North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church to welcome sojourners

From The United Methodist Church's General Board of Church and Society:

Bishops to speak at conference on immigration reform

At an April rally in Washington, D.C., United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño addresses thousands of protesters calling for fair treatment of undocumented immigrants. She will be a featured speaker at ‘Welcoming the Sojourner’ Oct. 16-18, in Naperville, Ill.
(UMNS photo by Jay Mallin)

Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the Desert Southwest Conference of The United Methodist Church, will be a featured speaker at “Welcoming the Sojourner — Finding the Church’s Voice on Immigration.” The event will be Thursday to Saturday, Oct. 16-18, at the Lisle Hilton in Naperville, Ill.

Carcaño is chair of the United Methodist Council of Bishops committee on immigration. She also heads an interagency task force of the denomination that targets reform of U.S. immigration laws.

”Welcoming the Sojourner” is co-sponsored by the North Central Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church and the denomination’s General Board of Church & Society (GBCS).

Other featured speakers include Bishop Hee-Soo Jung of the Northern Illinois Conference; the Rev. Mark Sills, executive director of FaithAction International House, Greensboro, N.C., an interfaith, interracial, non-profit organization working to form a united community of many cultures; and José Oliva, an organizer for Interfaith Worker Justice in Chicago.

Workshops at “Welcoming the Sojourner” will include:

The Bible and Immigration

Organizing United Methodists for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

The Local Church as a Place of Outreach and Ministry

Immigration and Racism

The New Sanctuary Movement, and

INS Raids and Your Community

A Continuing Education Credit will be awarded for the event. Registration fee is $95. Go to Registration to register online.

For more information, contact the Rev. Clayton Childers, GBCS director of Annual Conference Relations, at (202) 488-5642.

Another “Welcoming the Sojourner” event will be Sept. 11-13 at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. That event is co-sponsored the Board of Church and Society of the Arkansas Conference of The United Methodist Church, Justice For Our Neighbors and GBCS. Besides Bishop Carcaño and Sills, featured speakers will include Bill Mefford, director of GBCS’s Civil and Human Rights program. Bishop Charles Crutchfield of Arkansas Conference will lead worship.

Registration for the Arkansas event is $50. Go to Arkansas Registration to register online. For more information, contact the Rev. Steve Copley, Arkansas Justice for Our Neighbors, at (501) 374-3811.

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program boards of The United Methodist Church, which has more than 11 million members worldwide. The board’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations. Its Web site is www.umc-gbcs.org.