{"id":35536,"date":"2017-10-31T11:54:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T15:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=35536"},"modified":"2017-11-01T14:14:25","modified_gmt":"2017-11-01T18:14:25","slug":"congregate-charlottesville-co-founders-honored-national-council-churches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/congregate-charlottesville-co-founders-honored-national-council-churches\/","title":{"rendered":"Congregate Charlottesville co-founders to be honored by National Council of Churches"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Eastern Mennonite Seminary<\/a> graduate and two other organizers of the clergy protest against the August \u201cUnite the Right\u201d rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, will be honored by the National Council of Churches (NCC).<\/span><\/p>\n

Brittany Caine-Conley, along with the Rev. Seth Wispelwey and the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, will receive the President\u2019s Award for Excellence in Faithful Leadership at a Nov. 9 awards ceremony during the NCC\u2019s <\/span>Christian Unity Gathering<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trio \u201cprovided exemplary leadership in the midst of a crisis that has become known as a turning point in America\u2019s response to a rising tide of white supremacy, and continue to provide a faithful, moral witness in Charlottesville,\u201d said the Rev. Steve D. Martin, NCC\u2019s communications director who joined the clergy counter-protest and witnessed their leadership. \u201cThese are exactly the kind of leaders we wish to see in the world, and by honoring them with the President\u2019s Award, we hope their example will be more widely understood and that others will follow in their footsteps.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Caine-Conley, now in the final stages of the United Church of Christ ordination process, joined with Wispelwey, directing minister for the Charlottesville-based <\/span>Restoration Village Arts<\/span><\/a>, to co-found Congregate Charlottesville in the months leading up to the Aug. 12 rally. The organization worked to train religious leaders in direct action, public witness and rapid response.<\/span><\/p>\n

In early August, they led the <\/span>organization\u2019s call<\/span><\/a> for 1,000 clergy and faith leaders of all denominations to counter-protest the white supremacists. <\/span><\/p>\n

Sekou<\/span> was invited to join the clergy protest by the organizers. As a representative of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (the nation\u2019s oldest interfaith organization), he<\/span> trained thousands in nonviolent protest actions in Ferguson, Missouri.<\/span><\/a> At a prayer service in Charlottesville the night before August 12, upon learning a torch-lit march was approaching the church, Sekou would invite those gathered to sing.<\/span><\/p>\n

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