July 1, 2010
LAKE JUNALUSKA, N.C. –The third annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, September 18-21, 2010, will offer a variety of workshops and presentations. Leadership includes Marian Wright Edelman, Dr. Jeni Stepanek, and Bishop Kenneth Carder. Participants in the peace conference, “Peace for the World’s Children,” will have the opportunity to join with children’s advocates from across the United States to explore social issues facing children.
For the first time, the Lake Junaluska Peace Conference includes a Saturday - Sunday session specifically for children, youth and their adult leaders, led by Jeni Stepanek. The Peace Celebration for Youth and Children will encourage and show youth how they can become peacemakers themselves. Celebration participants will engage in hands on learning experiences with various organizations that are working for peace and that are meeting the needs of youth and children throughout the world. Jeni Stepanek is a noted advocate for children’s and families’ needs in health and education, and she is a motivational speaker on topics ranging from disability to hope, peace, and spirituality.
Persons of all ages are welcome to attend the conference, and the Lake Junaluska Peace Committee hopes that many of those coming for the Sunday-Tuesday conference will arrive in time for a "bridging" of the two sessions on Sunday afternoon during the first annual Peace Walk around the lake and Festival of Peace, which will be led by youth and children.
The Sunday night opening session of the Peace Conference will be led by Bishop Kenneth Carder, the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Duke Divinity School. Bishop Carder is a long time advocate for children and has a deep interest in peace. The Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church has, on several occasions, asked him to lead their efforts in these fields.
Marian Wright Edelman will be keynote speaker at the Peace Conference as well. Coupled with her emphasis on national issues, leadership at the conference will help participants take a hard look at global challenges. Edelman is a renowned children advocate, as well as founder and President of the Children’s Defense Fund.
In addition to sessions led by Carder, Edelman, and Stepanek, the 2010 Lake Junaluska Peace Conference will also offer over 20 workshops, each of which focuses on children and each person’s responsibility and role as a peacemaker.
“One of the primary goals of the conference is to equip participants to be better informed and more effective advocates for children,” said Garland young, the Chair of the Peace Conference Committee. “Thus, the 2010 workshops have been designed and the leaders have been selected with that goal in mind. Our workshops will help us become advocates for and collaborators with the children and youth of the world.”
Workshops will deal with topics such as The Holocaust Project/Paper Clips, Children and AIDS in Africa, Rearing Children as Peacemakers, Advocacy for Children: A Path for Peacemakers, and many more topics. A complete listing of workshops can be found online.
“This year’s conference promises to be exciting and unique, incorporating a Peace Celebration for Youth and Children in addition to its annual Peace Conference. We hope that children, youth, and adults grow as peacemakers during their time together,” said Jimmy L. Carr, Lake Junaluska’s Executive Director.
For more information and to take advantage of the extended early registration by July 31, call 828-454-6656 or visit www.lakejunaluska.com/peace.