Faith+Values: Brock returns to lecture on Paradise

It will be a homecoming of sorts when author/lecturer Rita Nakashima Brock delivers a pair of lectures next week at St. Luke Presbyterian Church in Minnetonka. On her way to becoming one of the world's foremost experts on feminist theology, she spent much of the 1990s at Hamline University, where she served as a professor and director of the St. Paul school's humanities program.

Now she travels the world giving lectures and gathering information for her books. The most recent one, "Saving Paradise," proposes "a new future for Christianity through a theology of redemptive beauty."

Brock will give two lectures, the first for the general public and the second for professionals. The public speech, titled "The Church as the Paradise in This Life," is at 7 p.m. Thursday. Admission is free. The next day, she'll lead a daylong workshop for clergy, seminarians and worship leaders titled "Lent and Resurrection: Rituals for Churches in Paradise Now." There is a $60 fee, which includes lunch. Continuing-education credits are available for religious professionals through United Theological Seminary.

St. Luke is tucked behind Groveland Elementary School, just off Minnetonka Boulevard, a block east of where it intersects with Hwy. 101. The address is 3121 Groveland School Rd. If you need directions, call the church at 952-473-7378.

Atheists are active Both of Minnesota's atheist organizations are busy this month.

Minnesota Atheists is sponsoring a visit by Dan Barker, a former evangelical preacher who helped launch the Freedom From Religion Foundation. He will be in the Twin Cities on Sunday to promote his book, "Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists." He will be a guest on the "Atheists Talk" radio show (KTNF, 950 AM) at 9 a.m., speak at the Minnesota Atheists monthly meeting at the Ramsey County Public Library in Roseville at 2 p.m. and appear at a book-signing at Borders Bookstore, 1390 W. University Av., St. Paul, at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Minneapolis-based Atheists for Human Rights is reclassifying itself as a national organization and will increasingly focus on events outside Minnesota. In making the announcement, former president Marie Alena Castle said that the change has come about because now more than a third of the group's members live outside the state.

From Monday through Friday, there will be donation receptacles on both sides of the lobby to collect canned foods and other nonperishables. Of particular need are personal hygiene products, including toothpaste and brushes, hand soap, shampoo and conditioner, disposable diapers, laundry detergent and kitchen/bathroom cleaning supplies.

Sharing & Caring Hands serves 240,000 meals a year, while Mary's Place provides housing for 500 men, women and children every night. Neither charity receives funding from the government or United Way.

Remembering Roe v. Wade The Cathedral of St. Paul will hold its annual Prayer Service for Life at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to mark the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade landmark abortion ruling. Archbishop John Nienstedt will speak. A collection will be taken for Life Fund, a program sponsored by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis that provides emergency financial aid for pregnancy-related expenses.