DURHAM, NC (May 12, 2008) \u2013 Representatives of the Evangelical Covenant Church are among 70 invited Christian leaders participating today through Wednesday in a Gathering of U.S. Leaders sponsored by the Duke Divinity School\u2019s Center for Reconciliation on the campus of Duke University.
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\nThe three-day meeting is designed to help connect grassroots practitioners, pastors, denominational and parachurch leaders, authors, theologians, scholars and directors of peace centers who \u201care restless about a Christian witness for peace and justice in America, restless for a deeper vision of Christian and church life and faithfulness, and restless for a deeper conversation and place of community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Participants will include Debbie Blue, executive minister of the Department of Compassion, Mercy and Justice; Walter Contreras, Department of World Mission; and Brenda Salter McNeil, who has worked extensively with the Covenant on issues related to racial reconciliation. She founded Salter McNeil & Associates, a racial and ethnic reconciliation training, consulting, and leadership development firm, and is coauthor of the book, The Heart of Racial Justice: How Soul Change Leads to Social Change.<\/p>\n
The event is designed to:
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Engage deeper conversations and reflection around the ministry of reconciliation within a framework that is richly theological, contextual, practical and Christ-centered
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Better understand the important work already under way and how to strengthen Christian approaches to pursuing peace and reconciliation
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Discuss the need for more intensive and in-depth ways to serve and sustain Christian leaders and ministries of reconciliation for the long term
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Offer insight and suggestions to the Center for Reconciliation\u2019s efforts to provide spaces and programming to bring more leaders together in future settings of rest, sabbatical, community, teaching and learning, collaboration, and spiritual renewal<\/p>\n
\u201cConversations will primarily focus on the persisting and changing challenges of shaping beloved communities and faithful church witness amidst social challenges and divides in the arenas of class, ethnicity, race, incarceration, and the disabled,\u201d event sponsors note.<\/p>\n