Festival of Nations and 100th Anniversary of Ordination of Women

On Friday night April 28th the students of Fuller put on the Festival of Nations. An annual event, the Festival of Nations takes over the campus lawn with homemade food from over fifteen countries. Anything from Brazilean BBQ to Chinese rice to Jamican chicken to American hot dogs adorned the lawn. While the food was awesome..the even more impressive part of the evening was the performances from over 30 different nations. Japanese martial arts, Italian opera, African drums, salsa dancing, and a Rock and Roll band showcased the amazing talents of Fuller students. I was in awe of the vast range of representation of nations at Fuller. It was definitely a reminder that I live in Southern CA now. Here's a picture of the parade of flags from the nations:

Another exciting event that took place at Fuller recently, was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the ordination of women in the PC(USA) church. In a span of the last eighteen months marked the 100th anniversary of a woman being made a deacon in the PC(USA) church, 75th anniversary of a woman being made an elder in the PC(USA) church, and 50th anniversary of a woman being ordained in the PC(USA) church. To celebrate, Fuller had one of its weekly all campus chapels devoted to this anniversary. Dr. Scholer (a beloved professor and a renowed scholar--particularly on women in ministry) spoke. An alum of Fuller and now ordained pastor in a PC(USA) church also shared her testimony as to what it is like to be a woman in ministry. Following chapel there was a Q&A panel discussion with our two speakers. Finally there was a lunch that invited ordained women pastors from around the LA area and current students to celebrate. At Fuller I have felt nothing but affirmed and encouraged from professors as a woman pursuing the ordination track (an environment that is rare in some seminaries and churches sadly). How exciting that we celebrated this--happy 100th anniversary of ordination of women!! Here is a picture of our two speakers: