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Faith-Health Connection Topic of February Conference
ROSEMONT, IL (October 24, 2002) - A Faith and Health Connection will be held
February 1-2 at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare in Rosemont.
The event, The Church's Challenge in Chronic Illness and Disability,
is part of a collaborative effort between the Covenant Ministries of
Benevolence and North Park Theological Seminary (NPTS) that is designed to
help serve the Evangelical Covenant Church and its health ministries, said
Mary Chase-Ziolek, director of the seminary's health ministry programs.
Rev. Kathy N. Reeves, a Board of Global Ministries executive with the
United Methodist Church (UMC) and a leader in the area of disability
advocacy, will deliver the keynote address. As a visually impaired pastor,
she is uniquely aware of the need to help make churches more accessible to
- and better minister to - those with impairments.
Besides working as executive secretary for the United Methodist Church
Health and Welfare Ministries in New York, she also participated in the
Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network (EDAN), a project of the World
Council of Churches (WCC). She represented the United States in the 1998
Assembly of the WCC in Harare, Zimbabwe, and was named recently to the
WCC's Advisory Board on Education and Ecumenical Formation.
Conference sessions include a panel discussion entitled "Chronic Illness
and Disability: Individual Need and Church Response." Panelists include
Bill Gustafson of Forest Park Covenant Church in Muskegon, Michigan; Laura
Jackson of Northwest Covenant Church in Mt. Prospect, Illinois; and Dr.
David Ellens of Oakdale Covenant Church in Chicago, Illinois.
Other session leaders include:
- Rev. Dr. Carol Nordstrom, executive director, Christian Community
Action in Valparaiso, Indiana ("The Church's Challenge in Mental Illness")
- Dr. John Weborg, NPTS professor of theology ("The Challenge of
Suffering: Suffering Observed")
- Rev. James Swanson, disability activist, ("Accessible Thinking &
Theology")
- Dr. Sheila Goodwin, RN, LMFT, First Covenant Church in Everett,
Washington ("Chronic Illness: A Family Perspective")
- Joanne Meyer, Pathways Awareness Foundation in Chicago, Illinois
("Opening Doors: Creating a Welcoming Congregation")
- Dr. Willie O. Peterson, pastor of Bethel Bible Fellowship in
Carrollton, Texas ("Providing Support Through the Experience of Chronic
Illness")
- Rev. Bruce Knofel, chaplain/associate director for Bridge Ministries in
Kirkland, Washington ("A Vision for the Future: The Church is Blessed")
Other activities at the conference will include a worship service, a
luncheon and networking opportunities. The opening session begins at 7 p.m.
Saturday, February 1,
and concludes at 4 p.m. the following afternoon.
Registration fees are $99 for those registering by December 16 and $119 for
those registering after December 16. Lunch on Sunday is included. For more
information, call 773-244-6201 or email Chase-Ziolek at
mchase-ziolek@northpark.edu.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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