Director's Welcome
Fumitaka Matsuoka
Welcome to the PANA Institute's Web site. I invite you to browse through the valuable information and many resources that are available here on the subject of leadership development and the study of Pacific and Asian North American religion. The PANA Institute, an ecumenical and inter-faith organization, is an integral part of the theological education of the Pacific School of Religion (PSR), a multi-denominational and increasingly inter-faith institution of graduate theological learning in Berkeley, CA. Because of the consortial setting of the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) of which PSR is a part, the PANA Institute is also actively engaged in the GTU's overall programme of education.
As the PANA Institute moves into its next phase of existence after the initial five years, I ask these questions: What is PANA all about? More precisely, what language does PANA bring to the world? Instead of succumbing to a temptation to speak administratively about the history of PANA, its accomplishments, programs, or vision for the future, I ask these questions of its raison d'être.
My answer to these questions is that PANA is a place where people come who are interested in religion and theology. At PANA people are given time and opportunity to see themselves differently from what is popular and "acceptable" in our world. This is so because we at PANA do not want to make the same sense that the world makes, whether that means race, gender, sexuality, class, and even religion and faith. Just as Moses was told to take off his shoes in the divine presence, we at PANA believe that we cannot grapple with the meaning of important issues if we are protected against the uneven and unyielding and perhaps stony or thorny ground of the world in which we live. We are committed to walk such a ground and speak the language we discover out of our walk. Hopefully it is a language that speaks more than the rhetoric of self-identity and self-worth of Pacific Asian Americans. Hopefully it is a language that creates space for yearning, reflection and action for all.
Besides its participation in graduate theological education, the PANA Institute works closely with various faith communities, both Christian and those of other living faiths. Since the inception of the Institute in the fall of 2000, its programs and activities have gradually expanded to encompass many phases of the study of religion and the leadership needs of Pacific Islander and Asian North American communities. I invite you to visit our Calendar page to see the many activities we have planned and encourage you to join us.
Please enjoy our Web site.
Fumitaka Matsuoka
Executive Director
PANA Institute (Institute for Leadership Development and Study of Pacific and Asian North American Religion)