The Juvenile Justice System: How Just Is It?

Sundays, April 11 and 25

 The Juvenile Justice System is set up to protect and help juvenile offenders and delinquents through separate and independent courts within the county judicial system.  However, the system does have its drawbacks. In this adult forum, guest speakers will explore the historical and social rationales behind the development of the separate juvenile court, including issues of neglect, dependency, and delinquency. They will also address current issues and practices related to the system’s failure to work the way it is supposed to work, including “sex-ting” as well as research regarding the development of the adolescent brain.

 Patricia Yeomons Salvador, Adjunct Professor of Juvenile Law at Cleveland Marshall School of Law and Case Western Reserve University’s Law School, and Magistrate and Referee in the Juvenile Division of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.

 Carmen Naso, Law Clinic Center, Case Western Reserve University Law School, and previously supervising attorney for the Juvenile Justice Unit, Cuyahoga County Prosecuting Attorney.

America and New Global Realities

Sundays, May 9, 16 and 23

 “This is not a book about the decline of America, but rather about the rise of everybody else.” So begins Fareed Zakaria’s important book The Post American World (2008).  In this adult forum, which takes its lead from Zakaria’s book, guest speakers will address topics related to how the “rise of the rest” – the growth of countries like China, India, Brazil, Russia, and many others – is reshaping the world order, shifting global power, and challenging American hegemony. 

Sunday, May 9           A Nation with the Soul of a Church? Hugh W. Burtner, Professor Emeritus, Department of Religious Studies, Baldwin-Wallace College 

 This descriptive title by religious historian Sidney Mead opens up the question of the religious mission of America. Most Americans have assumed, and continue to assume, that America does have a missional project which is both authorized by the biblical God and carried out in the divine name. We will look carefully at these assumptions and put them within the template of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God.          

Sunday, May 16         Sustainability: The Mother of all                                        21^st Century Global Challenges

David A. Krueger, Charles E. Spahr Chair in Management and Corporate Ethics, Baldwin-Wallace College

 If the ethics of Jesus is a radically unbounding, universalistic ethic that calls us to love the neighbor as ourselves, and if the ethic of creation is to be good stewards of the earth, then the 21^st century may bring the greatest challenge of faithful discipleship ever to be experienced by the church and its members. All of the earth’s ecological indicators are in a state of decline. Climate change will likely be the driving environmental issue of this century. What is our calling as Christians and what actions does the Lord require of us as we stand on the precipice of likely ecological change the likes of which human history has never experienced?

 Sunday, May 23         America’s Role in the Post 9/11 World

Ronald D. Gelleny, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Akron

 Other countries are now competing with the United States in terms of economic, industrial, and cultural power, becoming global players and producing political confidence, national pride, and potentially international problems. How should America understand and thrive in this rapidly changing international climate? What does it mean to live in a truly global era, in which the United States no longer dominates the global economy, orchestrates geopolitics, or overwhelms cultures?

 If you are interested in reading and discussing Fareed Zakaria’s The Post American World in a small group prior to the beginning of the adult forum series, please contact Carol Roe or Laury Larson.

 

Individual Spiritual Direction

 The Reverend Rosalind, a retired Presbyterian minister who received her training in spiritual direction at the Shalem Institute of Spiritual Formation, is available for confidential, one-on-one conversations with people seeking to deepen and enrich their faith life. All sessions take place in the privacy of the church’s Cloister Room. An initial introductory session for those interested in an experience of spiritual direction is free of charge. A fee of $15 an hour is charged for subsequent sessions, paid directly to Reverend Powell.  For more information and to make appointments, contact Reverend Powell at powellrosalind00@sbcglobal.net or call the church office (216  421-0482).