Saturday, September 28 | 8:30 am-5:30 pm
Roseville Lutheran Church - 1215 Roselawn Ave W, Roseville, MN 55113
We are pleased to welcome the following mission practitioners from across the country to lead our learning tracks:
Dr. Abe Caceras | Track: Worship & Culture
Abraham Cáceres, AKA, Dr. Abe, earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from Indiana University, has been a Fulbright-Hays scholar, and a Fellow of the Ford Foundation. A composer, pianist and organist, he has been involved in cross-cultural and inter-faith worship in the ELCA and other denominations for many years. His collection of choral anthems, All Are Welcome! Feel the Spirit! Eight World Music Choral Anthems for Youth, Adults and Congregation, represents the intersection of ethnomusicology, faith and his passion for intergenerational music making. He is currently working on a collection of new settings of familiar hymn and Biblical texts, Old Wine in New Wine Skins, a collection of secular songs, tentatively titled, Life, Love, Laughter: Singing Gracefully As We Age, and a collection of works for organ and world percussion. Learn more at www.WorldHouseMusic.org.
Mary Campbell | Track: AMMPARO: Walking with Migrant Communities
Mary Campbell is the Program Director for AMMPARO, the ELCA strategy to accompany migrant minors with protection, advocacy, representation and opportunities, since its overwhelming approval by the 2016 Churchwide Assembly. Her work currently involves organizing congregational and synodical engagement with migrant children and families as well as pro bono legal work on their behalf. Her legal career has involved work in international human rights and civil and criminal have defined defense in the U.S. and in El Salvador, where she was an ELCA missionary for five years in the Department of Human Rights of the Iglesia Luterana Salvadorena.
The Rev. Kelly Chatman | Track: Being Neighborly in a Changing Neighborhood
Kelly Chatman is senior pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church and director of Redeemer’s non-profit, Redeemer Center for Life. He also serves as adviser to the Bishop of the Minneapolis Area Synod (ELCA). Redeemer is a 108-year-old congregation in the diverse Harrison neighborhood in North Minneapolis. Redeemer’s non-profit includes a bike and coffee shop, youth development, attainable housing and employment programs. Prior to his work at Redeemer, Kelly served as Director for Youth Ministries for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (1995-2001) and Dean of Residence at Oregon Episcopal School (1987-1989). Kelly has served numerous college, outdoor ministry, and nonprofit boards; he is a Princeton Theological Seminary Benjamin E. Mays Fellow and a 2006 recipient of the Luther Seminary Race, Church, and Change Award. Kelly is married to Dr. Cheryl Chatman, who is the Executive Vice President and Dean at Concordia University in St. Paul.
Jason Reed | Track: Multicultural Ministry with Youth and Young Adults
Jason has been exploring youth ministry in multicultural settings for 30+ years – in urban and suburban settings; in the interfaith & cross-cultural setting of Bosnia-Herzegovina; within synods (Metro DC, New Jersey, North Carolina); in congregational and multi-congregational settings. Most recently, he helped create and launch LoveStruck, a synod-wide initiative that helps congregations raise up and unleash young leaders of color. LoveStruck reached thousands of young people at the 2015 & 2018 ELCA Youth Gatherings. He currently serves as Youth Ministry Specialist in the New Jersey Synod. He is still learning!
The Rev. Heather Roth Johnson | Track: Intergenerational & Intercultural Faith Formation
Heather Roth Johnson serves at St John’s Lutheran Church in Lakeville as Pastor of Faith Formation and Evangelism. Her ministry focus is Children, Youth, and Families. Previously Heather served as an ELCA missionary in Madagascar. Heather speaks multiple languages and has served the church on three continents. She is a storyteller, public speaker, workshop leader, writer, cross+generational specialist, and simply – a creative soul who enjoys loving God's people. She is married to Scott Johnson and they have two sons, Noah and Jacob.
Marie Anne Sliwinski | Track: Money and Mission – The Elephant in the Room
Marie Anne Sliwinski serves as the Program Director for Disaster Response and Sustainable Development at the ELCA. Ms. Sliwinski has 17 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, 13 of which are dedicated in international humanitarian and development programs. Ms. Sliwinski currently oversees the Lutheran Disaster Response International portfolio, which supports immediate relief and recovery needs of families affected by disasters. Ms. Sliwinski holds a Master's Degree in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and resides in the Chicago area with her husband and two children.
Alaide Vilchis Ibarra | Track: AMMPARO: Walking with Migrant Communities
Alaide Vilchis Ibarra is the Executive Director of Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ), also known as Oregon's New Sanctuary Movement. She is also an AMMPARO organization for the ELCA.
Rev. Ron Werner, Jr. | Track: AMMPARO: Walking with Migrant Communities
The Rev. Ron Werner, Jr., is an ELCA pastor and community organizer in Portland, Oregon, where he gathers people to co-create, make meaning, and act together in the world. He is the co-founder of Youth Collectivist, facilitating the startup and sustainability of neighborhood-based ecumenical youth ministries and Awakening Leadership, an interfaith school of clergy and lay leaders. He is a statewide organizer with the Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ), accompanying congregations from diverse faith traditions in the work of Sanctuary. Ron and his wife, Erin, have two daughters.
This event is sponsored by the Saint Paul Area Synod in collaboration with ELCA Global Mission