Mid-Week Connections, Oct. 9 – Embracing Authentic Civility in a Disconnected World

As we near the 2024 presidential election, the Education Ministry at Old Presbyterian Meeting House will be offering a five-week speaker series on authentic civility. Authentic civility is the ability to have empathy and a desire to understand one another even amid our differences – whatever those differences may be. Not mere politeness to cover over awkward situations or to get us what we want, but a real recognition that each of us is a part of the human community and that we all matter.

Authentic civility is not easy. It calls for enormous commitment and energy. It is so much easier to just ignore others, or avoid them altogether. Life seems easier when we just stick with what we think we know and with what keeps us comfortable. But that’s unrealistic. Because like it or not, we are all in this together.

Authentic and civil – something to be. It matters. For all of us. Join us.

October 2 – Dr. Rick Elgendy, Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology, Wesley Theological Seminary
Dr. Elgendy, the Martha Ashby Carr Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology, teaches public theology and ethics and administers Wesley’s academic programs in public theology.  His research interests are animated by asking questions of subjectivity, spirituality, and politics at the intersection of political theology, systematic theology, and critical theory.  His first book, Life Among the Powers: A Political Spirituality of Resistance, is currently in preparation.  In addition to WTS, he has taught at Lake Forest College and the University of Chicago.

October 9 – The Rev. Dr. Ross Kane, Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics and Culture, Virginia Theological Seminary
Dr. Ross Kane is a pastor and professor who writes and teaches about the complex intersections between theology, ethics, and culture. His latest book is The Good News of Church Politics. He teaches at Virginia Theological Seminary and his newsletter is available at rosskane.substack.com.

October 16 – The Rev. Dr. Margaret Kibben, Chaplain, US House of Representatives
On January 3, 2021, Chaplain Margaret Grun Kibben, Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired),  was elected by the House and sworn in as the 62nd Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.

Chaplain Kibben is an ordained Presbyterian Minister (PCUSA) and served over thirty years as a chaplain in the United States Navy, completing her career as the U.S. Navy’s 26^th Chief of Chaplains, and previously the 18^th Chaplain of the Marine Corps. Her military service comprises variety of both Navy and Marine Corps assignments where she served ashore, at sea, and abroad, to include a combat-tour in Afghanistan.

Dr. Kibben is a graduate of Goucher College in Towson, Maryland.  She received both her Master of Divinity and her Doctor of Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey.  She served as a Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace and holds a master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

October 23 – Dr. Miranda Cruz – Professor of Historic Theology, Indiana Wesleyan University
Miranda Zapor Cruz is professor of historical theology at Indiana Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in religion, politics, and society from Baylor University’s J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary.

October 30 – Jessie Mannisto, Director of Debates, Braver Angels
Jessie Mannisto is the Director of Debates for Braver Angels, as well as a former CIA leadership analyst, Google Policy Fellow, writer, editor, and podcaster. With interests in psychology and philosophy, she was drawn to the Braver Angels debate program as a way to productively channel that intellectual energy that we so often use to process—or to cloak—our more vulnerable emotions. After getting deeply involved in the DC Alliance’s local debate program, she was thrilled to assume the directorship of the national program earlier this year.

Reading materials to consider as you prepare for this series: In Defense of Civility: How Religion Can Unite America on Seven Moral Issues that Divide Us by James Calvin Davis and How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks.