Bowen Conference
Nonviolence: A Faithful Response
Feb. 28-March 3, 2010
"Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding." – Romans 14:19
- Presentation and Workshop Topics
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- Hostage Horror and the Birth into Nonviolence — Sis and Jerry Levin will describe how their personal encounters in perilous foreign and domestic environments lead to their belief in the futility of violence.
- Scientific Perspectives on Nonviolence — The astonishing connection between recent brain research and human interaction, plus what it reveals about the way we teach young people.
- Biblical and Theological Perspectives on Nonviolence — An examination of Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount and other scriptural evidence supporting God’s dream of a nonviolent humanity.
- Educational Perspectives on Nonviolence — An argument favoring the need for teacher training institutions and seminaries that infuse the principles of nonviolent living into all lessons.
Jesus and his disciples spent much of their ministry encouraging people to strive for peace with each other, to love their enemies, "turn the other cheek" and renounce revenge.
For many, these ideas seem easier said than done. But recent brain research has revealed that humans have an inclination for nonviolent behavior from the moment of conception.
Kanuga’s 2010 Bowen Conference will tap into our innate desire for peace as it examines what the Bible teaches about nonviolence.
Keynote addresses and workshops will offer new ways of addressing and overcoming violence as well as provide tools and techniques for changing today’s thinking, policies and teaching about violence and conflict resolution.
About the keynoters
Jerry Levin
Sis Levin
Dr. Lucille "Sis" Levin and Jerry Levin are internationally-known advocates for nonviolent reconciliation and founders of the Community Nonviolence Resource Center. A former CNN bureau chief, Jerry Levin was kidnapped by Hezbollah while on assignment in Lebanon in 1984 and held hostage for nearly a year.
Sis Levin, an international peace educator and certified professional mediator, played a crucial role in forging the nonviolent effort that led to his escape. She told the story in her best-selling book Beirut Diary, which was made into the television movie "Held Hostage."
From 2001 to early 2009, the couple served on Christian Peacemaker Teams working on projects promoting nonviolence in the Middle East. In April, they were recognized by the Dalai Lama as two of 2009’s Heroes of Compassion. The couple resides in Birmingham, Ala.
Additional conference staff
Kevin Higgs
SPEAKER: The Rev. Dr. Kevin Higgs is an ordained elder in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church and has served in ministry more than 20 years. He is the senior pastor of Church of the Reconciler, a multicultural, multiracial congregation in Birmingham, Ala., focused on nonviolent peacebuilding and serving the homeless and working poor. Deeply schooled and devoted to a nonviolent interpretation of the ministry of Jesus Christ, he is a leader in incorporating the principles of scriptural-based nonviolent living in all aspects of church activities including staff development, outreach, teaching and preaching.
Titus Presler
Sallie Craig Huber
COORDINATOR: Sallie Craig Huber has had a long career in international public health specializing in program planning, management and evaluation. She currently serves as the global lead for results management at Management Sciences for Health and has worked in more than 30 countries throughout Africa, Asia, the Near East and Latin America.
CHAPLAIN: The Rev. Dr. Titus Presler is a missiologist of the Episcopal Church with experience in global conflict, especially inter-religious confrontations in south Asia and political and church conflict in Zimbabwe, and a consultant to the Continuing Indaba Listening Process of the Anglican Communion. He has taught mission studies at several seminaries and is past president of Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest and academic dean of General Theological Seminary in New York. Currently living in White Plains, N.Y., he is focusing on writing projects in mission.
The Bowen Conference
The Bowen Conference was created through the generosity of Buford Bowen as an annual conference to explore Christian commitment. Since the first was held in 1989, the Bowen Conference has grown into one of Kanuga's premier conferences. Past keynoters include Bruce Feiler, Jon Meacham, Barbara Brown Taylor, Frank Griswold, N. T. Wright, Andrew Greeley and Frederick Buechner, as well as Terry Waite, Henri Nouwen and Robert Bellah.
Cost |
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Double Occupancy |
$450 per person |
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Single Occupancy |
$555 per person |
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Commuter |
$300 per person |
Payment |
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Deposit |
$100 per person |
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Balance Due |
January 28 |
Start/End Times |
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Check-In |
4-6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 28 |
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Check-Out |
After breakfast Wednesday, March 3 |
Conference Registration |
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Register Online |
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Register by Mail/Fax |
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Financial Aid |
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Invite Others |
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Return to the Conference Calendar
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