The Joshua & Deborah Generation
The next generation of religious leaders prepared to continue the mission of building the blessed community through the vocations of ministry and child advocacy are invited to register for the Joshua & Deborah Generation track within the Proctor Institute. This experience will allow the emerging religious leaders to engage in meaningful dialogue and exchange ideas with each other and with members of the Moses and Miriam Generation. Learn more...
National Observance of Children's Sabbaths® Manual
Children's Sabbaths Manual (Vol. 18)
Children's Sabbaths Manual (Vol. 17)
Children's Sabbaths Manual (Vol. 16)
For bulk orders or for questions, please contact Kenneth Libby at (865) 457-6466 or CDFHaley@childrensdefense.org.
Speakers & Agenda
Named in honor of the Reverend Dr. Samuel DeWitt Proctor |
15th Annual Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry July 20-24, 2009 Bible Study and Theological Reflection |
Bible Study and Theological Reflection
From the first evening until the last morning, you will find new inspiration to renew, guide and sustain you as you work with children and seek justice for them.
- Morning devotions will help get your day off to a great start with the extraordinary preaching of the Rev. Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., Senior Pastor, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Rev. Otis Moss III, Pastor, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois. For an even earlier start, join the optional Meditations for the Journey before breakfast. Discussion and reflection will be led by the Rev. Dr. Frederick J Streets, Proctor Chaplain-in-Residence.
- Bible Study sessions will be filled with the humor, unforgettable stories, and deep insights of the Rev. Dr. Fred Craddock, Director, The Craddock Center, Blue Ridge, Georgia.
- A welcome call to action and a closing charge from Marian Wright Edelman, President of the Children's Defense Fund, will frame the week with a perspective on the urgent work we can and must do for children.
- The Great Preachers Series and worship services each night will feature the music of the Resurrection Choir and some of our nation's greatest preachers:
- The Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia;
- The Rev. Dr. Yvonne Delk, Founding Director, The Center for African American Theological Studies, Chicago, Illinois;
- The Rev. Dr. Barbara Lundblad, Joe R. Engle associate professor of preaching, Union Theological Seminary, New York, N.Y.; and
- The Rev. Dr. Brad Braxton, Senior Minister, The Riverside Church, New York, N.Y.
Listen to and view clips from Past Proctor Institutes.
Pastoral support and leadership is provided throughout the Institute by the Rev. Dr. Frederick Streets and the Rev. Dr. William Gipson, Proctor Chaplains-in-Residence, and the Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Lindner, Proctor Theologian-in-Residence.
Lift your voice along with the Resurrection Choir under the direction of Dr. Eli Wilson. All are welcome to join us.
Children's Concerns Plenary Sessions
- Caught in the Undertow: Children Living in Poverty and Lacking Health Coverage (Tuesday): Bart Campolo, founder of the Walnut Hills Fellowship, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Barbara Best, executive director of CDF-Texas, Houston, Texas
- Navigating Political Waters: How to Work For Optimal Outcomes for Children (Wednesday): Angela Glover-Blackwell, founder and chief executive officer of PolicyLink, Oakland, California
- Raising the Sails of Opportunity (Thursday): Joshua Edelman, director of New Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago, Illinois; Peter Edelman, Esq., professor of law, Georgetown Law Center, Washington, D.C.; and Dr. Jeanne Middleton-Hairston, director of CDF Freedom Schools® Program, Washington, D.C.
A Theology of Child Advocacy pre-session for first-time participants led by the Rev. Dr. Eileen W. Linder, Proctor Theologian-in-Residence, provides a foundational understanding for the week and for work throughout the year.
Movement-building Workshops
Dynamic, interactive workshops will provide child advocacy skills and models of child serving programs to help you serve and advocate for children and families in your congregation and community. Specific workshop information will be posted shortly.
Come and discover what new thing God will do in your life and work as you seek to bring more joy and justice to the lives of children! Register for the 2009 Proctor Institute today!
Workshops 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Mini-Workshops 4:15 - 5:15 p.m.
| Focus | Tuesday, July 21 | Wednesday, July 22 | Thursday, July 23 |
| CDF Programmatic Initiatives | Joshua & Deborah Generation |
Bringing Health Coverage Home: Developing an Action Plan for Your Congregation |
Joshua & Deborah Generation |
| CDF Programmatic Initiatives | An Overview of the National Observance of Children's Sabbaths® Celebrations Norma Bourland |
An Introduction to CDF's Young Leadership Network for Children Wyokemia (Kemia) Joyner |
An Introduction to the CDF Freedom Schools® Program Dr. Jeanne Middleton-Hairston |
| Advocacy on CDF Priorities | CDF Legislative Update: How You Can Help Children Now! CDF Field Staff |
CDF Legislative Update: How You Can Help Children Now! CDF Field Staff |
CDF Legislative Update: How You Can Help Children Now! CDF Field Staff |
| Replicable Programs/Best Practices Addressing CDF Concerns | Working with the Faith Community to Ensure Permanent Families for Children Dr. Clifford Barnett and Dr. W.D. Talley |
Multi-Faith Organizing for Children: Building Inclusive and Powerful Coalitions Dr. Frederick J. Streets and Rabbi Justus N. Baird |
Collecting and Using Family Stories to Change Policy Dr. Laura Guerra-Cardus, M.D. |
| Advocacy/CDF Concerns | Continuing the Conversation Bart Campolo and Dr. Laura Guerra-Cardus, M.D. |
Continuing the Conversation (Wednesday Plenary Speaker) |
Continuing the Conversation Peter Edelman, Esq., and Joshua Edelman |
| Theology and Child Advocacy |
|
Collegium for Seminarians Eileen Lindner and Will Gipson |
Collegium for Seminarians Eileen Lindner and Will Gipson |
|
Intergenerational Workshop for Children and Adults: Storytelling |
Intergenerational Workshop for Children and Adults: Storytelling |
Speaker Bios
Barbara Best is the Executive Director of the Children's Defense Fund-Texas, where she coordinates the CDF-Texas Advisory Board of high level community, business and philanthropic leaders, coordinates state-wide media and outreach drives and oversees CDF offices in Houston, Austin and the Rio Grande Valley along with a statewide network of regional coordinators. Most recently, she played a critical role in directing the statewide Insure Texas Kids Campaign, mobilizing regional coordinators in ten Texas communities to restore the Texas Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to 127,000 Texas children.
Ms. Best came to CDF after serving as a Jesuit volunteer to work with refugees and coordinate legislative affairs for the Houston Area Women's Center, a domestic violence and sexual assault shelter. Ms. Best founded and chaired the Houston Immigration Policy team, a 100 member coalition of private and public sector organizations. She is a committee member and board member for multiple immigration, women, and family issue organizations. She received her B.A. in History from Duke University.
Ms. Best, a British American Project Fellow and American Leadership Forum Fellow, was recently profiled as one of 20 international advocates, and the only American, by the World Health Organization as part of the "Voices from the Frontline" web series on international efforts to improve access to health care.
Born and raised in suburban Philadelphia, Bart graduated from Brown University in 1985. From 1986-1989 he worked with young people in South Minneapolis, where he met and married his wife, Marty. In 1989 Bart and Marty moved to West Philadelphia to found Kingdomworks, the urban ministry which later became Mission Year, and to begin raising their children, Miranda and Roman, who are now teenagers.
In 2005, after nearly two decades of organizational leadership, the Campolo family moved from Philadelphia to the Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, hoping to love their neighbors in a more personal way as part of an inner-city faith community. News of the Walnut Hills Fellowship can be found online at thewalnuthillsfellowship.org and Bart's popular and provocative blog, can be found at www.bartcampolosblog.com.
The Reverend Dr. Fred Craddock
Dr. Craddock received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Johnson Bible College, Knoxville, Tennessee in 1950, his Bachelor of Divinity from Phillips in 1953, and a Ph.D. in New Testament from Vanderbilt in 1964. He has done postdoctoral study at Tübingen, Germany, and at Yale University.
In addition to preaching and teaching widely at church assemblies and ministers' conferences, Dr. Craddock has served as guest professor at other seminaries and delivered several distinguished lectureships including: the Lyman Beecher Lectures at Yale, the Scott Lectures at Claremont School of Theology, the Adams Lectures at Southeastern Baptist Seminary, the Schaff Lectures at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, the Cole Lectures at Vanderbilt, the Westervelt Lectures at Austin Presbyterian Seminary, the Earl Lectures at Pacific School of Religion, and the Mullins Lectures at Southern Baptist Seminary. He was selected by Newsweek as one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.
Dr. Craddock has written a number of articles and books, including Overhearing the Gospel, commentaries on John (1982), Philippians (1984), Luke, Preaching (1985), First and Second Peter and Jude, Preaching (1985); The Craddock Stories, Listening to the Word: Studies in Honor of Fred Craddock, with Carl Holladay, John Hayes, and Gene Tucker; the three volume series, Preaching Through the Christian Year, Year A, Year B, Year C; and he provided the "Commentary on the Gospel of Luke" in Harper's One Volume Commentary (1988). Most recently he co-authored with Eugene Boring The People's New Testament Commentary.
A native of Humboldt, Tennessee, Dr. Craddock is married to the former Nettie Lee Dungan. They have a daughter and a son.
In 1990 Rev. Delk became the first woman and first African American executive director of the Community Renewal Society (CRS), a faith-based Chicago metropolitan area mission agency. CRS, founded in 1882 as the Chicago City Missionary Society, an agency related to the United Church of Christ (UCC), that works to empower people to dismantle racism and poverty in order to build just communities.
From 1981 to 1990 Rev. Delk was executive director of the UCC's Office of Church in Society, an organization that seeks to relate biblical teachings to current social issues. In 1974, she became the first African American woman to be ordained in the UCC. In 1989 she became the first woman to be nominated as a candidate for the Office of President of the United Church of Christ.
A native of Norfolk, VA., she received her undergraduate degree from Norfolk State University in 1961; a master's degree in Religious Education from Andover Newton Theological School in 1963; and in 1978 earned a doctorate in Ministry from New York Theological Seminary. Dr. Delk has been a visiting professor and has taught courses in Urban Ministry, Black Church Education and the United Church Christ Polity and History at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. ,Virginia Union Seminary in Richmond, VA and the Seminary Consortium for Pastoral Education in Chicago, IL.
As an interfaith leader and prolific speaker Rev. Delk's work and experience has led her abroad to five continents, having taught and lectured in many countries. An author and essayist, her published works and sermons include: "Books for Children (Colloquy, UCC, 1969)" "Educational Resources for Black Churches (Spectrum July/August 1971)," "New Road to Faith: Black Perspectives in Education (United Church Press, 1979)," "Do You Love Me? (Judson Press, 1985)," "Meditation on Psalm 137:1, The Churches' Search for Justice and Peace in Southern Africa (Commission for Racial Justice, 1987)," "A Moment in Turning (Sojourners, 1992)" and "Sanctuary Is More Than Architecture (Sojourners, 1993)," among others.
Dr. Delk is a recipient of numerous awards and honors and serves on a number of boards and committees. She has served as the chair of the Program to Combat Racism in the program unit of the World Council of Churches. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Franklinton Center and the Steering Committee of the Covenant Academy for Urban Ministry in the United Church of Christ.
Rev. Delk has been featured in "Who's Who in Colleges and Universities," "One of America's Greatest Women Preachers," by Ebony Magazine, "Outstanding Women in America," and "Distinguished Americans." She has been honored by Sigma Rho Sigma Honor Society, Illinois Pro-Choice Alliance, YWCA and Howard University, among others; and has received honorary doctorate degrees from Ursinus College, Chicago Theological Seminary, Huston-Tillotson College and Eden Theological Seminary.
A champion in the cause for justice, Dr. Delk continues to speak a prophetic word in the 21st century as a unconditional friend and champion for the "least of these. Rev. Delk was featured in an article and the cover of Sojourner's May-June, 1999 issue as one who is anointed by history and by the Spirit and as one who has kept her eyes on the world as God intends. In June 1998, Dr. Delk retired from the Community Renewal Society in order to pursue research, public speaking, writing and teaching.
Rev. Delk is currently serving as the Founding Director of the Center for African American Theological Studies located in Chicago, IL.
Previously, Mr. Edelman held various leadership positions at The SEED Foundation, first on the board of directors, then as principal of The SEED School, a public charter boarding school in Washington DC, and then as academic program advisor for The SEED Foundation where he supported efforts to replicate the school. Mr. Edelman is also a seasoned educator. After teaching at Milton academy in Massachusetts, he taught social studies for seven years at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California where he was also the founder and Executive Director for RISE (Realizing Intellect through Self-Empowerment), a youth development program targeted at African-American youth.
Mr. Edelman has a bachelor's degree in American history from Harvard University, a master's degree in education from Stanford University, and a second master's in educational administration with administrative credential, also from Stanford University. Mr. Edelman has received fellowships from the Mellon Foundation and Echoing Green. Mr. Edelman has served on the Boards of The SEED Foundation, Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning and is a MENtor for Real Men Read in Chicago.
Mrs. Edelman has received many honorary degrees and awards including the Albert Schweitzer Humanitarian Prize, the Heinz Award, and a MacArthur Foundation Prize Fellowship. In 2000 she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, and the Robert F. Kennedy Lifetime Achievement Award for her writings, which include: The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours, Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors, and I'm Your Child, God: Prayers for Our Children. A graduate of Spelman College, Mrs. Edelman holds a law degree from Yale University.
She is married to Peter Edelman, a professor at Georgetown Law School. They have three sons, Joshua, Jonah, and Ezra; two granddaughters, Ellika and Zoe; and two grandsons, Elijah and Levi.
Rev. Gipson is Proctor Co-Chaplain-in-Residence, as well as University Chaplain and Special Advisor to the President at the University of Pennsylvania. In this role he promotes and encourages the growth of student religious groups and fosters a spirit of authentic inter-religious engagement, which draws on the distinctive traits as well as the commonalities among faith communities.
He is also the co-director of the Program in Universities, Communities of Faith, Schools, and Neighborhood Organizations, under the auspices of the School of Arts and Sciences and coordinated in collaboration with the Center for Community Partnerships at Penn. Before coming to Penn in 1996, for six years Rev. Gipson was Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel at Princeton University where he founded, with students, the Hallelujah Worship Service, a non-denominational community of faith that reflects the traditions of the Black Church. Rev. Gipson earned a B.A. degree in 1979 in journalism from the University of Louisiana and a Master of Divinity degree in 1987 from the Colgate-Rochester Crozer Divinity School.
Rev. Lindner is editor of the NCC's annual Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, widely recognized as the most accurate and complete compilation of facts and figures on U.S. and Canadian churches and organizations. She is also the author of numerous books and articles including When Churches Mind the Children, reporting on the nation's most extensive child care study, and most recently, Thus Far on the Way: Toward a Theology of Child Advocacy, developed from sermons preached at the Proctor Institute.
Rev. Lindner is a member of the Good Schools Pennsylvania Founding Council and was named by President Jimmy Carter to the U.S. Commission for the International Year of the Child. She is on the Steering Council for the Children's Defense Fund's "Campaign to Leave No Child Behind" and serves as Theologian in Residence to the Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry. She is the mother of two grown sons, Andrew and Peter.
Dr. Middleton-Hairston is an accomplished educator, lecturer and community leader with over 25 years experience in public and private education. Prior to serving as a tenured Professor of Education on the faculty of Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, she worked in the Jackson Public Schools Office of Research and Evaluation. While at Millsaps, Dr. Middleton-Hairston served as Chair of the Department of Education for eleven years. She also founded the Millsaps College Principals' Institute in 1992, a leadership program that continues to provide professional development and continuing education for principals and assistant principals in Mississippi and from neighboring states.
Dr. Middleton-Hairston was one of eight black students to integrate Millsaps College (private, White and Methodist-related) and she was the first African American to be appointed to the teaching faculty there. As a co-author of the award-winning history textbook Mississippi: Conflict and Change, Dr. Middleton-Hairston was active in the struggle to create honest and appropriate texts for history instruction in America's middle and high schools.
Dr. Middleton-Hairston earned her doctorate and master's degrees in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education; she was a political science major at Millsaps College. She is married to James M. Hairston, Jr., and is the mother of two daughters, Johnie Valeska and Valara Jeanne Forsythe, and a bonus son, J.R. Hairston.
The Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, Jr.
For more than 30 years, Dr. Moss has been directly involved in the civil rights movement as a religious leader and community activist and espouses the nonviolent approach for affecting social and political change. He has a strong philosophical bond to Mahatma Gandhi, Howard Thurman, and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dr. Moss is the recipient of many honors, including four honorary doctorates and a citation in 2000 from the Howard University College of Medicine. He has long served in leadership capacities including chairman of the Board of Trustees of Morehouse College. He is a life member of the NAACP and served as a consultant to former President Jimmy Carter. He was the Lyman Beecher Lecturer for Yale University Divinity School in 2004.
Dr. Moss has been selected twice by Ebony magazine as one of "America's 15 Greatest Black Preachers" and listed as one of 30 people who have defined Cleveland in the last 30 years.
Pastor Moss received his BA in Religion and Philosophy from Morehouse College. While completing graduate work at Yale University, Pastor Moss was awarded the FTE Benjamin Elijah Mays Scholarship in Religion and the Yale University Magee Fellowship. Pastor Moss is recorded as one of the few African-Americans to ever receive this award in the schools' 300-year history. Pastor Moss graduated from Yale with a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Ethics and Theology. Pastor Moss is currently pursuing his PhD from the Chicago Theological Seminary.
Pastor Moss has done extensive research in the areas of African-American culture, theology and youth development. His love for God and young people has led him to speak and preach in churches, schools, seminaries and colleges across the globe. Four-G published his first book, Redemption in a Red Light District, in December of 1999. His essays, articles and poetry have appeared in The African American Pulpit Journal, Sojourners Magazine, and the Urban Spectrum. The African American Pulpit Journal recently named Pastor Moss one of the "20 to watch" ministers who will shape the future of the African American church. Belief.Net named Pastor Moss as one of the future religious leaders who will impact the African-American Church. Newsweek magazine cited Pastor Moss as one of "God's foot Soldiers' committed to transforming the lives of youth. Currently Pastor Moss serves as a frequent guest commentator on the Naomi Judd New Morning Show on The Hallmark Network. In 2006, Pastor Moss co-wrote the book, The Gospel Remix: Reaching the Hip Hop Generation published by Judson Press.
He is the husband of Monica Brown Moss, a graduate of Spelman College and Columbia University and the son of Rev. Dr. Otis and Mrs. Edwina Moss, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio. They have one son, Elijah Wynton Taylor Moss and one daughter, Makayla Elon Moss.
The Rev. Dr. Frederick J. Streets
A graduate of Ottawa University in Kansas and the Yale University Divinity School, Dr. Streets received his Master of Social Work and Doctor of Social Welfare degrees from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work at Yeshiva University in New York City. Dr. Streets, a native of Chicago, Illinois, is a licensed clinical social worker and engages in research, teaching pastoral theology, counseling and mental health. He has throughout his career as a pastor and social worker combined his interests in spirituality and mental health and is a consultant to the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma and assisted in its instituting a program of mental health care in Bosnia.
The Rev. Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock
The Rev. Dr. Warnock graduated from Morehouse College cum laude in 1991, receiving the B.A. degree in psychology. He also holds a Master of Divinity degree and a Master of Philosophy degree from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, where he graduated with honors and distinctions. He received his Ph.D. degree in the field of systematic theology from Union Seminary. His research interests and writing have included a distinguished Master's Thesis and on-going research on the activist ministries of two Twentieth Century Martyrs: The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Dietrich Bonhoeffer and their challenges to the church and the world in their time and ours. His primary research, however, is focused in the area of investigating black religion and spirituality and interpreting the theological meaning and historical mission of the black church.
In 1989, The Rev. Dr. Warnock authored Educating Teens For Positive Peer Intervention, which today still serves as Georgia's official curriculum guide for teen peer programs aimed at reducing the State's teenage pregnancy rate. Recognizing his exceptional work in the area of teenage pregnancy prevention and advocacy on behalf of youth, the Honorable Joseph Frank Harris, former Governor of Georgia, made him the youngest person ever to be appointed to the Southern Regional Task Force on Infant Mortality, a study commission comprised of governor appointees from seventeen southern states.
While The Rev. Dr. Warnock's work and activism have been local, his vision has always been global. As a student at Morehouse College, he organized and served as the keynote speaker at a Peace Vigil protesting George Bush's initiation of a War against Iraq on January 15th, the birthday of a peacemaker. Over 2,000 students attended this event, which received national press coverage. During the 1992 Democratic Convention in New York City, he coordinated, under the auspices of Clergy and Laity Concerned (CALC) and the Abyssinian Church, an alternative People's Convention, in memory of Fannie Lou Hamer, the Mississippi sharecropper who told the nation in 1968 she was "sick and tired of being sick and tired." In 1995, he was part of a 15-member delegation to Haiti, following the 1991 military coup and the United States' return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He and other delegates later met with members of Congress, U.S. Embassy and State Department officials, lobbying for better U.S. policy toward this small budding democracy in our own hemisphere. His leadership and advocacy has been further demonstrated through his work with The National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. The Rev. Dr. Warnock is a graduate of the Leadership Program sponsored by the Greater Baltimore Committee and a graduate of the Summer Leadership Institute of Harvard University. The November 1999 issue of Ebony Magazine listed him as one of Thirty Leaders of the Future.
A 1993 recipient of Union Theological Seminary's coveted William H. Hudnut Preaching Award, The Rev. Dr. Warnock is sought after as a preacher and scholar. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and various other civic and social organizations. He has received the Benjamin Elijah Mays Fellowship For Ministry from the Fund for Theological Education, the Thomas and Jeanetta Kilgore Theological Scholarship Award, Associated Black Charity's "Good Shepherd Award" and a host of other fellowships, honors and citations, noting his abiding commitment to Christian ministry, disciplined scholarship and diligent struggle on behalf of the oppressed.
As a composer and independent recording artist, Dr. Wilson released his first solo recording in 1988, entitled, "Introducing Eli Wilson, Jr.: God's Word Shall Stand Forevermore." He recently released his latest solo recording entitled, "In My Quiet Time." He also has worked as a vocal coach and children's choir director and co-wrote a Bible rap song performed in the movie "The Apostle." He did his undergraduate work at Dillard University and his postgraduate work at Colgate-Rochester Divinity School and the Eastman School of Music in the areas of Christian education and sacred music. In 1990, he received the Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree from Virginia Seminary and College.
For more information about registering for Proctor or about audio and video tapes from previous Proctor Institutes, contact call Ericka Wright Dobson at (865) 457-6466 or ewright@childrensdefense.org. You can also purchase audio and video tapes of previous events from the CDF Web Store in the coming weeks.
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