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On today’s episode of The “Center” we'll be joined by Reverend Tamara Siburg. Reverend Tamara is the pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Clinton, Iowa. Since beginning her service in Clinton, Rev. Tamara and her congregation have committed to focusing on issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, and LGBTIA+ recognition and safe practices within our community. Through Rev. Tamara’s leadership, St. Paul has committed to sponsoring the first PFLAG chapter in the River Cities area and hosts a monthly meeting at St. Paul church on the third Sunday of each month. Reverend Tamara is a graduate of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa, and comes from a family tradition of ministry. 

Please note: The views expressed here are individual views that do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa.

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During this season of Thanksgiving, and in recognition of Native American Heritage month, the Franciscan Peace Center invites members of our community to reflect on land justice, particularly as it relates to our indigenous neighbors.

On today’s episode of The “Center” we’re joined by Eric Anglada, a Catholic Worker farmer, and lay leader at the Sinisinawa Mound Center in Southwestern Wisconsin. Eric co-founded the St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm in Cuba City, Wisconsin with his wife Brenna Cussen Anglada. When Eric is not farming, or facilitating summer solstice Wild Church activities, he educates communities to advocate for indigenous land justice. 

Please note: The views expressed here are individual views that do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa.

Welcome, Eric!

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On today’s episode, we will be joined by international students who are attending Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. These students will openly and candidly share the struggles and difficulties they face as international students, while also celebrating the opportunities that access to a college education has provided for them. Welcome to The “Center” Augustana students, and thank you, listeners, for joining us!

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Today, The “Center” podcast returns from its hiatus with a timely message about our migrant neighbors, and how we can better understand the various ways in which refugees can leave dangerous situations and legally enter and live in the United States while waiting for conditions to improve in their home countries.

Today’s guest on The “Center” is Angela Boelens. Angela is the founder and president of IA NICE, a non-profit agency supporting refugee families from Ukraine who are seeking either Temporary Protected Status or Humanitarian Parole with resettlement and integration into local Iowa communities. IA NICE is a 501(c)(3), providing guidance and necessary resources to community members and sponsors as they support newcomer families in rebuilding their lives in Iowa. Angela lives in Rock Island, IL, and is a professor in the Business Administration department at Augustana College.

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In recognition of Women’s History Month, on today’s episode of The “Center” we are joined by Leenah Safi. Ms. Safi is the daughter of Syrian immigrants and is currently completing PhD work at Chicago Theological Seminary. As a Muslim woman, Leenah has immersed herself in full time community work as a college chaplain with a Muslim nonprofit called the Felicity Foundation. Inspired and deeply challenged by the necessary work of supporting adolescents navigating educational and community belonging, she transitioned to doctoral studies to further identify the gaps in identity formation of young Muslims and is actively learning and teaching in the fields of pastoral care, theology, and religious education. Thank you for joining us for this important conversation on the importance of women's voices within all faith traditions.

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On today’s episode of the “Center” we are joined by Sister Maria Zeimen, OSF and her friend Nancy from Garden Center Services. Garden Center Services is located in Burbank, IL, and provides housing services, day programming, and supportive employment services to people with intellectual and physical disabilities. According to their website, Garden Center Services was established in 1956 as a grassroots movement intended to serve children with developmental disabilities and their families and caregivers. Garden Center Services currently serves more than 150 individuals within their wider community.

A goal of active nonviolence, according to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is to create “Beloved Community” – or space where unconditional love holds the power to transform the lives of all. As a mode of this transformative, unconditional love, today’s episode of The “Center” holds space for a member of the community at Garden Center Services to share their interests, favorite things, and to help us to understand the important value of love and friendship.

Thank you for joining us today for this very important episode. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording it for you.

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On today’s episode of The “Center”, we’ll receive a one year update from members of the Social Justice Committee at St. Ann’s Catholic church in Baltimore, MD on the progress made in the campaign for canonization of the “Saintly Six”. As our regular listeners may recall, the cause of the “Saintly Six” is a movement lead by Black Catholics throughout the United States to have six African American Catholics granted sainthood within the Catholic church through the “Santo Subito” or “declare Sainthood now!” process. The candidates in this process include Mother Mary Lange, Father Augustus Tolton, Mother Henriette Delille, Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Julia Greeley, and Sister Thea Bowman.
During this podcast, we’ll be reminded about how the process of canonization works within the Catholic church, and also the efforts that the Social Justice committee at St. Ann’s Catholic church is making to bring the cause of sainthood for the “Saintly Six” a reality. We’ll also be reminded about the importance of Black representation within the Catholic church.

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On this week’s episode of The “Center”, we’ll be joined by Deputy Chief James Ballauer, Corporal Josh Winter, and School Resource Officer Chris Robertson of the Clinton, Iowa police department to discuss the landscape of human trafficking in Clinton and neighboring communities. The conversation will include information about initiatives and partnerships that the Clinton PD is currently engaged in aimed at abating various forms of trafficking within Clinton, northeast Iowa, and Illinois. We will focus on proactive measures that can be taken by any person in response to witnessed suspicious activity, and also how parents and caretakers can protect their families from nefarious activity, including unsafe internet activity.

Content warning: This podcast will include mention of sexual abuse, the impact of drug use on communities, and weapons violence. Please take care when listening.

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On today’s episode of The “Center” we’re joined by Latina feminist theologian Dr. Theresa Yugar. 

Dr. Yugar is best known for her research and writing work on the 17th century Catholic nun Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, publishing the book Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Feminist Reconstruction of Biography and Text through Wipf and Stock publishers in 2016. In 2019, Dr. Yugar was invited to co-create the production of “History’s Worst Nun” an animated TedEd short film that summarizes the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Dr. Yugar’s other notable work includes Valuing Lives, Healing Earth: Religion, Gender, and Life on Earth, a festschrift honoring the life, work, and influence of Catholic feminist theologian Dr. Rosemary Radford Ruether.
Dr. Yugar earned a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School in 1997, and later completed a PhD from Claremont Graduate University in 2013. Her areas of expertise include ecofeminist theory and praxis and gender in colonial Latin American history. She is the recipient of a Fulbright and Hispanic Theological Initiative Fellowship, and Scholar for the Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program. 

Yugar teaches in the Chicana(o) and Latina(o) Studies and the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies departments at California State University in Los Angeles.

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On this episode of The “Center”, we are joined by Dr. Ryan Hansen. Dr. Hansen is an ordained minister in the Church of the Nazarene, having served churches in Chicago, Nashville, and northeastern Wisconsin. Ryan also serves as the Minister of Visitation at a Presbyterian church in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Ryan has received a PhD from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and his dissertation focuses on images of cosmic upheaval and worship in the Book of Revelation. That work has been published from Fortress Press as Silence and Praise: Rhetorical Cosmology and Political Theology in the Book of Revelation. Dr. Hansen teaches online at several universities and seminaries around the US.

On today’s podcast, Ryan and I will be discussing the context and metaphorical nature of the book of Revelation, also known as The Revelation of John. Revelation was written in the late 1st or early 2nd century, CE and uses metaphors to illuminate the violence of the Roman Empire at the time, while also asserting that following the nonviolent ways of Jesus is the most effective tool to overcome the violence of empire. 

Please note: The views expressed here are individual views that do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton, Iowa.

"Sweet Times" is by All Bets Off, and is provided by Adobe Stock.