Month: April 2026

(Click here for an archive of digital stories created at our last nine camps.)

This year (July 8-11) marks the 10^th consecutive year of the interfaith youth leadership camp that we program in partnership with the Des Moines Area Religious Council. Campers at the camp learn about religious traditions and interfaith leadership, visit places of worship throughout the metro area, and create digital stories about personal faith experiences (that are screened for the public the last day of the camp). Through generous funding from Drake and DMARC, we are able to provide housing (in the dorms at Drake), food (through Drake’s food service and the places of worship we visit), AND a $250 “scholarship.” 

Currently, we are accepting applications for this year’s camp. Campers are usually 16-18 years of age (with upper-class Drake students serving as counselors), i.e., rising juniors and seniors in high school and entering first-year college students. (Applicants need not be religious; we’ve had plenty of non-religious campers in the past.)

If you know of anyone who might be interested, please encourage them to reach out to comparison.project@drake.edu and/or apply through this link: www.dmarcunited.org/camp. There is over a month to apply, as the deadline is not until Sunday, May 31. 

On Sunday, April 19, we will celebrate the annual holiday of Vaisakhi from roughly 12:00 to 2:00 pm with the Sikh gurdwara in West Des Moines, the Iowa Sikh Association (1115 Walnut St.).

The service will include many of the elements of a typical Sunday worship service: the signing of hymns (kirtan), reading from sacred scripture (Guru Granth Sahib), community prayers (aardas), and the sharing of the sacred sacrament (karah prashad, the so-called “holy pudding”), after which a free vegetarian meal will be served (langar). Dress modestly, remove shoes at door, and don a head scarf (available at the door for both women and men). Also, refrain from pointing outstretched legs toward the holy book/altar.

This event is part of the “Meet My Religious Neighbor” series, which is co-programmed with CultureALL, the Des Moines Area Religious Council, and Interfaith Alliance of Iowa.

On Thursday, April 9 at 6:00 pm in the Harkin Institute (2800 University Ave), Dr. Sarah Jean Barton, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics at Duke University, will lecture on “’The Work of the People’: Disability and Participation in the Christian Tradition.”

For those wishing to attend the lecture virtually, please sign on here at least five minutes in advance: https://drake-edu.zoom.us/j/89204347295.

Dr. Barton’s talk will explore how theologies and practices of public Christian worship – liturgy – both challenge and provide creative alternatives to typical characterizations of work (e.g. individuality, efficiency, and hypercognitivity) that marginalize disabled communities.

Below, please find below a recording of Prof. Barton’s lecture with PowerPoint.