Faith Community Mini-Plenary Sessions and Workshops Morning Devotions Mon., Tues., Wed. 7:30 – 8:30 a.m.
The Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, President, Healing of the Nations Foundation, and CDF Board Member The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., Pastor emeritus, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church, Cleveland, Ohio The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago Dr. Eli Wilson, Jr., Eli Wilson Ministries Begin each morning with devotions led by two of the nation’s great preachers, who will prepare participants’ hearts and minds for the challenges that will be shared in the plenaries and workshops that follow.
Hearing and Heeding God’s Call to Pursue Justice in Sacred Texts Monday, July 23 1:30 – 3:00
The Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, Ph.D., Senior Pastor, Presbyterian Church at Tenafly, N.J. Bishop C. Joseph Sprague (ret.), The United Methodist Church, and Advisory Board Member, CDF-Ohio Rabbi Kenneth A. Kanter, Associate Dean and Director, Rabbinical School for the Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion Br. Safaa Zarzour, Secretary General, The Islamic Society of North America What do sacred texts from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam say about our call to pursue justice for children and the poor? How do they guide and sustain our child advocacy work? Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders will share their insights, and then in small group breakouts, participants will explore the sacred texts from these and other religious traditions that inform and sustain justice work for children.
Safe Sanctuary: Congregations Reaching Out to Vulnerable Children and Families
The Rev. Darrell Armstrong, Pastor, Shiloh Baptist Church of Trenton, N.J. , and Founder, Institute for Clergy Training Samanthya Amann, Jim Casey Initiative Young Fellow Stacey Patton, Ph.D., Activist/Journalist, The Chronicle of Higher Education and Spare the Kids, Inc.
Monday, July 23 3:30 – 5:00
Almost 700,000 children are abused and neglected each year; more than 400,000 children are in foster care; and an estimated 28,000 children leave foster care annually at age 18 or older without permanent families. Learn about the multiple ways faith communities are extending a hand to vulnerable children and fragile families in the child welfare system to help keep children and youths out of the Cradle to Prison Pipeline and on to paths of promise.
Building Authentic Relationships Across Barriers of Race, Ethnicity, and Income
Bart Campolo, Walnut Hills Fellowship, Cincinnati, Ohio How can we who serve and seek justice for children and the poor build relationships with them that move past differences in race, ethnicity, and income? How can we forge partnerships so that we are advocating with and not just “for” children and families in poverty? Learn in an honest conversation that addresses what is too often ignored.
Wednesday, July 25 1:30 – 3:00 Multi-Faith Organizing for Children: How to Build Inclusive and Powerful Coalitions Monday, July 23 3:30 – 5:00
The Rev. Dr. Luther E. Smith, Jr., Ph.D., Campaign Coordinator, Pan-Methodist Campaign for Children in Poverty, and Professor of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology of Emory University The Rev. Shannon Daley-Harris, Senior Religious Advisor, Children’s Defense Fund Bishop Kenneth L. Carder (Retired), Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of Practice of Christian Ministry, Duke Divinity School Building a strong, powerful religious movement to secure justice for children requires the participation of people of all religious faiths. Learn how to build inclusive and powerful multifaith coalitions to advocate for children, including how the annual multifaith National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths can support these efforts. The conference will begin with a Children’s Sabbath service at 6:00pm on July 22 with multifaith leaders to lift up child needs.
25 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001
p (202) 628-8787
f (202) 662-3510
www.childrensdefense.org