#EAD2018 Pre-Gathering Event
Our Call to Speak Up for Displaced People
Friday, April 20, 2018, 1 – 4 p.m.
Sponsored by the National Council of Churches’ Faith and Order convening table
Millions of people cross borders each year fleeing violence and seeking better lives. Christians gathering at the 2018 Ecumenical Advocacy Days will be speaking up for displaced people and challenging the powers that dehumanize and discriminate against them. But what are the foundations for Christian advocacy on behalf of migrants and refugees? Sponsored by the National Council of Churches’ convening table on Faith and Order, this workshop will explore theological and biblical resources for analyzing the global forces – war, climate change, famine, and more – which uproot people from their homelands, and how we can sustain and deepen our solidarity with the uprooted.
Moderator
Dr. Raj Nadella
Dr. Raj Nadella, originally from India, teaches New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary and serves as the director of the MA(TS) degree program. He is the author of Dialogue Not Dogma: Many Voices in the Gospel of Luke. He is currently working on a book titled Synoptics and the Empire and is co-authoring a volume on migration and border crossings. Nadella has published several articles that explicate interrelated issues such as Bible, empire, and economic justice. He has contributed to the Huffington Post and other publications such as Presbyterians Today. Nadella serves on the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches.
Speakers
Ms. Sara Benitez
Sara Benitez directs the Latino outreach program for Faith in Public Life in Washington, D.C., where she works with Latino clergy and lay leaders of all faith traditions on civic engagement and immigration reform advocacy.
Sara previously served as the Director of Environment Programs at Hispanic Access Foundation, where she had the privilege of working with Latino faith leaders, youth, and families to advocate for public lands and water conservation. Sara began her work in advocacy as a Research Analyst at the National Council of La Raza, where she made the case for policy changes that could increase opportunities for Latino families.
Dr. Rick Elegandy
Dr. Elgendy is Assistant Professor of Christian Ethics and Public Theology at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. As a public theologian, he draws on sources in systematic theology, political theology, social ethics, and critical theory. His work has appeared in journals such as Political Theology, the International Journal of Systematic Theology, and Studia Patristica, and he is the co-editor of and a contributor to the volume, Renegotiating Power, Theology, and Politics (Palgrave MacMillan, 2015).
Rev. John McCullough
The Rev. John L. McCullough is President and CEO of Church World Service, the global humanitarian agency with programs in development and humanitarian affairs, refugee assistance, and advocacy for social justice. Under his leadership, CWS is known as an innovative and adaptive leader in its programmatic fields, engaged in transformative relationships. McCullough has been at the forefront of agency efforts to press for Enough for All – the needs of the hungry and the displaced, human rights and the empowerment of civil society. McCullough conceived of and implemented the long-term process of CWS 2020, to embolden the agency in times of sweeping change across international relations, ecumenical and interfaith landscapes, and in the church as it is transformed in the Global North and South.
Rev. Jeania Ree V. Moore
Rev. Moore is the Director of Civil and Human Rights for the Board of Church & Society of the United Methodist Church. This includes work on immigration, criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, the death penalty, religious liberty, education, refugees and migration, and voting rights. Her work on civil and human rights centers on upholding human dignity, and engages emphases — such as racial justice — which support that dignity. A graduate of the Candler School of Theology and the University of Cambridge, Jeania Ree is a commissioned deacon in the California-Pacific Conference.
Dr. Matthew Shadle
Dr. Matthew Shadle teaches in the Dept. of Theology & Religious Studies at Marymount University in Arlington, Va. His research focuses on the role of identity and imagination in theological and ethical reflection on contentious social issues. For example, his book The Origins of War: A Catholic Perspective (Georgetown, 2011) draws on both theology and political science to explore the role of identity in contributing to armed conflict. His current research focuses on the evolution of how Catholics have imagined the global economy over the past five decades, in both official teaching and in the lived experience of Catholics.