2012 Annual Meeting promises to inspire, energize and rejuvenate
Make your plans now to join us at the 2012 Annual Meeting
- Connect with friends old and new
- Expand your knowledge through our great lineup of speakers
- Engage in lively discussion
- Be the voice of your congregation
More than ever, our neighbors are people from different countries and religious traditions. Whether we live in northern Wisconsin or in Milwaukee, a better understanding of other faiths is necessary and good if we are to live in community with each other. This is especially true about the three traditions that share common roots: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
This year's Annual Meeting with give us a deeper understanding, broader perspective, and insights into how we can learn from different religious traditions and, in turn, enhance our own faith.
A good beginning to greater understanding is learning about the texts that are sacred to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. This year at the Wisconsin Conference UCC Annual Meeting we will hear from three expert speakers representing the Abrahamic faiths - Charles Cohen, Karl Kuhn, and Othman Atta, with Peter Makari, from the national UCC staff. Their first panel discussion will focus on the sacred texts of each faith tradition. Do we really understand the importance of the Torah, the Bible and the Koran? What is the authority of each? What do they share?
A second discussion will focus on a story found in the texts of all three faiths. How does each tradition understand the story? Where are the differences and what do they mean? How does this common story with different understandings enlighten our own understanding and beliefs?
In a must-see session on Saturday, Dan Pawlus presents Rooted in Faith, Growing Outward. Pawlus, vice president of the Interfaith Youth Corps and host of the Chicago public television show "30 Good Minutes", will discuss his encounters with people across the spectrum of beliefs, and how those encounters affected his own beliefs and his understanding of the impact of a multi-faith world on our lives. You will meet on video some of the people who helped shape his understanding, and he will offer ideas for how individuals can deepen their faith as they reach out to those with other beliefs.
Additional Saturday workshops will allow participants to further expand their understanding of the three faiths, and explore how this all fits into our current-day world. For example you may want to attend -
- Muslims in America: Opportunities and Challenges, by Othman Atta
- Judaism 101, by Charles Cohen
- The Distinctive Dimensions of Christian Testimony, with Karl Kuhn
- Interfaith Experiences in Local Communities, with Linda Glazner and Deborah Mejchar
- Islam: a Faith Hijacked, moderated by Bonnie Van Overbeke
- The Middle East: A year of changes, with Peter Makari
- Christian Presence and Witness in the Middle East, by Peter Makari
We live in a multi-faith world, and sometimes we cannot talk with each other very well. The program for this annual meeting is based on the assumption that we can learn from different religious traditions and that learning about them enhances our own faith.
Come, enjoy the company of old and new friends in the Wisconsin UCC and learn more about all the Children of Abraham.
