Center for Faith & Scholarship

Abbey of Gethsemani

rolf — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:45:16 +0000

A group of students from the University of Michigan recently took an ‘alternative alternative spring break’ to the Abbey of Gethsemani in Kentucky. The retreat was organized by CFS Director Rolf Bouma.

Gethsemani Abbey was the monastic home of author and contemplative Thomas Merton, a famous convert to Christianity and Catholicism in the 1930s. Although Merton passed away tragically in 1968, Gethsemani remains a focus for the contemplative life and home to some 50 monks of the Trappist order. Students stayed in the monastery retreat house and attended the daily offices in the monastery church. The Trappists are ‘Cistercians of the Strict Observance’, which means that they value silence in the cultivation of a relationship with God. Retreatants enjoyed a time away from the distractions of university life in Ann Arbor and the noise — both aural and spiritual — that obscures God’s presence.

Attending the retreat were (pictured from left) Mark Teater, Melody Pugh, Aaron Iverson, Sarah Shubitowski, Harvey Stob (board member), Harleigh Seyffert, Mozhgon Rajaee, Deb Forger, and Rolf Bouma.

Stephen Prothero

rolf — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 23:38:08 +0000

Listen to the two podcasts by Boston University professor of religion Stephen Prothero. On a recent visit to the University of Michigan, Stephen underscored his position that religious literacy is a lost resource in American culture and highlighted the dangers that come from ignorance of religious beliefs and practices. An engaging speaker, he will pique your own desire to greater familiarity with your own as well as other’s religious faith.

Graduate Fellows

rolf — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 00:15:38 +0000

Congratulations to Jennifer Stenglein and David Young to their appointment as Au Sable Graduate Fellows.

David is a Masters student in Geography at Michigan State University. A graduate of Calvin College, David is pursuing graduate studies to focus on bioenergy and the effects climate and climate change may have on the growth of feedstock crops. His research is gathering data on hybrid poplar stands. David has also worked as a park interpreter at Acadia National Park in Maine, gaining an appreciation for “the beauty and complexity of God’s creation.”

Jennifer is a Ph.D. student in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Her research focuses on the population dynamics since the 1970s of the Wisconsin gray wolf population. Jennifer looks forward to the monthly meetings of the Madison chapter of the grad fellows and its help in heeding her “call to be a caretaker of God’s creation.”