Global Immersion - See Where We Are Going And Where We Have Been

January 3 – 21, 2012 
Made possible through a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.

Under the auspices of the Theology Among the People (TAP) program and through a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Southeast Conference is sponsoring an intensive 2 ½ week immersion trip to Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Thailand from January 3 - 21, 2012. The goal of the trip is to provide an experiential basis for global theological reflection in terms of inter-religious and intra-religious dialogue, conflict transformation, and peace-building.

> Link here to Read the Flyer for the 2012 trip.

> Link here to see a follow-up on the Thailand pre-retreat event.

Global Immersion - Where We Have Been and What We Have Been Doing

Chiang Mai, Thailand | January 6 - 27, 2011. 
Under the auspices of the Theology Among the People (TAP) program and through a generous grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Southeast Conference sponsored an intensive three-week immersion trip to Chiang Mai, Thailand. The goal of the trip was to provide an experiential basis for global theological reflection in terms of inter-religious and intra-religious dialogue, conflict transformation, and peace-building.

"Changes and Enduring Realities"
by Rev. Sarah Kim   
Despite their unique approaches to understanding reality, Western and Eastern philosophers both agreed that life is all about the perpetual change.  Change is a fact of life and there is no way to get around it-or is there?  What I encountered in my second trip to Thailand on this global theological endeavor was both change and enduring realities of life.

First, what was changed or what was different from the last trip in 2008 was the group with which I traveled.  This time we had seven seminary students and a faculty member of Lancaster Theological Seminary along with our own seven participants from the Southeast Conference.  The two groups merged beautifully, in light of their conscious efforts to collaborate, adapt, and to exercise love and patience.  Second, the Institute of Religion Culture and Peace's (IRCP) program had changed-the length was three weeks long with the inclusion of a special trip to Mae Sot, a small city in the northwestern border of Thailand that holds large-size Burmese Refugee Camps.

>> Link Here to Read Full Article on 2011 Thailand Trip

Listen in on the reflections of our world travellers by reading their journal entries from the trip and join them vicariously in this transforming experience. >> Link Here to Read Journal Entries.

Follow links to former Thailand excursions:
Thailand 2008 Journal - 1
Thailand 2008 Journal - 2
Thailand 2008 Journal - 3

Thailand Pilgrimage
Thailand Photos 1
Thailand Photos 2

Thailand Photos 3

Washington, DC | October 10 – 15, 2010 
Under the auspices of the Theology Among the People (TAP) program, the Southeast Conference sponsored a one-week intensive immersion trip to Washington, D.C.  We engaged in contextual biblical study, theological reflection, and social engagement in the heart of the American empire.  Led by pastors and peacemakers, Rev. Tom Warren and Rev. Joyce Hollyday, we visited places of power in and around our nation’s capital as well as alternative communities of justice and advocacy. Together we reflected on the meaning of God’s Word in the midst of the World. 

Empire Unveiled: Powers, Principalities
and the Book of Revelation  by Joyce Hollyday
It was late in the afternoon of October 11th-what we in the United Church of Christ commemorate as Indigenous Peoples Day but most of North America knows as Columbus Day. We had just finished touring Washington, D.C.'s National Museum of the American Indian. Strolling out its beautifully engraved doors, we entered a scene of chaos-sirens blaring; cops congregating; tourists, actors, and camera-toting film crew members milling about, with the question floating everywhere: "Was that supposed to happen?"

I admit that I have never seen a Transformers movie, but I gather from those who have that the genre reflects the classic American myth-a supreme showdown between good and evil, with lots of violence, and good triumphing in the end. But on the street outside the museum that day, something had gone terribly wrong.  

>> Link Here to See Full Article, Journals and Video