By Brenda Erdahl
We live in a multicultural country and the more we know about each other, the better off we’ll be. That is the belief of Pastor Marc Well Nagel and parishioners of the Bethlehem United Church of Christ. For that reason, the church is offering a series on World Religions in April and early May with speakers coming to the Maple Lake church from the Metro to talk about the basic beliefs, traditions, and customs of the different faiths, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism. To create understanding is the primary goal of the church, Well Nagel said. “The different religious traditions share a lot of values in common and we want people to see those values that we do share,” he said. The series will open on Wednesday April 10 with speaker Vishal Agarwal, a Hindu scholar and teacher and member of the Hindu Society of Minnesota and the Hindu Temple of Maple Grove. On Wednesday, April 17, Steve Matuszak will share some of the customs and beliefs of Buddhism. Matuszak is a Dharma Field Buddhist Zen Meditation Center Head speaker in Minneapolis. He is also an ordained Buddhist leader who teaches classes, gives public talks, runs meditation workshop and offers meditation instruction. On April 24, Shawn Thompson will speak about Islam. Thompson is the head teacher for the middle school at As-Suffa Academy in Blaine. He is also a co-instructor for the Convert Halaqa with the Minnesota chapter of Embrace and is part of the Islamic Resources Group of Minneapolis. Sally Abrams will round out the series on Wednesday, May 8 with a talk about Judaism. Abrams is the Director of Judaism and Israel Education at the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. She has taught thousands about Israel and or/Judaism in churches, classrooms, civic groups, and Jewish Communal settings. All four sessions will begin at 7 p.m. at the BUCC Church on County Road 37 behind Maple Lake High School and are open to the public. The approximately 1 ½ hour sessions will include a question-and-answer period. Afterwards, the church will provide coffee and treats. There is no cost to this event, but freewill offerings will be accepted to help cover speakers’ transportation costs.
To register, call the BUCC at 320-963-3118 or email bethuccml@gmail.com.
Well Nagel stressed that the purpose of this series is not political, and he will be asking speakers to avoid addressing political issues. “So many of our animosities are based on misunderstanding of religious traditions. We see the more radical aspects of various religions in the news, and we universalize that and don’t understand that the majority of people in the various religious traditions want peace, want understanding, want good relations. We want to create a broader understanding of our commonality in searching for spiritual life and wholistic life,” Well Nagel said.