ISU students can participate in an interfaith teleconference this weekend featuring Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars discussing what God means to them.

The teleconference, “God at 2000,” will be broadcast from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Ore., to the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

John Donaghy, campus minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church and Student Center, 2210 Lincoln Way, said the teleconference will be open to everyone.

The conference will involve hour-long presentations from the scholars, Donaghy said.

“They’re being asked to talk about their understanding of what they see as the sacred God from their personal faiths,” he said. “These are people who’ve spent a lot of time in terms of study and reflection.”

Matt Cobb, university chaplain at St. John’s By The Campus Episcopal Church and Student Center, 2338 Lincoln Way, said “God at 2000” is the first program in a interfaith series called “Links: Connecting Head and Heart on Campus.” There will be a different “Links” program each semester for the next four years.

Cobb said those people who watch the conference from the MU also will be able to interact with the scholars.

“Through technology, we will be able to talk directly to the panel,” he said. “It’s highly interactive. There will also be people viewing it on their personal computers, and they’ll be sending e-mail.”

The speakers will also assemble as a panel at the end of the conference Saturday to take questions from the audience, Cobb said.

“They’ve designed it to consider anything that’s not considered in the framework of their sessions on Friday and Saturday, so any questions can be asked,” he said. “Each presenter will have five minutes to reflect on the questions.”

Those who view the conference at the MU may attend as many or as few of the speakers as they wish, Cobb said.

Friday’s speakers are Marcus Borg, Protestant author of “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time,” at 11 a.m.; Diana Eck, professor of comparative religions and Indian studies at Harvard University, at 12:45 p.m.; Lawrence Kushner, Jewish rabbi, at 3:30 p.m.; and Sister Joan Chittister, Catholic spiritual writer and Benedictine nun, at 5:15 p.m.

The teleconference Saturday will feature Seyyed Hossein Nasr, university professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, at 11 a.m.; Karen Armstrong, author of “A History of God,” at 12:45 p.m.; and Desmond Tutu, former Anglican archbishop from South Africa and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, at 3:30 p.m. The closing panel will be held at 5:15 p.m.

Cobb said he is glad Iowa State has the opportunity to be involved in the “Links” program.

“I think Iowa State’s an international university, and having interfaith offerings like this show other universities that we recognize the global nature of higher education,” he said. “There isn’t just one faith; we live in a multi-faith world.”