We're All in This Together: Confronting the Structures of Injustice

If it seems there are many critical issues confronting us, it is because there are. How do we respond to the biblical call for justice in a world facing deepening global inequality, environmental challenges, and the escalation of violence in human relationships? We are fortunate to have three eminently qualified people prepared to address these questions. We will use A Social Creed for the 21st Century to discern a moral, ethical and spiritual response to the many challenges humankind must meet. In presentations and discussions we will search for the prophetic spirit to guide our efforts toward a more just and humane world.

Location: Ghost Ranch Abiquiu

Registration fee: $350 + housing & meals
Before May 15: $250 + housing & meals

Gary Dorrien is Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. An Episcopal priest, he was previously the Parfet Distinguished Professor at Kalamazoo College, where he taught for 18 years and also served as Dean of Stetson Chapel. He is the author of 14 books and approximately 225 articles that range across the fields of ethics, social theory, theology, philosophy, politics and history. Prof. Dorrien has a long record of involvement in social justice and anti-war organizations. His most recent books are The Making of American Liberal Theology and Social Ethics in the Making. His next book, due in 2010 is Economy, Difference, and Empire. (www.utsnyc.edu/garydorrien)

Grace Yia-Hei Kao is an Associate Professor of Ethics at the Claremont School of Theology, where she teaches and researches issues related to human rights, religion in the public sphere, feminism, environmental ethics, and Asian American Christianity. She was previously Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Women’s Studies at Virginia Tech. Dr. Kao has published chapters and articles on a variety of topics, including ecofeminism, the relationship between religion and violence, and the prospects and challenges for interreligious cooperation and peace. Georgetown University Press will soon publish her first book, Grounding Human Rights in a Pluralist World, in their Advancing Human Rights series. (www.cst.edu/academic-resources/-faculty.kao.php)

Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty is Associate Professor of Theology at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY where she teaches a broad range of courses including Theology from the Margins for which she was recently awarded a Kentuckiana Metroversity Instructional Development Award. She is also a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Much of her work has bridged the gap between church and academy. Dr. Hinson-Hasty currently serves as an elected member of the Advocacy Committee for Women’s Concerns (ACWC) and was part of the PC(USA) committee that drafted the Social Creed for the 21st Century. She is the author of Beyond the Social Maze: Exploring Vida Dutton Scudder’s Theological Ethics and co-editor of Prayers for the New Social Awakening, with Christian Iosso and To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians with Rebecca Todd Peters. (www.bellarmine.edu/cas/theology)
(more complete biographies on websites)

In partnership with The Witherspoon Society/Voices of Sophia and The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

Jane Hanna, Coordinator Jane has been involved in PC(USA) peace and justice programs for the past 40 years as a Hunger Action Enabler, active participant in Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Presbyterians for Earth Care, and has served on PHEWA and The Witherspoon Society boards. For the past ten years she has been coordinating Ghost Ranch courses for The Witherspoon Society, Presbyterians for Peace Fellowship and Presbyterians for Earth Care. She is also a member of the National Ghost Ranch Foundation board.

For more information, please see the Ghost Rance Website.