Welcome to Kairos for Spring 2025

Sunday Mornings, 10:15 a.m., Fireside Room

Jan. 5 and 12: Harlots or Heroines:  The Stories of Women in Matthew’s Genealogy
Diane Jacobson, Professor Emerita of Old Testament, Luther Seminary

We will study together some remarkable stories from the Old Testament.  However, the title actually comes from the New Testament, specifically the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, in of all places, the genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17).  Five women are mentioned there: Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30); Rahab (Joshua 2:1-24); Ruth (Ruth 1:1-4:22); the wife of Uriah (2 Samuel 11:2-12:24; 1Kings 1; 2:13-25); and Mary (Luke 126-56; 2:1-7; 33-3

What binds these women together is that their sexual behavior is open to question.  More than this, one might say that if their sexual relations are taken at face value, each of these women might condemned as harlots. And yet these women are not in fact harlots, but rather they are heroines of the faith.  Hence the title: Harlots or Heroines.

Jan 19: Cherish All Children: Educating and Engaging Churches to Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
Joy McElroy, Director of Cherish All Children, LSS

As people of faith, we are called to protect all of God’s children, especially those most vulnerable. Cherish All Children works to educate and engage churches and communities to prevent child sexual exploitation and trafficking. McElroy joined Cherish All Children St. Paul Area Synod Ministry Team in 2015 to share the message of prevention and engage congregations and in action. Now part of Lutheran Social Service of MN, Cherish All Children’s primary prevention work includes educating adults, about what is happening in our communities and sharing what we can do to keep children and youth safe. It also engages middle and high school youth in online and in-person skills-based training about safe and healthy relationships McElroy is passionate about supporting children and youth to reach their full God-given potential and brings to her work more than 30 years of leadership experience in business, education, and non-profit organizations.

Jan. 26 Reflections on the 2024 ELCA Youth Gathering
Incarnation youth with Nate Bergengren, ILC Formation Leader for Teens & Families 

The ELCA Youth Gathering is arguably the most fun and formational things that the ELCA does across the generations. It changes lives, and it changed ours! We will share the impact of your support for our New Orleans experience summer 2024—how we’ve been Created to Be brave, free, authentic, disruptive disciples who are learning to live and love like Jesus for a lifetime.

Bergengren, a religion and biology graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College, completed an M.A. Christian Ministry from Luther Seminary and is discerning a call into the ministry of Word & Service (Diaconal Ministry). He feels called into Diaconal ministry, to be a helper or servant, and to help others be better helpers—to spend and find my life in God’s beloved community, to be a part of God’s incarnational/empathetic approach to healing and restoration. In his position at Incarnation, he strives to help our teens and families (all of us, really!) step more fully into God’s relentless invitation to experience and share abundant and overflowing life—to learn to live and love like Jesus for a lifetime.

Feb. 2: Interfaith Foundations for College Students
Najeeba Syeed, inaugural El-Hibri endowed chair and Executive Director of Augsburg University’s Interfaith Institute

Interfaith learning and relationships prepare Christians to be bold in faith and welcoming to all neighbors. Where are others’ perspectives coming from? Where are you rooted? Staying curious about such questioning is essential to building bridges across differences. From classrooms to dorm rooms, college students have particularly poignant encounters of faith and identity that can help us all embrace respectful curiosity.

Najeeba Syeed, an expert on Muslim-Jewish relations, has worked extensively on Evangelical Christian and Muslim relations throughout the country. She served as Associate Professor of Interreligious Education and Director of the Center for Global Peacebuilding at Claremont School of Theology from 2010-2020.

Feb. 9: Zoroastrianism
Shahryar Kianian, USDA research scientist, Born and raised in Zorastrian faith

Zoroastrian beliefs have had lasting and profound influence on the world major religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam.  Those simple beliefs and religious directives (e.g., the good thought, good words and good deeds ingrained in every Zoroastrian child) are at the core of lessons to be carried by all.  But often in modern society we tend to lose sight of those simple beliefs and lessons to the detriment of humanity.

Kianian a research scientist with the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture- Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS), has been employed as the research leader for the Cereal Disease Laboratory unit since 2013. Before that he was a professor at North Dakota State University for more than 15 years.  He moved from Iran to the United States at the age of 16 in 1978, finished high-school and all college education (BS and PhD) in various universities in California.

Feb. 16 Have No Fear, Little Flock
Gary Anderson, retired Incarnation senior pastor

Fear plays a very large part in our lives. We face numerous types of fears. In this session we will explore some of our fears and, using Bible passages, consider how our faith helps us face our fears.

Following his retirement in 2004, Anderson became interim seminary pastor at Luther Seminary for two years, then worked part-time for the Saint Paul Area Synod ELCA as director of “Crossing Bridges,” a three-year, $2 million mission appeal. His alma mater, Gustavus Adolphus College, honored him with its 2009 Covenant Award for his significant contributions to the life and growth of both Gustavus and the Church, especially his strong leadership on the Gustavus Board of Trustees and with Commission Gustavus 150 Faith Task Force.

Feb. 23: Labyrinths: Ancient Paths for Modern Prayer
Lisa Gidlow Moriarty, Artist, spiritual director, Professional labyrinth maker

Labyrinths are ancient symbols that are experiencing a resurgence of interest in response to the needs of our contemporary society. Through a photographic journey, we will explore the history of these meandering images from earliest known rock carvings to medieval cathedral placements and to unique expressions that are being created today. How are these rediscovered paths being used? Where can they be found? Why are there so many in our immediate area?

Lisa Gidlow Moriarty, artist, spiritual director and professional labyrinth maker. She holds a bachelor’s degree in fine arts/design and is an internationally recognized presenter with a passion for leading others in use of labyrinths in the spiritual journey. She travels internationally to explore the ancient labyrinth and has designed and installed more than 300 labyrinths for schools, hospitals, churches and individuals. She is past president of the International Labyrinth Society (www.labyrinthsociety.org) and owner of Paths of Peace (www.pathsofpeace.com) in Stillwater.

March 2: Bega Kwa Bega
Kristen Levorson, Director of Bega Kwa Bega, St. Paul Area Synod

Kristen Levorson will share news from Iringa, Tanzania and Incarnation’s companion congregations at Kigamboni and Mkwawa. Bega Kwa Bega supports congregations that walk shoulder to shoulder with companions in the Iringa Diocese, a growing, thriving witness to God’s love in action throughout the world. Bega Kwa Bega is a joint ministry between communities of faith in the ELCA and ELCT, whose purpose is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to extend Christian hospitality, and to strengthen relationships with one another through shared practices of prayer, presence and projects.

March 9 and 16: Walking through Acts: A Visual Tour
Rev. Dr. Steve Thomason, Professor of Spiritual Formation and Dean of the Chapel, Luther Seminary

How can a group of ordinary people change the world? Walk through the illustrated story of how the Holy Spirit led Jesus’ disciples into places they never expected to share the Good News of God’s love for all people and how God invites us to follow today!

Rev. Dr. Steve Thomason is a visual artist, an ELCA pastor and Luther Seminary professor. His work is a fusion of art and theology through which he invites people to explore spirituality and scripture through visual art and creativity. His recent work, “A Cartoonist’s Guide to Acts,” offers opportunity to experience Acts as a graphic novel.

March 23: e-MERGE-ing Justice Ministries: ELCA World Hunger Partnerships and Intersectional Justice
Peter McClellan, Program Director for Hunger Education, ELCA’s Building Resilient Communities

For 50 years, ELCA World Hunger’s approach to ending hunger has focused on “root causes” of poverty, addressing the forces in our world that drive people to food insecurity. In recent years, ELCA World Hunger has tightened how we understand this work to an acronym, M.E.R.G.E.: ending hunger requires attention to migrant, environmental, racial, gender, and economic justice.

McLellan will explore how M.E.R.G.E. justice principles are driving ELCA World Hunger’s work—from direct action to granting—and how they can support our community’s own approach to ending hunger. Coming to the ELCA from the higher education world, McLellan, a Shoreview native, has focused his passion for making space for justice for marginalized people within privileged communities through adult learning and leadership development.

March 30:  Shobi’s Table: Love Made Edible
Kari Olsen, Director and Mission Developer of Shobi’s Table

Shobi’s Table is a St. Paul pay-as-you-can cafe and community.  We are a common table where all are fed in body and soul, and we envision a world where all have opportunity for good food and loving community.  Our work and prayer together is paving the way for the future church to take shape as a community that centers its identity in the mutual love and service of a shared table.

Olsen, an ELCA deacon, discerned her call into the ministry while working in different kitchens, particularly as Food Service Coordinator at Holden Village Lutheran retreat center in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State. There, she lived and grew in her understanding of the deep connection between the Communion Table and our own kitchen tables, revealing the love of God made edible in the food that nourishes our body and souls.

A graduate of Seattle Pacific University, she received a Master of Arts in Ministry from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. In her first call as kitchen coordinator at Christ on Capitol Hill, she helped guide a project to remodel their kitchen to commercial standards and connect the liturgical and service life of the congregation with food.

Questions about Kairos? Contact The Kairos Committee.