Scholar-Activist Encounter: Reading Psalms and Proverbs with First Nations People

October 09, 2025, 7:30pm Eastern US Time

How do activism and scholarship contribute to our understanding of Scripture in the world today?

Please note: Registration will close on October 9 at 7pm Eastern US Time.

In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, CLBSJ welcomes Terry Wildman for a sharing and Bible study with the First Nations Version of Psalms and Proverbs, recently published by InterVarsity Press. Building upon the well-received FNV: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament, Wildman’s team has crafted a dynamic equivalence translation of the beloved books of Psalms and Proverbs, drawing from the cultural and linguistic thought patterns found in the tongues and traditions of First Nations peoples. In this session, Wildman will share about the history, motivations and process of creating this unique translation. We will then delve into a few scriptures that speak strongly to our current times.

We are also blessed to welcome Presbyterian elder Patricia Osterhoudt (Ramapo) to offer a response based on her work in the community as an addiction recovery coach.

Additional sharings will be brought by Rev. Petra Thombs (Cherokee), Evan Pritchard (Mi’kmaq), and Ched Myers. This session will be co-hosted by CLBSJ Contemplative Traditions Advisor Sr. Sharifa Meytung and CLBSJ Executive Director Amy Dalton. People of all faiths and backgrounds are warmly invited to attend!

Please note: Registration will close on October 9 at 7pm Eastern US Time.

Optional Advance Reading:

The First Nations Version of Psalms and Proverbs can be purchased from Intervarsity Press. At this website, you can also download a free press kit which contains several sample verses.
In 2022, CLBSJ hosted our first conversation with the First Nations Version. You can watch the archive of that event here.

Speaker Bios:

Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe and Yaqui) is the lead translator, general editor, and project manager of the First Nations Version. He serves as the director of spiritual growth and leadership development for Native InterVarsity. He is also a musician, the founder of Rain Ministries, and has previously served as a pastor and worship leader. He and his wife, Darlene, live in Arizona. Click here to read more.

Patricia Osterhoudt (Ramapo) is an addiction recovery coach, an elder at Brook Presbyterian Church in the Hudson River Presbytery (PC-USA), and a member of the Board of the Sweetwater Cultural Center. The modalities that she is trained in include the Wellbriety White Bison Warrior Down Recovery method, which aims to translate the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous into indigenous language and thought patterns. She is an active member of the Ramapo Munsee Lenape Nation.

Rev. Petra Thombs (Cherokee) serves as pastor at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Central Nassau and Educational Consultant at the Ramapough Lenape Community Center. Having spent a 32-year career in the NYC Department of Education before attending seminary, Rev. Thombs now focuses on community education, spiritual development and grassroots advocacy around the priorities of multiculturalism, anti-racism and indigenous solidarity. She is a regular participant in the Rockland Coalition to End the New Jim Crow and the campaign to end the Doctrine of Discovery.

Evan Pritchard (Mi’kmaq) is a prolific author, grassroots educator and musician from the Hudson Valley, NY. He is the author of Native New Yorkers, No Word For Time, The Way of the Algonquin People, and many other books, including an Algonkian language series. He was the organizer of the North American Friendship Circle gathering on Columbus Day, 1992, and currently runs Resonance Communications and the Center for Algonquin Culture.