Is there a conflict between science and religion?

Steve Savides, Pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ, discussed about how he was talking about the Creation stories in the book of Genesis in confirmation class when one of the confirmands came out with this statement, "I don't believe in God.  I believe in evolution."  How did she ever get the idea that it was a matter of either/or?  God or evolution?   Faith or science?  There are many voices that frame the matter in precisely that way, from those fundamentalist Christian friends who insist that Creationism or (its latter day cousin Intelligent Design) be taught in public school classrooms to Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and evangelist of Atheism.  Both of these voices insist that science and faith cannot co-exist: one voice, the voice of reason or the voice of faith, must drown out the other.  There are many today who believe science and religion cannot peacefully co-exist and that believe there is an inherent conflict between the two.  It’s important to note that this conflict model of the relationship between religion and science is actually a very recent development.  The writers of Genesis did not view science and religion as being in conflict.  They wrote their poems of creation as works of art and theological reflection without concern for their scientific accuracy.  The wisdom writers of the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job, used thoughtful observation of and reflection upon the order of nature as a source of theological truth.  To look upon the world, to them, was to see the presence and workings of God.  Jesus in his teaching clearly carried on in that very same wisdom tradition.  The early church learned to embrace the science of the Greeks, the cosmology of Aristotle, and see them as being helpful, even indispensable tools on the Christian journey. The church saw science and religion as complimentary, not in conflict.  There are two specific historical moments, however, when a very serious conflict between science and religion arose.  Those moments, both relatively recent, have birthed the “conflict model” of the relationship between science and religion.   The first came with the scientist Galileo, who defended the Copernican discovery that the earth in fact revolves around the sun rather than the sun revolving around the earth.  Bertolt Brecht’s wrote in the play “Life of Galileo" how science and religion are inherently in conflict.  Brecht wrote from the other side of Darwin and the Scopes Monkey trial, the second major historical event that led many to see this conflict.  It really wasn’t until the 19^th Century that this so-called “conflict model” arose.  It’s a very recent idea that science and religion cannot peacefully co-exist.   In my own congregation, we have been led by the thoughtful reflections of David Cook, a distinguished and retired Lawrence professor of physics who views religion and science as complementary rather than contradictory.  It’s David’s testimony, the biblical testimony, and the testimony of our own faith history that has led us to declare ourselves a church open to science.   How about building a relationship between science and religion, reason and faith, that is founded on mutual respect and shared humility? Could we all be open to that?

WISCONSIN'S APPROACH TO OPERATIONALIZING THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

Department of Health Services Deputy Secretary Kevin Moore talked about how BadgerCare Plus is Wisconsin's Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance program.  BadgerCare Plus provides coverage for approximately 750,000 people each month.  Wisconsin also provides Medicaid and related health coverage for an additional 400,000 people per month.  The objectives of BadgerCare Plus Reform are to ensure that every resident has access to health insurance, create a Medicaid program that is sustainable, reduce reliance upon government health insurance,  maintain the healthcare safety net for those who need it most, reduce the number of uninsured nonelderly adults in our state, encourage consumers to be active participants in their healthcare and simplify the Medicaid program by providing a standard of comprehensive benefits that will lead to improved healthcare outcomes.  About 40,000 children have access and are eligible for BadgerCare but they are not signed up.  Prior to today, Medicaid eligibility was for children, pregnant women, parents/caretakers relatives and childless adults.  The three main drivers of Medicaid spending are mental health, substance abuse and dental.  BadgerCare and the program changes include providing the same benefits under BadgerCare in addition to all adults living in poverty for the first time in Wisconsin history, continue to cover pregnant women and children up to 300% FPL and provide a standard set of benefits to everyone on BadgerCare Plus.  In Wisconsin, Medicaid costs $7.2 billion per year and of that $4.4 billion is federal monies.  The federal government told states that if they don’t expand coverage to those at 133% of federal poverty level that they would not get funds for Medicaid.  It was determined that states could decide if they wanted to expand or not.  Wisconsin chose not to expand but to still provide Medicaid.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation as of April 1, 2014, Wisconsin is the only state in the nation to have no gap in coverage and not expand Medicaid.  Everyone in Wisconsin can have access to Medicaid or get subsidies. Due to the healthcare.gov issues experienced after the initial launch, Governor Walker requested that the Wisconsin legislature approve delaying the BadgerCare Plus Reform changes until April 1, 2014.  Wisconsin’s outreach and transition strategy was to leverage Milwaukee to create an enrollment network model structure, create regional enrollment networks through the state with regional partners, provide appointment and enrollment assistance, mobilize local grassroots resources to assistant people in gaining healthcare coverage and focus on providing information.  The Wisconsin transition infrastructure includes navigators, regional enrollment networks and insurance agents to help pick the right product/plan.  For more information, go to http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/health-care/index.htm or if you would like to see the PowerPoint presentation please contact Lisa Weiner at lweiner@new.rr.com and she will forward it to you. 

Rotary Shines is Friday Night

Rotary Shines will be held on Friday, April 11 at the OuterEdge in Appleton from 6:00-10:00 p.m. 

This year's event will feature a cork pull, silent auction and live auction.  The Live Auction will feature a dinner for 3 couples or 6 people made by Executive Chef Michael Congrove.  Chef Congrove has an excellent work history in high end catering, mainly in the Washington DC area.  Food will be provided.  It will also feature an Entrance 21 Package for 12 guests for Sweet Honey on Tuesday, October 14, 2014.
 

What do you want from Rotary?

Nancy Leipzig, Chair of the Young Professional Task Force, asked members to get together in their Rotary Ambassador teams and discuss what they want from Rotary.  This information can be used to generate ideas on how to bring in new members and bring vitality to the Club.  These ideas will then be brought to the Board of Directors to help in their strategic planning.  Members were asked to think about 5 topic areas:  community engagement, programs, networking/fellowship, fundraising and events or to create their own. After 10 minutes, these ideas were shared:

More socializing and networking at meetings
Educate members about Appleton/community and international volunteer opportunities
Access to other Rotarians
Presentation of personal experiences
Visit businesses of other Rotarians
Flexible meeting times and places
Identify funding sources for programs
More member engagement and interaction
Enjoy educational and community related programs
Love music
Make Rotary topics relevant
Community activities
Membership flexibility
Review dues and compare with other clubs
Club has a good reputation
Coordinate service opportunities
Revisit SAMP
Like Rotary on the Road
Internal presentation by members
More interesting topics by presenters so members can bring guests
Members work as team and care for each other

ROTARY SHINES COMMUNITY SERVICE BENEFICIARY - CATALPA HEALTH

The Community Service Committee received 30 applications from area nonprofits to be the community service beneficiary of Rotary Shines.  They were all compelling and worthwhile requests.  The committee chose to help create a resource library for Catalpa Health because of the collaboration, critical need and the substantial contribution they will be making to the community. 

 

Lisa Kogan-Praska told how Catalpa Health is a center of excellence dedicated to providing seamless, accessible collaborative mental health outpatient services for kids and families in Northeast Wisconsin.  Catalpa is a collaboration of the 3 main health care systems:  Affinity, Children's Hospital and ThedaCare.  Their mission is to help children and families improve their mental health and wellness by better access, coordination of care, collaborations, and prevention, outreach and education.  Some of their milestones include:  over 6,000 patients, over 23,000 visits, almost $3,000,000 in donations toward their $7,000,000 campaign, blended 3 organizations, doubled team to now over 50 employees and numerous community partnerships such as NAMI, PATH, HOST, Parent Connection and Lutheran Social Services.  Since Catalpa needed more timely access to care and there was such a great need, a diverse group of parents/patients, Catalpa clinicians, PCP's and community agencies got together for a 2 day stakeholder event.  They learned that when a child was in crisis or felt in crisis that it took 30 days to get an appointment, urgent care for mental health is needed and there is so much going on for parents that they did not know where to begin.  In April, Catalpa Health Access Redesign will include a more robust call center, crisis calls within 24 hours, intake specialist plan of care, resource library, timely follow-up of care for ongoing treatment and increased capacity by 60% while not increasing operating costs.  Rotary Shines will be helping fund their resource library with over 200 titles for parents/children, workbook titles recommended by providers, printed handouts for families on a wide range of diagnoses, magazine resources, sensory tools, community resource brochures, computers for online resources and a play area for children.  This library will help clients, parents, siblings, educators, providers and the community.  This will also help Catalpa achieve their goals of outreach/prevention, provide materials to educate families, improve access, allow clinical providers to focus more on treatment/diagnosis and it will provide opportunities for further collaboration with community organizations.  Thanks to the Rotary Club of Appleton for providing the funds for this valuable resource. 

 

19th ANNUAL COURTESY AWARDS

The Courtesy Awards are given to recognize sales people and others who work with the public and have provided service above and beyond the call (went the “extra mile” for the Rotarian).  The recipients received a framed Courtesy Awards certificate, a check in the amount of $75.00 and a Rotary pen.   Congratulations to the following Courtesy Award recipients:

 

Gordon Cole

Olive Cellar

Nominated by:  Val Wylie

Roberto Diaz

Radisson Paper Valley Hotel

Nominated by:  Frank Rippl

Eric Moore

Bergstrom Chevrolet Cadillac of Appleton

Nominated by:  Dawn Doberstein

 

Jarod Pullen

Bergstrom Chevrolet Cadillac of Appleton

Nominated by:  Dawn Doberstein

 

Thanks to the Courtesy Awards Committee for putting on this program:  Barbara Kelly (Co-Chair), Mary Harp-Jirschele (Co-Chair), Patti Habeck, Gail Popp, Tim Reich and Tom Simon. 

 

Rotary Club of Appleton Seeking Administrative Assistant

This position provides administrative assistance to the President and the Board of the Rotary Club of Appleton and Appleton Rotary Foundation.  He/she will be responsible for the maintenance of club records, club communications, weekly newsletter, social media, staff support to Club/Foundation committees, invoices and the general finances of the Club and Foundation.  Candidate needs to attend weekly Tuesday noon meetings as well as Club and Foundation Board meetings and take minutes. Much of this work is self directed, requiring substantial organizational skills and a solid foundation of bookkeeping, secretarial and office management skills.  Need to be able to have space in your home/office to accommodate file cabinet, laptop computer, printer/scanner/copier and other materials as required for this position.  This is a part-time (23-28 hour per week).  No benefits included.