Food for Thought offers interfaith and community thought-provoking presentations consistent with Mecklenburg Ministries' mission.

Presentations are 12:00-1:00 p.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church on the third Thursday of every month September-May. Admission is free, but an RSVP is appreciated. Lunch is available for purchase for $6 and includes soup, salad, entree, dessert, and beverage.

RSVP by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Covenant Presbyterian Church is located at 1000 East Morehead Street.

2012 Program Schedule

January 19: Conscious Forgiveness

Can a personal journey of forgiveness effect community or global change? The purpose of this conversation is to stimulate introspection and to assist a view that every effort toward forgiveness stimulates change in our personal lives, in the community, and globally. Presented by Adeola Fearon.

February 16: The Power of Words: What Words Can Do to Promote Change and How Words Can Play Into Our Images of Reality and Heal, Empower and Transform. Presented by Dr. David Jordan, Associate Pastor of Providence Baptist Church

Fall 2011 Program Schedule

September 22: Long-term Unemployment: Does the Faith Community Need New Response Tools? A discussion of how our culture is being changed by long-term unemployment, not just among the unemployed but also for our children and support communities. Are there practical solutions?

Speaker: Elizabeth Hyland, spiritual coach for job seekers and career changers and author of Surviving the Unemployment Roller Coaster: From Stress to Success.

October 20: Building a Faith-Based Economy presented by Dr. Ravi Batra

Dr. Batra is a professor of economics at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the author of five international bestsellers and numerous newspaper, magazine, and journal articles. A proponent of the socio-economic Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT), Dr. Batra has gained international renown for the accuracy of his analysis and prediction of economic and social events.

“Only an infinite entity [God] can satisfy the infinite human hunger for enjoyment. Spiritual activity is simply a pursuit of the infinite entity. This concept of spirituality is essential to an understanding of PROUT,” says Dr. Batra.

Dr. Batra will speak via interactive video teleconference, which will allow him to take questions from the audience.

November 17: Prophetic Voices for Environmental Justice. Are we being called to live in a new way with our natural world, and, if so, how do we do it? A discussion of what it means to be good stewards of God's creation and to recognize the effects of poor stewardship particularly upon those with the fewest resources.

Speaker: Kate Green, Greenfaith Fellow and Facilitator, Earthkeepers, Environmental Ministry of Myers Park Baptist Church

December 15: Occupy Charlotte: Is This Class Warfare? Harry Taylor and Luis Rodriguez will speak about the Occupy Charlotte protest, which is an outgrowth of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Are these people the problem, the solution or messengers of what's wrong with the economy? Join us as we try to find out.