ProjectMahle Lecture Participants discussed how a program like The Potluck Project could help build trust between neighbors of diverse religious traditions and be first step towards creating a new Scriptural Reasoning group. Sharing one's food and stories is a small care-full step toward inviting each other to read, converse, and interpret each others sacred wisdom and texts.
Keynote Lecture
Keynote Lecture
Zach Reinsma '25 (left) reads Hamline's Land Acknowledgment Statement. Dr. Kevin Hughes (right) listens before stepping up to introduce the keynote speaker, Dr. Rocío Cortés Rodríguez.
Beyond the Written Text: Challenges of a New Adventure in Sceriptural Reasoning
Beyond the Written Text: Challenges of a New Adventure in Sceriptural Reasoning
Speaker: Dr. Rocío Cortés Rodríguez — theologian, SR scholar, and pioneer of interfaith work with Mapuche communities, indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile.
Dr. Cortés Rodríguez chronicled her Chilean team’s “adventure” of working with an interreligious team, including Mapuche members, who have started placing Mapuche objects—textiles, carved drums—on the Scriptural Reasoning table, alongside Qur’an, New Testament, and Hebrew Bible passages. Key insights included:
SR's Leveled Status Is Key To Expanding Beyond Text: No participant is expert in all traditions, fostering a “dance of radical hospitality” that equalizes voices as participants sit down, literally at the same level, around the table.
Mistakes and Missteps Happen: Many published Mapuche stories proved unreliable as Mapuche participants immediately identified colonizer influences in texts that were purported to be "translated and transcribed;" the team now consults community elders directly and has moved to reasoning that engages the wisdom held in Mapuche objects—textiles, carved drums, ancestral songs.
Teaching Tradition: Towards the Possibility of Creative, Curious Play: Genuine inclusion of indigenous community members has included more "teaching" of Mapuche traditions than normally found in standard SR practice. As trust builds, this there are indications that the more creative, curious play, characteristic of traditional Scriptural Reasoning, may be a future possibility.
Looking Ahead
Looking Ahead
Journal of Scriptural Reasoning Relaunch
Journal of Scriptural Reasoning Relaunch
Student Lead Iris/Sam Eichinger ’26 is uploading back issues to Hamline’s Digital Commons. Volume 20 is live, and Volume 21—the first fully native to the new platform—will appear in Fall 2025. Explore: https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/jsr/.
2026 Spring Mahle Lecture
2026 Spring Mahle Lecture
The theme and speaker will be announced in early 2026. Watch for an invitation and plan to join us!
Stay Connected
Stay Connected
Start or join an SR circle: email chaplain@hamline.edu
Subscribe to Wesley Center Department Newsletter (1/month max) for all updates on programming and events
Three Mahle Events featured at the 2025 Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival
Three Mahle Events featured at the 2025 Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival
This year, three Mahle Lecture events were part of a wider event series: 2025 Culture of Encounter Ideas Festival hosted by the University of St. Thomas and the Minnesota Multifaith Network (MnMN).
Monday, April 7th, 12:30pm at University of St. ThomasHigher Ed Convening Group of the Minnesota Multifaith Network Luncheon with Mahle Keynote Participants
Monday, April 7th, 6:30pm at Hamline University"Leading an SR Group" SR Facilitator Training and Dinner with local and Hamline community members and Wesley Center Department Multi-Faith Alliance (MFA) Scholars
Tuesday, April 8th, 5:30pm at Hamline University2025 Spring Mahle Keynote Workshop and LecturePublic Event Schedule:5:00 PM: Doors opened for gathering & Mezze appetizers 5:30 PM: Scriptural Reasoning Workshop, Topic: "Repair" Facilitated by trained local leaders alongside expert Scriptural Reasoning Workshop Leaders. 7:15 PM: Catered Dinner for all workshop participants, brief presentation and table conversation led by the Potluck Project, Viveka Hall-Holt.Buffet Dinner Menu
- Chicken Tikka Masala (Halal)
- Madras Cabbage & Peas (Vegan, GF)
- Aloo Gobi Matar (Vegan, GF)
- Dal Tarka (Vegan, GF)
- Pulao Rice (Vegan, GF)
- Spinach Pakoras (Vegan)
- Naan Bread
- Cilantro Chutney (Vegan, GF)
- Mango–Passion‑Fruit Dessert (GF)
Year I Recap
Year I Recap
Foundational Scriptural Reasoning
Foundational Scriptural Reasoning
The inaugural year of the two‑year series Interreligious Peace‑building Through Study introduced the foundations of Scriptural Reasoning (SR). A live “fish‑bowl” demonstration, table‑top workshop, and keynote by SR co‑founder Dr. David Ford OBE revealed how shared textual study fosters understanding across faith traditions and sets the stage for future, reparative applications of SR.
Date / Time: April 2024 (Spring Semester)
Venue: Kay Fredericks Room, Klas Center, Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN
Attendance: ~70 participants despite severe weather
"foundational"
adjectivefoun·da·tion·al [fau̇n-ˈdā-sh(ə-)nəl] of, relating to, or forming or serving as a base or foundation: fundamental"foundational"
Scriptural Reasoning Fishbowl Demonstration
Scriptural Reasoning Fishbowl Demonstration
Facilitators: Dr. Peter Ochs (SR co‑founder, University of Virginia) and Dr. Daniel Weiss (University of Cambridge) facilitated other members of the Society for Scriptural Reasoning (SSR) through a public “fish‑bowl” Scriptural Reasoning conversation demonstration.
Focus theme: Hospitality
Texts discussed:
Genesis 18:1‑5 (JPS 1985)
Hebrews 13:1‑3 (NRSV)
Qur’an 51:24‑28 (Abdel Haleem).
Workshop Attendees Study Texts Together and Break Bread
Workshop Attendees Study Texts Together and Break Bread
Following the demonstration, 7–10 attendees per table—each guided by an SSR facilitator—continued close reading of the same three texts, practicing the SR rhythm of curiosity, respectful challenge, and playful interpretation. Conversation flowed into a shared meal catered by Hamline Dining.
Keynote: The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning
Keynote: The Promise of Scriptural Reasoning
Speaker: Dr. David Ford OBE, Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus, University of Cambridge
Dr. Ford traced SR’s growth from a tri‑Abrahamic forum to a global movement and identified four hallmarks of its emerging forms (e.g., six‑tradition SR in China):
Creative improvisation rooted in local context
Institutional anchoring that sustains practice
Full participation by people who self‑identify with the texts studied
A distinctive ethos of lively, surprise‑filled dialogue around rich texts
He also celebrated pioneering work in Chile led by Dr. Rocío Cortés Rodríguez, whose team integrates Mapuche wisdom—songs, textiles, sacred objects—into SR sessions, moving “beyond the written text.”
“The question in SR is not What does this text mean? but What could this text mean?” —Rabbi Esther Adler (Q&A)
The evening generated strong interest in forming local SR circles and set the intellectual and relational groundwork for Year II: Reparative Scriptural Reasoning (April 2025).
Dr. David Ford's lecture is published in The Mahle Lectures Journal. Please consider subscribing to the Wesley Center newsletter to receive monthly (no more, sometimes less) updates about this and other exciting Wesley Center initiatives.
About This Event
About This Event
5:00 PM: Doors open for gathering
5:30 PM: "Repair," a Scriptural Reasoning Workshop, facilitated by trained local leaders** and Keynote Workshop Leaders. Including an interactive discussion exploring how sacred texts can inform practices of repair and healing.
7:15 PM: Dinner for all workshop participants
8:00 PM: “Scriptural Reasoning and Indigenous Wisdom,” Keynote Lecture by Dr. Rocío Cortés Rodríguez. The keynote lecture will be followed by an interactive Q&A and discussion.
Read the Hamline's Oracle coverage by Emily Miles '25:
Gratitude
Gratitude
Thanks to Rev. Kathi Austin and Steve Mahle whose generous support makes it possible for us to bring together thought leaders and emerging practitioners to foster interreligious dialogue, build bridges across traditions, and explore reparative practices that address suffering and division in our world. We are grateful for their ongoing generosity that helps us make this transformative series a reality.
Additional appreciation to Acting/Interim President Kathleen M. Murray; Staff of the Wesley Center for Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice; Rev. Carol Zaagsma (Minnesota Annual Conference, UMC); Dr. Kevin Hughes; our keynote participants; the Hamline Dining Service team; and the many volunteers who created a hospitable space for study, story, and shared meals.
Stay Connected
Stay Connected
Start or join an SR circle: email chaplain@hamline.edu
Subscribe to Wesley Center Department Newsletter (1/month max) for all updates on programming and events
Together we continue the work of repair—
one text, one meal, one conversation at a time.
Page updated
Report abuse