FED Talks: Faith, Experience and Discovery, Night 2
Anna Katherine Scott, Brandon Evans-Clements, Bob Crisler, Rebecca Wiggs, and Jacob Moremen give short talks based on the prompt, “What I see differently now.”

Back in seminary I got involved with a program through the school that provided academic mentoring to students who were incarcerated and were working toward a college degree from behind bars.

It’s one of the classic scenes in American cinema, from Cecil B. DeMille’s blockbuster, The Ten Commandments. A young Charlton Heston playing Moses, standing upon the rock overlooking the seas, lifting his staff, declaring, “Behold, his mighty hand!” as the orchestra brass blares around him and the waters begin to churn and then part before him like a coat being unzipped, forming two enormous walls on either side as Israelites and Egyptians alike look on in awe and wonder.

FED Talks: Faith, Experience and Discovery, Night 1
Annette Hitt, Gates Skene, Bill Lee, Suzanne Boone, and Masyn Evans-Clements give short talks based on the prompt, “Where I’ve Seen God.”

Several years ago, I was serving as a hospital chaplain the summer after graduating from seminary when I found myself with a family who was about to unexpectedly say goodbye to a loved one; an older gentleman who had been rushed to the hospital and was in cardiac arrest. When I arrived at the room, they were all standing around the bed, about five of them, each touching his leg or arm and talking to him, hoping he would hear. We said a prayer together, and then we all stood there in silence, the weight of the moment bearing down on us.