I just finished proofing an article that will be coming out in the winter issue of Dialog; the article is titled “Nathan Söderblom and Our Own Time,” and it was written by the current archbishop of Sweden, Antje Jackelén and her theological secretary, Jakob Wirén.  In this piece, the authors quote a statement Söderblom made back in 1916,…… Continue reading Placing the Impersonal above the Personal

Do you remember the “missing children” milk carton campaign?  If you are around my age or older, surely you do.  I do, of course, but I admit I hadn’t thought about it in a long time.  What sparked my memory was this great podcast from 99% Invisible with Roman Mars:  http://99percentinvisible.org/ [It’s a quirky, interesting…… Continue reading Remembering the "Missing Children" Milk Cartons

So, today was my last day in Hong Kong, and let me tell you, I made it count!  I got up early and took the metro (which, by the way, is extraordinarily organized, clear & clean!) out to Lantau Island–first stop was the giant Buddha & the monastery.  It was absolutely gorgeous, and I have…… Continue reading Lantau Island & the Giant Buddha

Today was another great day in Hong Kong!  I came down to my hotel in Kowloon (it’s in the Ovolo chain, and seriously, if you are ever in Hong Kong, this is where you want to stay!), where I’ll be for the next two days.  I wanted to have two days to visit a few…… Continue reading Doing the (comparative theologian) tourist thing in Hong Kong

The conference finished up yesterday, and what a great conference it was.  You can see a couple pictures of the participations:  we had representatives from India, China, Hong Kong, Sweden, Germany, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Japan, Norway–I’m sure I’m forgetting a few countries, too.  I learned so much about the lived experience of Christianity…… Continue reading Final Conference Reflections

I’d like to interrupt my regular theological broadcasting for this special theological report on monkeys.  Yes, monkeys.  This is not only because I feel in almost every circumstance monkeys deserve their own headline, but also because it gives me another opportunity to talk about one of my strongest theological convictions.Over all my years as a…… Continue reading Theological Thoughts about Monkeys

Every time I go to an academic conference, we spend lots of time together talking about religion.  This is no surprise, of course, and it’s a critical part of theological work.  For example, thanks to the excellent presentations I have heard the past few days, I have gained important insights about the church in Hong…… Continue reading 2 Temples and a Mosque

It was another great day today–lots of interesting presentations, and my panel was today as well:  here I am with my co-presenters.But mostly what I want to share is my visit to the monastery of 10,000 Buddhas.  When I was here with my beloved mentor from Wartburg, Duane Priebe, I vividly remember visiting this place,…… Continue reading The Monastery of 10,000 Buddhas

I just want to say a bit more about the seminary in Hong Kong, and share a few more pictures.  As I said, it was founded in 1913, which means that it celebrated 100 years in 2013.  They put together a lovely commemorative book, which included congratulatory letters from churches around the world (including the…… Continue reading The Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong

I am here in Hong Kong for several days at a Lutheran World Federation consultation on “Religious Life and Public Space in Asia.”  (I was asked to present a paper–I’ll be talking about the American context & interreligious dialogue.) So, day 1 was today, and it was really interesting.  Basically most presenters are talking about…… Continue reading Greetings from Hong Kong!