February 24, 2011
Lake Junaluska, NC: The fourth annual Lake Junaluska Peace Conference, “Poverty, Abundance, and Peace: Seeking Economic Justice for All God’s Children,” on November 13-15, 2011, will lift up some of the systemic causes of poverty and economic disparity to help participants better understand these issues and to be equipped as change agents to work for alleviating these causes of poverty for a more just and peaceful world.
Speakers for this year’s conference include Senator George McGovern, Dr. David Beckmann, President of Bread for the World, and Bishop Nkula Ntambo of the Katanga Conference in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Senator McGovern is a long time proponent of Peace and Justice for all people. He served many years as a Representative and Senator from South Dakota and was a candidate for the Presidency of the United States in 1972. He is a former director of the Food for Peace Program and was awarded the National Peacemaker Award in 2009.
Dr. Beckmann is one of the foremost advocates for hungry and poor people. He has served as President of Bread for the World since 1991. He founded and serves as president of the Alliance to End Hunger, which engages diverse U.S. institutions—Muslim and Jewish groups, corporations, unions, and universities—in building the political will to end hunger.
Bishop Ntambo recently was awarded the Peacemaker Award from the Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding. As leader of the United Methodists in the Katanga region, he has reached out to people of different faiths to work together for a sustainable economy for the people of that area and has helped to broker peace among the different factions. He brings much hands-on experience in peacemaking and working for economic justice to the Conference.
“Dr. Beckmann, Senator McGovern and Bishop Ntambo each bring a long history of effective involvement in issues related to peace, poverty, and hunger,” explained Garland Young and Wannamaker Hardin, Chair and vice-chair of the Peace Conference. “They will help us explore ways to be more effective in our witness and involvement in seeking peace and justice for all. The inter-faith approach to peace will continue to be an emphasis of this conference with Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders taking part."
In keeping with the commitment of the Peace Conference to Interfaith peacemaking, the Conference will also feature an interfaith panel featuring Jewish, Muslim and Christian scholars on the topic, “Our Sacred Texts Speak to Us in Regard to Peace, Justice and Economics.”
A special session will also feature speakers on the topic of “Corporate Social Responsibility,” as the Conference looks at ways foundations, faith communities, and individuals can work for a more just economic order through responsible investing. Speakers will be Dr. Tom Stephens, Managing Director of Prescient360 Group, an advisor for many years to corporations, government, and institutions on issues of corporate responsibility, and Vidette Bullock Mixon, who will represent the United Methodist Board of Pensions socially responsible investing policies.
Through plenary sessions and breakout groups participants will have many opportunities to hear about the issues affecting economic justice and ways all persons can work for a more equitable and peaceful world. Additional speakers and events will be announced as they are confirmed.
For more information on the Conference and to register go to www.lakejunaluska.com/peace.