wfn.org | UMNS# 454-WCC sets young adult event in Chicago

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

WCC sets young adult event in Chicago

Aug. 16, 2005

NOTE: A logo is available at http://umns.umc.org.

By United Methodist News Service

An event for young adults focusing on peace and justice work, sponsored
by the World Council of Churches, is set for Oct. 8-10 in Chicago.

"Shift Your Space - Transform the World" will take place in Hyde Park,
home to the University of Chicago Divinity School, the Lutheran School
of Theology at Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary.

Tied to the WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence, the event will draw upon
the wisdom of seminarians from those and other institutions, according
to Jenny Phillips, event coordinator.

The purpose is to help young adults build ecumenical connections and use
the strength of church unity for peace and justice work.

Participants will be involved in local peace and justice activities,
including an action of the Chicago chapter of the National Interfaith
Committee for Worker Justice, and take part in theological reflection
with leaders in the WCC and member communions. The United Methodist
Church is a major supporter of the WCC.

Members of the U.S. committee on the Decade to Overcome Violence also
will talk with participants to determine how young adults can be
supported in ecumenical peace and justice work.

The Decade to Overcome Violence calls upon churches, ecumenical
organizations and all people of goodwill to:

-Work together for peace, justice and reconciliation at all levels and
embrace creative approaches to peace building.
-Interact and collaborate with local communities, secular movements and
people of other living faiths toward cultivating a culture of peace.

-Walk with people who are systematically oppressed by violence and to
act in solidarity with all struggling for justice, peace and the
integrity of creation.

-Repent together for complicity in violence and engage in theological
reflection to overcome the spirit, logic and practice of violence.

On the morning of Oct. 10, the "Shift Your Space" participants will
prepare a presentation for the annual meeting of the WCC's U.S.
Conference that evening at the O'Hare Crowne Plaza Hotel. Young adults
are invited to attend the annual meeting as well as the Oct. 10-12
pre-assembly event there, a preparation for the WCC 9th Assembly in
Brazil next February.

Registration information is available at www.wcc-usa.org, the U.S.
Conference Web site. The deadline is Sept. 16.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org