Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM
An internationally noted author and spiritual teacher, Fr. Richard is a Franciscan of the New Mexico province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque. Fr. Richard's gift is articulating to our minds what we already know in our hearts. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call and themes he addresses in service of the gospel include: scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace, justice and poverty issues, male spirituality, the enneagram, and eco spirituality. Fr. Richard is probably best known for his numerous audio and video recordings, and through the Center's publication, Radical Grace. Fr. Richard is a regular contributing editor/writer for Sojourners magazine and regular columnist in Tikkun, a Jewish periodical. His best known books are Simplicity, From Wild Man to Wise Man, Quest for the Grail, Everything Belongs, Hope Against Darkness, Adam's Return, The
Enneagram, A Christian Perspective, and Job and the Mystery of Suffering. Some of his best selling recordings include: Jesus as Liberator, Letting Go: The Spirituality of Subtraction, the NEW Great Themes of Scripture, Prophets Then Prophets Now ,The Eternal Now. Richard lives in a hermitage behind his Franciscan community in Albuquerque with his beloved black lab Venus.
Fr. Richard s most recent recordings are Journey of Faith: Making one of Two and A New Way of Seeing, A New Way of Being.
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Naomi Tutu
The challenges of growing up black and female in apartheid South Africa has led her to be an activist for human rights. Those experiences taught how much we all lose when any of us are judged purely on physical attributes. In her speeches she blends the passion for human dignity with humor and personal stories.
Ms. Tutu is the third child Archbishop Desmond and Nomalizo Leah Tutu. She was born in South Africa and has also lived in Lesotho, the United Kingdom and the United States. She was educated in Swaziland, the U.S. and England, and has divided her adult life between South Africa and the U.S. Growing up the ‘daughter of Desmond Tutu’ has offered Naomi many opportunities and challenges in her life. Most important among these has been the challenge to find her own place in the world. She has taken up the challenge and channeled the opportunities that she has been given to raise her voice as a champion for the dignity of all.
She started her public speaking as a college student at Berea College in Kentucky in the 1970’s when she was invited to speak at churches, community groups and colleges and universities about her experiences growing up in apartheid South Africa. Since that time she has become a much sought after speaker to groups as varied as business associations, professional conferences, church and civic organizations, as well as elected officials. Ms Tutu has also led Truth and Reconciliation Workshops for groups dealing with different types of conflict. Together with Rose Bator she presents a workshop titled Building Bridges dealing with issues of race and racism. The two also lead women’s retreats through their organization Sister Sojourner and are currently writing a book provisionally titled I Don’t Think of You as Black: Honest Conversations on Race and Racism.
Her professional experience ranges from being a development consultant in West Africa, to being program coordinator for programs on Race and Gender and Gender-based Violence in Education at the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. In addition Ms. Tutu has taught at the Universities of Hartford and Connecticut and Brevard College in North Carolina.
In addition to speaking, Ms. Tutu is a consultant to two organizations which reflect the breadth of her involvement in issues of human rights. The organizations are the Spiritual Alliance to Stop Intimate Violence (SAIV), founded by renowned author Riane Eisler and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Betty Williams, and the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa (FHSSA).
Ms. Tutu is a single mother of two children and currently lives in Nashville, TN. |
Jim Wallis
Jim is a Christian leader for social change, a bestselling author (God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, Harper Collins, 2005), public theologian, speaker, and international commentator on ethics and public life. He is president of Sojourners/Call to Renewal; where he is editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine, whose combined print and electronic media have a readership of more than 250,000 people; and convenes a national network of churches, faith-based organizations, and individuals working to overcome poverty in America. Wallis speaks at more than 200 events a year, his columns appear in major newspapers, and he regularly appears on radio and television.
Jim lives in inner-city Washington, D.C. with his wife, Joy Carroll, one of the first women ordained in the Church of England and author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real-life Vicar of Dibley; and their sons, Luke (8) and Jack (4). He is a Little League baseball coach.
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