> BIO Class 8: Thurs. Apr. 19, 2007, 7 p.m. Central VOCATION OF A GLOBAL CITIZEN Do you hear the call? The Rev. John Nunes, Professor of Theology at Concordia University, River Forest, Illinois; Pastor, Bethany Lutheran Church, Chicago; Consultant, Wheat Ridge Ministries; Research Fellow, Acton Institute. Listen to an audio presentation of the April 2007 Class 8: Vocation of a Global Citizen by downloading this mp3 file. LARGE FILE 62MB Download a PDF of the class notes.

Course description: John Nunes advises us not to be bored.  “While dullness doesn’t sound like too deadly a sin, it can be a cause of death spiritually,” he says.  Being a global citizen is anything but dull!  In fact, it can seem daunting.  This year in the Virtual U, we’ve learned about the many challenges facing our world, as well as some ways we can respond—through advocacy, education, Fair Trade, and the stewarding of our material, creative and financial resources.  But when the demands of global citizenship begin to feel complicated and overwhelming, it helps to have a sense of vocation. No one can do it all, but what is God calling you to do?  How do we respond to world’s needs while feeding our own spirits as well?  How does a global citizen act effectively, responsibly and gracefully?  Nunes suggests that we find guidance and energy by rooting ourselves deeper in faith.  “Your church needs the Spirit’s fire in you, your creative imagination,” he says, “Without it, we’ll all be just the bland leading the bland.”  Join us for this final class, in which Nunes will inspire us to find our own calling and live out our vocation as Spirit-filled global citizens. Recommended Reading: To provide a common, provocative discussion-starter, please read through the postcolonial poet, Derek Walcott’s work, “Love after Love.” How does having a disposition of “elation”—that bubbling-over, ebullient and irresistible fruit of the Spirit—relate to your personal sense of vocation? The poet’s use of “the stranger” is curious. Suggest two ways that it is helpful for you to consider this: receiving earth’s “noble guest,” Jesus Christ, by faith is a primary starting point for welcoming more hospitably our fellow global citizens, human “strangers,” “others,” and all who are “angelically different.” Walcott also explicitly names the Christian sacrament of the altar as instrumental, as a powerful way of reconnecting with the calling of love. a) How does our eucharistic spirituality move us not away from but toward our broken world? b) How can Christ’s feast of life be heard as a call for the least of these? A Reflection on the Question:  How do I ‘do life’? By John Nunes Global Citizen’s Bibliography Assembled by John Nunes   Nine Paths to Global Citizenship By Doug McGill The McGill Report December 25, 2003 Transforming Tsunami Shock and Sorrow into Global Citizenship  Concordia College of Alberta March 15, 2005 A college responds to the Dec. 2005 Tsunami with “Gloabal Citizenship Days” Global Citizenship Oxfam’s Cool Planet for Teachers Global citizenship resources for those who teach A Religious Education Curriculum for Global Citizenship Christian Aid Global citizenship resources for Christian educators Other Talks and Sermons by John Nunes: Point of Truth  LCMS television series Featuring 22 online broadcasts with John Nunes Just One Crumb  John Nunes The Lutheran Hour August 18, 2002 God's Cross-Over Move  John Nunes The Lutheran Hour August 11, 2002