‘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

Gulen: Dervish of our times

Why it is that Gulen, despite having been rated by the Foreign Policy Prospect as one of the highly acclaimed 100 top intellectuals of the world is still a lesser known public figure in the Muslim world. It may be because of his low profile and a moderate Turkish version of Islam.

Fethullah Gülen and the Hizmet Movement by Ori Soltes, Georgetown University

Ori Z. Soltes talks in this video about Fethullah Gülen from sufi perspective. Ori Z. Soltes is Goldman Professorial Lecturer at Georgetown Univeristy where he teaches theology, philosophy and art history at the department of theology and he is former Director and Curator of the B’nai B’rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., where he curated over 80 exhibitions.

The AKP as a party: Is it Islamic, statist or just opportunist?

The situation is tense these days in Turkey between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Gülen movement.

The Process Behind Turkey’s Proposed Extradition of Fethullah Gülen

By publicly campaigning for Gülen’s immediate extradition—before a formal request had been submitted—Turkish officials reinforced the idea that the United States is somehow protecting Gülen or resisting the extradition process. That is not true. There will be critics of any eventual decision, just as there are critics of the delay in reaching a decision. Whatever the result, both governments should communicate the decision with consideration for the long-term relationship and should operate on the assumption that the other is acting in good faith.

The real problem is not an AK Party-Gülen movement conflict

When the problem is not properly diagnosed, the treatment can’t be on the mark. Let us speak openly: while the problem may appear to be a struggle between children from the same neighborhood — the AK Party and the Gülen movement — the real problem is in fact one that concerns all of society: democracy and justice. And the only solution is to return to real democracy and the principles of the rule of law.

Houston firms ‘explore’ Turkey on direct flights

A business delegation of Houston-based companies is currently visiting İstanbul in a program organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) to discuss expanding trade ties and business opportunities with their Turkish counterparts. The visit comes on the heels of the recently launched direct flights between Houston and İstanbul by Turkey’s national flag […]

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

Anonymous witnesses fail to identify suspects they earlier tipped off as Gulenist

Pakistan – Staff expelled from Turkish-backed schools on Erdogan’s demand

Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV) gathers all colors of Turkey at iftar

Once, it was democracy that brought Erdogan and Gülen together

Review of Dogan Koc’s Strategic Defamation of Fethullah Gulen: English vs. Turkish

Graduation ceremony of the Turkish school in Senegal

Fethullah Gülen’s teachings discussed at conference in Algeria

Copyright 2026 Hizmet News