wfn.org | RCCongress Theme and Date for 2010 Chicago Gathering

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@igc.org>]

RCCongress 2010 announces theme and date for Chicago gathering

NEW YORK?Organizers of Religion Communication Congress 2010 (RCCongress 2010) announced that participants in its upcoming conference will explore the many dimensions of change facing religion communicators under the theme Embracing Change: Communicating Faith in Today?s World.

The event is scheduled for April 7-10, 2010 at the Marriott Downtown Hotel in Chicago.

Shirley Whipple Struchen, coordinator for the once-a-decade gathering of religion communications professionals from around the world said, ?We?re dealing with several massive changes that have occurred over the past decade: the changing perceptions of different religions, heightened attention to faith in the public square, and the role technology plays in religion communications.?

Technology has advanced at a break-neck pace since the last Congress gathered in April, 2000. The advances in ?content delivery? through cell phones, iPods and podcasting, and the introduction of internet content sharing and social networking through sites like MySpace, FaceBook, and YouTube have reshaped how a generation encounters the world. These sites have broken down geographic boundaries as people around the world share news and expressions of how they experience their  world.

The RCCongress 2010 will feature more than 50 skills-building workshops, plenary sessions focusing on timely issues that impact people throughout the world, and ?built-in? time to learn from one another.

?Over the course of the Congress,? says Struchen, 
?participants will hear from or interact with people from a broad spectrum of religions with varying and distinct views about how to meet the new challenges of communicating effectively about faith in a vastly changed technological, religious, and social environment. ?

Planners for the event include communications professionals from a broad range of faith traditions.  The idea, explains Struchen, is to open the process of organizing an event of this magnitude and importance ?to as many different voices and perspectives as possible.?

RCCongress 2010 is a continuation of a 40-year tradition of multi-faith forums for communicators of religion. The first Congress was 1970 in Chicago followed by Congresses in 1980, 1990 and 2000.

The gathering will be hosted by a North American interfaith committee of religion communicators.

Coordinator Struchen, a United Methodist, is optimistic about attendance at the upcoming event.

Information about the gathering is at www.rccongress2010.org.