News stories tagged with "spirituality"

(10/22/10) Mohawk chief and spiritual leader Jake Swamp founded the Tree of Peace Society almost 30 years ago to recover and pass along Mohawk and other tribal culture and philosophy.

On the society's website there's a quote that reads:
"We plant the tree of peace. Under its roots we have buried the weapons of war. Hatred, greed and jealousy will be cast aside to make room for positive teachings."

One of these teachings comes from the Mohawk prophet Kanya-da-LEE-oh, or "handsome lake." Here's his story, as told by Jake Swamp.

(02/17/10) The Rev. Jane Spahr is a Presbyterian minister who has spent the last 30 years advocating for equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Presbyterian Church.

She's had ministries in the inner city of Pittsburgh, San Rafael and Oakand, California, and in San Francisco, where she served as pastor in the Castro area - the first out lesbian pastor in the Presbyterian Church. She then was a founder and first executive director of the Spectrum Center for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender concerns in San Anselmo, California.

She served for 17 years as the minister director of That All May Freely Serve - an organization that advocates for LGBT people who want to serve in the Presbyterian Church. Spahr is now retired, but she still travels widely to communities, colleges and universities - as she says "evangelizing."

She was in the NCPR studios this morning with the Rev. Kathleen Buckley, chaplain at St. Lawrence University, to talk with Martha Foley.

(Also on campus this week: the Shower of Stoles Project -- a collection of liturgical stoles representing the lives of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of faith. 450 stoles are on display this week in various places on the St. Lawrence University campus - the student center and the chapel among them.)

(02/02/07) Ginny Luedeman, a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship, will give a speech titled "Plain Talk About How Spirituality Heals" Monday evening (8 pm) in Griffiths Arts Center, at St. Lawrence University. The event, co-sponsored by the University chaplain's office and the First Church of Christ Scientist in Potsdam, is free open to the public. Luedeman lives in Salem, Oregon, and was a member of a '60s rock band when she began to explore the writings of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy. She spoke with Todd Moe.

(01/21/05) Martha Foley talks with a Buddhist monk who is at St. Lawrence University to make a Tibetan sand mandala. The intricate sand paintings represent the cosmos and are used as meditation tools. This weekend, the Venerable Tenzin Yignyen will construct a Buddhist sand mandala at the Brush Art Gallery at St. Lawrence. He'll also present a "Teaching and Meditation on Compassion" in the gallery on Saturday night at 7:30.

(03/24/03) As Fort Drum buzzes with deployment activity, area churches are busy helping people cope during times of war. The First Baptist Church in Black River is just a few minutes drive from Fort Drum. Sunday some 40 parishioners - many with military ties - came to hear Pastor Cliff Bennett's sermon, entitled "What To Do in Uncertain Times". David Sommerstein talked with some of them about how their faith helps them with their fears.

(10/11/02) Martha Foley talks with Mark Moreau, founder of the Center for Real Leadership, about redefining leadership. How can truth, justice and compassion be brought back into our lives?

(07/25/02) This week the Tree of Peace Learning Center in Rossie in western St. Lawrence County hosts an annual workshop series called the Sacred Circle. It brings together people to teach and learn about a variety of native issues, from how the Iroquois document history to native burial mounds in Ohio.

The Tree of Peace Society was founded two decades ago by Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp. Its mission is to recover and pass on Mohawk and other tribal culture and philosophy. David Sommerstein went to the learning center in Rossie to talk with Chief Swamp.

(07/25/02) Chief Jake Swamp tells the story of a Mohawk prophet called "Handsome Lake".