‘I like the vitality of the participation and the vitality of hospitality within the Hizmet Movement’


Date posted: March 21, 2015

Dr. Alan Jones is the Senior Pastor at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Sacramento since 2011. Dr. Jones has Master’s in Religious Studies at University of Cambridge. He completed Doctorate of Ministry at the Claremont School of Theology. He has also attained training in psychotherapy, marriage and family therapy.

“My views about Mr. Gulen are …. that he has been an extraordinary inspiration and a source of a lot of wisdom that is grounded in the Movement. I very much appreciate his insistence that at least in this branch of Islam it’s very important to see sisters and brothers in other religious traditions.”

“I believe, certainly in the United States as I’m experiencing the Hizmet Movement, I’m experiencing extraordinary hospitality, a great warmth of people, a genuine spirit, an openness, a compassionate style.”

“I believe that what Hizmet is doing and what those of us in the Christian world and in other religious traditions are doing in building connections and relationships is vitally important, not only for us and for our interaction with each other but for the wider world community.

I really believe that we can teach the world a different way of operating so that we don’t operate simply out of fear and violence and suspicion but rather out of mutual affirmation and sharing and love and compassion and working together to build a different kind of world, whether we’re talking about our local neighborhood or our schools or our community institutions but around the world we can stop 13 thousand children dying every day in the world, if we work together on this task.”

*Produced by Spectra Media exclusively for Irmak TV, Atlas of Thoughts (Fikir Atlasi) connects the scholars, politicians, jurists, religious figures, journalists, and academics reflecting on Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen and the Hizmet Movement with the audience. Each episode features a person from a different segment of the society with diverse experiences regarding the Hizmet activities and its volunteers. If you are interested to hear about the Hizmet and Mr. Gulen from these people’s perspectives, do not miss this show!

Source: Spectra Media , May 2, 2014

Tags: | | | |


Related News

The Gülen Movement: a modern expression of Turkish Islam – Interview with Hakan Yavuz

In a way, they [the Gülen movement] represent a new model of Islam in Turkey, at peace with democracy and modernity. This also reflects the Anatolian understanding of Islam, i.e. the Sufi conception of morality is at the centre of the movement. I would consider it as a movement based on the re-imagining of Islam and consisting of loose networks under the guidance and leadership of Fetullah Gülen.

Analysis: Power of Turkey’s Fethullah Gulen

PM Erdogan accuses Hizmet supporters within the state of plotting a “coup” against the government. But the scale of the upheaval in the police, judiciary, Turkish state TV and other parts of the bureaucracy is already similar to what happens in a coup. The current Erdogan-Gulen stand-off is reminiscent of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk’s hostile relations with Said-i Nursi, a politically active Kurdish preacher in the formative years of the Turkish Republic.

East Indian Activist Supports Inter-cultural Dialog and Gulen Movement

Swami Agnivesh, 72, a Hindu social activist best known for his work against bonded labor said on a recent visit to Istanbul that he believed in intercultural dialog and Fethullah Gulen’s liberal ideas. Agnives said he was impressed with the Fethullah Gulen Movement’s work to find fellowship between cultures. Agnives came to know Fethullah Gulen through the […]

Handcuffed justice

The ruling party has been undermining rule of law since the graft and bribery investigation that became public on December 17, 2013. It sees itself unfettered by laws and the Constitution. It has been sticking to the hoax of “parallel structure” –a veiled reference to members of the Hizmet movement inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen– in a desperate attempt to cover up the graft investigations.

Hate speech and its impact on the movement (1)

It amounts to the otherization of a social group, cowing it into submission. It is a weapon used by the powerful to destroy the “others.” Hate speech is particularly dangerous when employed by those who exercise public authority as it leads to official discrimination. In a democratic country, it is one of the state’s basic duties to prevent the use of hate speech.

Oxford Analytica: Gulen Inspires Muslims Worldwide

Fethullah Gulen is a provincial Turkish preacher who has inspired a worldwide network of Muslims who feel at home in the modern world. The chief characteristic of the Gulen movement is that it does not seek to subvert modern secular states, but encourages practicing Muslims to use to the full the opportunities they offer. It […]

Latest News

Turkish inmate jailed over alleged Gülen links dies of heart attack in prison

Message of Condemnation and Condolences for Mass Shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney

Media executive Hidayet Karaca marks 11th year in prison over alleged links to Gülen movement

ECtHR faults Turkey for convictions of 2,420 applicants over Gülen links in follow-up to 2023 judgment

New Book Exposes Erdoğan’s “Civil Death Project” Targeting the Hizmet Movement

European Human Rights Treaty Faces Legal And Political Tests

ECtHR rejects Turkey’s appeal, clearing path for retrials in Gülen-linked cases

Erdoğan’s Civil Death Project’ : The ‘politicide’ spanning more than a decade

Fethullah Gülen’s Vision and the Purpose of Hizmet

In Case You Missed It

Turkey needs a new constitution to save its democracy

This notable Pocono resident has been living here in exile since 1999

Islamic scholar Gülen offers condolences to ferry victims

Are Turkey’s torture chambers back?

Turkish Cultural Center aims to bridge East and West

Jailed police chief’s children, aged 15 and 17, detained in new post-coup probe

Jews should speak up for Hizmet

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News