Conference Offers a Forum for Learning and Sharing How to Live OutOur Call to Justice and Peace

Washington, D.C. – Those in our world who are “voiceless” cry out for partners and advocates to work toward peace and justice. The “Living Faith Seeking Justice” conference, sponsored by the United Methodist Church’s General Board of Church and Society, will gather congregations from around the globe to share their stories of working for peace and justice to accomplish change in the attitudes, structures, and trends that continue to silence those whose voices are ignored.

The conference, which will be held in Forth Worth, Texas, from November 1-4, 2007, will include several ways for attendees to share their work and learn from what others are doing, including general session speakers, workshops, a “Cityscape” space that will highlight art that reflects justice, and site visits to several ministries that illustrate a commitment to justice in what they do and how they do it.

“Violence abounds from the Middle East to the campus of Virginia Tech,” says General Secretary James Winkler. “How do congregations participate in helping to provide an alternative—a vision of a just and peaceful society—and then act together to carry out that vision? That’s what this conference will give people a chance to do. Everyone who gathers in Fort Worth will have an opportunity to hear, learn, and discuss solutions.”

Speakers
Speakers include Methodist ministers, activists, and others who are working to bring justice to their communities, countries, and the world:
· Shane Claiborne, a founding members of The Simple Way, a community in inner-city Philadelphia that has helped birth and connect radical faith communities around the world

· Emmanuel Cleaver, senior pastor of St. James UMC in Kansas City, Missouri and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Kansas City

· Rev. Adam Hamilton, minister at Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, who believes that the church must serve as a conscience to the community and state.

· Rev. Chebon Kernell, a pastor and member of the Oklahoma Missionary Conference, which was instrumental in organizing “Rock the Native Vote”

· Rev. Dr. Pamela Lightsey, dean of students at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary and a recipient of the Denman Award for evangelism

· Mercy Amba Oduyoye, an African theologian, feminist, and activist who works to ensure that women's voices and concerns are heard in African society

· Dr. Harold Recinos, professor of church and society at the Perkins School of Theology, who has written widely on the call of the church to engage the world

· Dr. Elizabeth Tapia, director of the Drew Center for Christianities in Global Context at Drew University and Theological School and an ordained elder of the Bulacan Philippines Annual Conference

· Rev. Janet Wolf, the director of public policy and community organizing for a national interfaith coalition working to challenge U.S. drug policy, with a focus on restorative justice, harm reduction, and alternatives to incarceration

· Rev. Michael Yoshii, a clergyman and activist who works for justice in Alameda, California
Conference workshops will be grouped into five categories: health and wholeness, gender justice, peace with justice, economic and environmental justice, and civil and human rights. Conference participants can expect the workshops to be experiential and interactive, giving them an opportunity not only to hear what the workshop leader has to say but also to share their own experiences and to hear from others.

For the conference organizers, it is important that every part of the conference be a part of the collective call to faith and justice. For example, the conference bags have been made by the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and the meals will be healthy and built around using sustainable, renewable resources.

A “Cityscape” will open space for art that reflects justice and provide room for exhibitors like Ten Thousand Villages. A call to artists invited artists of all type—whether church members, Sunday school classes, community groups, youth groups, church committees, choirs, or people from the community—to submit their artistic expressions, including artwork, poetry, photographs, or short films, that share how the artist(s) or the community have experienced social justice in action.

Find out more about the conference or register at www.umc-gbcs.org/livingfaith.

The General Board of Church and Society of The United Methodist Church is the international public policy and social action agency mandated to speak its convictions to the church and to the world.