Resources

This paper seeks to outline the broad parameters of Soto Zen Buddhist training in the North American context. Using his personal experience of training as a case study, the author argues that Zen in America is strongly oriented towards meditation and everyday practice in the world by dedicated lay people, a situation relatively rare in the history of Buddhism. The training of today's Zen teachers calls for unique skills conditioned by modern life in the developed world: pastoral counseling, psychological acuity, communication training, political awareness, and an ability to translate traditional teachings into terms that are relevant. Teacher training still observes traditional Soto Zen ordinations and pathways. But though the ritual forms endure, their meaning continues to evolve and shift according to the different needs and expressions of American Zen.

This paper asserts that Continuing Education aimed at equipping Christian leaders (lay and ordained) to carry out their ministries in the midst of America's increasing religious diversity in a way that views this diversity positively must be two-pronged: (1) it must provide accurate information about the beliefs and practices of the neighbors, and (2) it must provide theological resources rooted in Christian scripture and tradition. As this paper explores a variety of models, it reflects on the difficulty of holding these two goals together and the problems inherent in attempting to measure what such Continuing Education programs and events accomplish. In considering ways forward, it offers a Christian theology of religious difference informed by notions of neighbor-love.

"Are there Hindu leaders in North America"? Can there be leaders of a purportedly invented or imaginary religion that has no shared doctrines or beliefs? This provocative essay offers answers to these and related questions about the nature of Hindu leadership in North America. Three ideal types are examined: Ritualists, Guides, and Administrators. Their roles and responsibilities, though relatively clear in India, have become complicated in their current incarnations in North America. The difficulties are further enhanced when combined with a drive to derive a syncretic form of Hinduism, a pan-Hinduism that never existed before. This article challenges the leaders of Hinduism in North America to confront and perhaps even jettison their invented identity as a way of becoming better leaders.

An historically familiar tension in East Asian Buddhism between meditation and cultivation in broad learning has appeared in discussions and planning for preparing ministerial students in Won Buddhism. This paper reviews the history of preparation in this order, which was founded in 1916. While the alternatives of training based on practice and education based on classroom intellectual experience have occurred in Won Buddhism, the tension has appeared within the recently founded Won Institute of Graduate Studies in the USA in a clear manner. While the pre-ministerial students coming from Korea have preferred the experiential/practical emphasis, it is recognized that graduate education in the USA normally requires broader learning and critical thinking. The faculty of Won Institute respects both strategies and their respective, almost incompatible, goals, and has tried to create a curriculum embracing both. This effort is described and viewed in the context of Won participation in a culture of pluralism and interreligious relations.

For more than twenty-five years, field education programs have been the primary pedagogical strategy by which contextual (practical) theological training has occurred at most Orthodox theological schools in America. These programs are based on a developmental approach, with students progressing from observation to participation to actual leadership. A synthetic model of contextualism will prepare students more effectively for ministry in the third millennium by providing attention to the contemporary context throughout the entire curriculum. This article will: (a) discuss the current practice of Orthodox theological education in America, (b) examine six classifications of contextual theology, and (c) suggest nine core values and goals that support a synthetic model for the contextualization of Orthodox theological education in America.

Rabbis are commonly perceived as bearers of Torah – the sacred traditions and ways of life of Judaism. As such, rabbis certainly have an important role to play in a community seeking guidance and inspiration from and a renewed connection to those traditions. Yet, historically, rabbis arose as a class in a period of crisis and were not merely conservative figures, but were also radical agents for change. The training of rabbis in the contemporary world calls for an assessment of our situation. Is our time a time of crisis? If it is, how should we prepare to meet that crisis? Do rabbis have a role to play in the future? While the texts and traditions of the past are available for study, interpretation, and application, is there a need to prepare rabbis to become effective agents for change? How can we embark upon such an uncharted path?

This paper uses the language of Vodou doctrine to articulate its key tenets and speak to how the challenge of plurality or diversity in the twenty-first century has been and continues to be addressed among African and Afro Atlantic spiritual leadership. Following the slave trade and colonialism's aftermath, a pluralistic vision, reflecting the harsh new global order, permitted spiritual sustainability by reconfiguring African ontologisms. Embracing pluralism through annexation of non-native spiritual practices augmented the power of African rulers, providing them with other epistemes and access to spiritual forces they believed enhanced their position. The issue of preparing for the priesthood in a global or pluralistic society is examined in this essay through the historical and metaphysical framework that shaped the making of our societies.

This article describes the transformation of Catholic theological education over the last fifty years from a highly defensive posture vis-à-vis other religions toward dialogical engagement with members of other religions and all persons of good will. Until Vatican II, most Catholic theologians and officials distrusted exploration of other religions as leading to a dilution of Catholic identity. Vatican II condemned anti-Semitism and called for dialogue among religions in pursuit of common values. Since the Council, there have been developments in interfaith education on three levels: religious studies, comparative theology, and inter-religious practice.

This essay traces the development of the Zarathushtrian (Zoroastrian) priesthood from the time of the prophet Zarathushtra, through the Median priestly tribe as Magi, and the Macedonian and Arab invasions. This sets the stage for the separation of the Zarathushti priesthood between Iran and India and the generation of independent training methods. Centuries later dialogue between the two groups revealed some remarkable differences due to diverse cultural influences. From the eighteenth to the twentieth century there is a loss of respect for the priestly class and organization by the community of learning institutions to revamp the priestly training. The last portion of the paper discusses factors that affect the training of priests in North America. Some recommendations are put forward to adapt the training of the priesthood in the changing world society, and how these ideas can be brought to reality.

Educating and training Muslim men and women leaders who are capable of effectively navigating the multi-ethnic and multi-religious terrain in America – particularly in the post 9–11 milieu – requires the development of a new critical American Muslim pedagogy. This new pedagogy, centered in Islamic epistemology and ontology, should selectively appropriate the best of traditional Muslim educational paradigms and modalities used over time. However, the traditional Muslim model must not be reified, but rather be subjected to a sharp critique which maintains the richness of its spiritual and intellectual legacy but rejects teachings and interpretations used to create false dichotomies resulting in binary constructs, particularly those which pit Muslims against the west. Finally, the new critical American Muslim pedagogy must embrace all of the best discursive practices (e.g., pedagogies of Freire and others) that engage us in a critical analysis of the way in which power and privilege, even in religious communities, operate to marginalize and suppress women, minorities, and people of color.