Contemporary Global Spirituality

Professor Nathan Katz of the School of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University lectures on the claims of spirituality and religiosity of Americans in today's society. Lecture was held at the Moye Chapel of the Coral Gables Congregational Church on April 18, 2014.

La Habana, mon amour

This flyer promotes a book presentation of "La Habana, mon amour", a new novel by Zoe Valdes. The book chronicles the author's personal history with her hometown of Havana, Cuba. The event was held in Spanish on October 29, 2015 at Coral Gables Congregational Church.

Politics and prayer in West Perrine, Florida: Civic social capital and the black church

This thesis traces the mechanisms and sources responsible for the generation of civic social capital (a set of shared norms and values that promote cooperation between groups, enabling them to participate in the political process) by black churches in West Perrine, Florida. Data for this thesis includes over fifty interviews and participant observations, archival records, newspaper articles, and scholarly journals. ^ Despite the institutional racism of the first half of the twentieth century, many blacks and whites in Perrine developed levels of trust significant enough to form an integrated local governing body, evidence of high levels of csc. At mid-century, when black and white interactions ceased, Perrine's csc decreased, leading to the deterioration of Perrine's social and physical conditions. Perrine's csc increased in the 1980s by way of broad-based coalitions as Perrine's churches invested their csc in an effort to eradicate crime, clean up its neighborhood, and win back its youth. ^

Marl Prairie/Slough Gradients; Patterns and Trends in Shark Slough and Adjacent Marl Prairies (CERP monitoring activity 3.1.3.5), First Annual Report (2005)

The work on CERP monitoring item 3.1.3.5 (Marl prairie/slough gradients) is being conducted by Florida International University (Dr Michael Ross, Project Leader), with Everglades National Park (Dr. Craig Smith) providing administrative support and technical consultation. As of January 2006 the funds transferred by ACOE to ENP, and subsequently to FIU, have been entirely expended or encumbered in salaries or wages. The project work for 2005 started rather late in the fiscal year, but ultimately accomplished the Year 1 goals of securing a permit to conduct the research in Everglades National Park, finalizing a detailed scope of work, and sampling marsh sites which are most easily accessed during the wet season. 46 plots were sampled in detail, and a preliminary vegetation classification distinguished three groups among these sites (Sawgrass marsh, sawgrass and other, and slough) which may be arranged roughly along a hydrologic gradient from least to most persistently inundated . We also made coarser observations of vegetation type at 5-m intervals along 2 transects totaling ~ 5 km. When these data were compared with similar observations made in 1998-99, it appeared that vegetation in the western portion of Northeast Shark Slough (immediately east of the L-67 extension) had shifted toward a more hydric type during the last 6 years, while vegetation further east was unchanged in this respect. Because this classification and trend analysis is based on a small fraction of the data set that will be available after the first cycle of sampling (3 years from now), the results should not be interpreted too expansively. However, they do demonstrate the potential for gaining a more comprehensive view of marsh vegetation structure and dynamics in the Everglades, and will provide a sound basis for adaptive management.

The Great Escape: A Modern Charismatic Movement within the Presbyterian Church

The present thesis examines the relationship between Youth Conference Ministries (YCM) and the Presbyterian Church. YCM is a charismatic organization that organizes youth retreats for students in middle school and high school, with the goal of charismatically educating the youth of America. The focus of this thesis is on the Great Escape Southwind, a middle school retreat that caters to the southern portion of United States. My thesis first traces the biblical and historical underpinnings of charismatic Christianity. Next it provides an ethnographic case study of the Great Escape, focusing on its ability to foster spiritual growth of students through an enthusiastic response to the Holy Spirit. Finally it examines the relationship between YCM and the Presbyteries that populate its retreats. Overall this thesis shows how YCM provides a charismatic service to the local Presbyterian Churches, allowing for its adolescent parishioners to remain enthusiastically active as they progress towards adulthood.