Let Freedom Ring

The Religious Education Association announced its first Digital & Poster Presentation Session at the 2012 Annual Meeting. Both presenters and attendees welcomed the new format, applauding the quality of presentations and the ability to engage emerging topics in a one-on-one interactive manner.

Multiple artistic forms of religious expression were incorporated into this year’s Annual Meeting.

Dr. Grace Yun, director of the InterRelations Collaborative, Inc., and Visual Arts Educator, Patricia Maunder guided attendees of the 2012 annual meeting during the Peace Quilt Making Workshop in creating the first REA Peace & Justice signature quilt.

The quilt propelled several discussions on religious education at the intersection of social justice.

 
During Plenary 4, Dr. Anne Wimberly invited dancers from the Youth Hope Builders academy to engage attendees of in a scholastic re-telling of Wade in the water. Inspired by the talk, one registrant created the following square for the REA quilt.

On Thursday afternoon, religious educators gathered in preparation for the 2012 Annual Meeting to tour the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change

The Science and Technology task force will host an in-house panel discussion in response to Sherry Turkle’s Alone Together:  Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other (Basic Books, 2011) at this year’s annual meeting in Atlanta. Join us for a great conversation about the implications of this book for religious education.  If you are interested in being a panel respondent, please contact Daniella Zsupan-Jerome dzsupanj [at] loyno [dot] edu for more details.

Registration for the 2012 Annual Meeting is now available (https://religiouseducation.net/rea2012/registration-2). Early registration ends September 15!

The Religious Education Association’s Annual Meeting draws on local Atlanta leadership, many with national reputations in music and ministry, to explore interfaith and intercultural resources for religious education.

Dr. Yolanda Smith, Yale professor and conference chair, announced a rich schedule to the REA Board of Directors during their annual spring retreat. Dr. Smith noted the conference, titled Let Freedom Ring, will include such nationally known pastors as Reverend Dr. Dwight D. Andrews of the First Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, Atlanta. Andrews serves both as senior minister but also Associate Professor of Music at Emory University. In addition, Dr. Andrews has taught at Rice and Harvard Universities. In 1996 Andrews was named the first Quincy Jones Visiting Professor of African American Music at Harvard. Dr. Smith announced additional presentations by Reverend Frank Brown, President of Concerned Black Clergy of Atlanta, and Dr. Anne Wimberly, Executive Director of Youth Hope-Builders Academy at the Interdenominational Theological Center. Smith anticipates other notable Atlanta ministers and dignitaries will provide presentations during the conference.

The conference, scheduled November 2-4, incorporates tours and meetings at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, Sheraton Atlanta, and First Congregational Church. Conference participants will collaborate creatively around issues of justice and youth in congregational leadership, including presentations by the Fund for Theological Education’s Greenhouses of Hope initiative and creation of a Justice & Peace Story Quilt. Faith Ringgold, Distinguished Professor of Art at the University of California, San Diego, originated this genre of art. Ringgold initiated the 9-11 Peace Story Quilt project with the InterRelations Collaborative and Dr. Grace Yun of the University of Connecticut, Greater Hartford Campus.  The REA conference promises to live up to its theme, Let Freedom Ring! Religious Education at the Intersection of Social Justice, Liberation, and Civil/Human Rights. Smith and past president Mary Hess note the timeliness of the conference in light of the upcoming national election.

The Religious Education Association, an Association of Professors, Practitioners, and Researchers in Religious Education, gathers international educators and leaders from various faiths and cultures. Founded in 1903, the REA is the oldest professional society dedicated to research and professional development for educators and practitioners in the field of religious education. For additional information see the conference website https://religiouseducation.net/rea2012/

Check out the 2012 Resource page including a list of books, articles, websites, and organizations related to the 2012 Annual Meeting theme, “Let Freedom Ring.” Works of past and present REA members are featured.