Service Info:
Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM, Sunday, August 10
Title: Making Homes and Crossing Boundaries: What Teaching World Religions Has Taught Me
Description: The power of religions to make homes, cross boundaries, intensify joy, and confront suffering. These reflections invite us to think more deeply about what religion is and how it helps you navigate the human experience. With guest speaker Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler
Workshop Info:
Time: 12:30 - 3:00 pm, Sunday, August 10
Title: Holy Ground: Reimagining the Religious Landscapes of Appalachia
Description: How do we understand religion in Appalachia beyond familiar church steeples and denominational labels? Join Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler, a historian of religion at East Tennessee State University, for a workshop that explores the surprising diversity of religious life across the Appalachian region. Dr. Adler invites participants to explore how sacred landscapes, lived experience, and vernacular religious practices have shaped Appalachian identity, often in unexpected ways. This workshop offers an opportunity to challenge stereotypes, reflect on your own community’s religious history, and gain new insight into what religion has meant—and continues to mean—in Appalachia.
BIO: Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler is an assistant professor of history at East Tennessee State University, where she teaches courses in world religions, American religious history, and religion in Appalachia. Her research focuses on sacred space, material culture, ritual practice, and lived religion in American life. A first-generation college student and native of Indiana, she earned her A.B. in Government from Harvard College and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University.
Additional Information: Childcare is available for both the service and the workshop. The Youth Group will be hosting a Pizza Sale Fundraiser between the service and workshop during coffee hour -- 12:00 - 12:30.