{"id":30720,"date":"2016-11-28T08:01:23","date_gmt":"2016-11-28T13:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=30720"},"modified":"2017-01-11T15:38:43","modified_gmt":"2017-01-11T20:38:43","slug":"dont-want-differences-keep-us-apart-school-leadership-training-focuses-connecting-across-divisiveness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/dont-want-differences-keep-us-apart-school-leadership-training-focuses-connecting-across-divisiveness\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We don’t want differences to keep us apart’: School for Leadership Training focuses on connecting across divisiveness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Congregations must grapple with the contentious times in which we live. Eastern Mennonite Seminary\u2019s 2017 School for Leadership Training (SLT) will speak to divisions of race, power, privilege and ideology\u2014and how pastors might recognize and work with such dividedness \u2014 with the theme, \u201cYearning To Get Along \u2026 And Be True to Ourselves.\u201d The conference will be Jan. 16-18 at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to recognize differences, and can\u2019t just sweep them under the rug until we become a bland, monolithic society, culture, or church,\u2019 says Les Horning<\/a>, SLT coordinator. \u201cBut at the same time, we don\u2019t want differences to keep us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Drew G.I. Hart, an author, activist, and pastor who teaches at Messiah College, provides a keynote address. (EMU photos)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) will be a \u201ccommon thread\u201d throughout the conference.<\/p>\n

Christena Cleveland, a social psychologist and fifth-generation minister who teaches at Duke University Divinity School, will be a keynote speaker. Drew G.I. Hart, an author, activist, and pastor who teaches at Messiah College, will also present. [Cleveland was a speaker at the 2016 faculty-staff conference; read more here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Plenaries and workshops will cover Jesus\u2019 expos\u00e9 of power and division, the differently-abled community, white-washing Jesus, restorative justice in the police force, and other topics that encourage \u201cneighboring\u201d instead of \u201cothering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPastors and church leaders are hungry for ways to lead congregations through the hard work of connecting, even in the face of differences,\u201d says Horning. \u201cPlus, as many congregations find themselves in culturally pluralistic communities, they see the need for respectful, engaged dialogue across those differences.\u201d<\/p>\n

Workshops include:<\/p>\n