The 2022 Florida Clergy Convening will be held on Monday, November 14 with check-in beginning at noon and the first session starting at 1:00, and will conclude at noon on Tuesday, November 15. The convening is hosted by the Florida Council of Churches and presented by Pastors for Florida Children. The event will be held at the Florida Hotel & Conference Center (1500 Sand Lake Road Orlando, FL). Because space is limited, please call and make your room reservation as soon as possible: 407-859-1500. Rooms are $120/night. The hotel block is under Florida Council of Churches. Each guest is required to pay for their room accommodations.
“How Are the Children?” (Swahili translation -
Kasserian Ingera)
The theme for this year's convening is, "How are the children?" This is the translation of the traditional greeting among the Masai people in Africa. The greeting, which is spoken daily, acknowledges the high value that the Masai place on their children's well-being. The traditional answer after hearing the greeting is, "All the children are well." The answer shows the priorities of their society in protecting the young who are the most vulnerable among them. They understand that their very reason for being urges upon all the responsibility to ensure that all of their children are well. What would it mean in our society, and specifically within our state, if we were to put such a high value on caring for and educating all our children? As people of faith, if we kept children at the forefront of our thoughts and worked diligently upon ensuring their well-being, we would see the tide turn in the realities of how children are cared for in Florida communities. See below for the workshop topics and presenters.
Monday, November 14
12:00 PM Convening Check In Begins
1:00 PM Welcome, Prayer and Devotional
1:30 PM Session 1 - Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Dr. Julie Ingersoll of University of North Florida and Rev. Dr. Pamela Cooper-White Of Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University
3:00 PM Session 2 - Kids Count: The State of Children in the State of Florida, Norin Dollard of Florida Policy
Institute
4:00 PM Break
4:15 PM Session 3 - Mental Health for Children in Florida Communities, Dr. Marni Stahlman of Mental
Health Association of Florida
5:15 PM Dinner Break
7:00 PM Centering Fellowship, The Right Rev. Jeffrey N. Leath, Keynote Speaker
Tuesday, November 15
9:00 AM Welcome & Opening Prayer Time
9:15 AM Session 4 - Economic Justice on Predatory Lending, Rev. James T. Golden and Rev. Rachel Gunter Shapard of Pastors for Florida Children
10:15 AM Break
10:30 AM Session 5 - Faith Focused Legislative Priorities from FEA, Florida PTA & SPLC
12:00 PM Adjourn
Our keynote speaker for the Florida Clergy Convening is Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath, the ecumenical officer for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Leath was elected and consecrated the 128th Bishop of the AME Church in July 2008 in St. Louis and has been assigned to serve in the 13th Episcopal District in Kentucky and Tennessee. He previously served the 19th Episcopal District in South Africa. Bishop Leath is a child of the parsonage. He was born in Huntington, New York and has lived in Norwalk, Connecticut and Inwood, New York as his father served in those places. Dr. Leath is a graduate of Yale College, Yale Divinity School (Master of Divinity) and United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio) – Doctor of Ministry.
For more information about this event, contact Rev. Rachel Gunter Shapard (pastorsforflchildren@gmail.com), Rev. James T. Golden (jamethegold@aol.com), or Dr. Russell Meyer (rmeyer@floridachurches.org). Be sure to register by close of business on 11/10/22.
