SERF News

National Convocation releases new book about Disciples history
(source: Disciples News Network)

National ConvocationOn the eve of the 21st Biennial Session of the National Convocation, the Convocation has released the new book Know Us Our Story Shall Be Continued: A History of Black Disciples in the Mid-Atlantic Eastern North Carolina and Virginia by Rev. J.O. Williams Sr. Know Us Our Story Shall Be Continued is a detailed study of the development and establishment of the Assembly Churches along the eastern seaboard.

Williams has played a historic role in Disciples' history. He was the first African-American pastor to a white congregation in North Carolina and is the father of Second Vice Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Marilyn F. Williams. Each registrant to National Convocation's Biennial Session, which will take place July 29-Aug. 1 in Oklahoma City, will receive a copy of the book. To find out more about National Convocation, visit: www.disciples.org/convo

North Carolina Disciple honored by new stamp for Negro League Players
Aug 13, 2010 (source: Disciples News Network)

A North Carolina Disciple is among a group of former Negro League baseball players, who helped celebrate the issuance of a commemorative United States postal stamp which honors the league. Carl Long, who played with the Black Barons of Kinston, N.C., was recognized with the dedication of a new stamp on July 2 in Washington, N.C., along with several other former athletes from the Negro League. Long is a member of Grove Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Kinston.

Long is the father of Sotello V. Long, regional pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in South Carolina. Sotello Long and his wife, Dee, congregational services consultant for Church Extension, were involved in the unveiling of the new stamp. In addition, "Carl Long's Day" was observed in Kinston on July 3 during the Kinston Indians baseball game.

2010 Peacemakers Camp

Middle-schoolers, aged 10-14, are invited to the 2010 Peacemakers Camp, July 26 through July 31 at Koinonia Partners near Americus. Each day students will visit peacemakers and their communities, learn about fair trade goods, civil rights work, the Nobel Peace Prize, and fair housing practices. The camp is lead by Marilyn McGinnis, teacher, activist, and parent, and Jonah McDonald, adventurer and environmentalist. Call or email Jonah if you have questions: jonah@surefootadventures.com or 404.373.8036. For more information, visit www.surefootadventures.com

Nashville Schools Have Suspended 50% Of Black Boys
WSMV 4 Nashville NBC
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Metro School Board calls the numbers troublesome but true: Nine Metro middle schools have suspended more than half of all the black boys in the schools.

In some cases, only black boys have been barred from the buildings for causing problems, and regardless of a school's racial balance, it seems it is the group suspended most often.

"We're talking about 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds," said VanderbiltUniversity psychologist and human development specialist Maury Nation, who has worked closely with some of the suspension-prone schools for the past year.

At Jere Baxter and W.A. Bass middle schools, more than 60 percent of the black boys and almost 50 percent of white boys have been suspended, thrown out at least once, according to the U.S. Department of Education, as reported by Metro.

JT Moore said it has suspended 58 percent of African-American boys, but just 10 percent of its white males. It's a similar gap at Bellevue: 58 percent suspension among black boys, and 13 percent of white males, according to the Education Department.

The federal statistics don't include why a child is suspended, just how many were suspended.

Metro is required to send these numbers -- from 2006-2007, the most recent at the federal level -- to the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights.

"That's a terrible track record," said attorney Larry Woods, who is suing the school system over inadequate textbooks and resources.

According to Metro's numbers, six elementary schools have suspended only black males, and four of those schools have a mixed population of blacks and whites overall. Three elementary schools suspended only white students, and 10 Metro elementary schools sent no one home.

"I think the entire community's going to be shocked and surprised at these numbers," said Woods. "These aren't the occasional bad kid or bad seed; they're suspending more than half their minority students."

"The numbers are still higher than we would like, clearly," said Paul Changas of Metro Schools.

It isn't just in Nashville -- in Tennessee, African-Americans are four times as likely to be suspended. Nationally, they're sent home three times more often than white kids.

In the Metro school system, discipline decisions are left up to individual principals, yet it's just now that the district has started to keep watch across the board on a daily basis.

"So that hopefully, we can intervene in a more timely manner when we see discrepancies," said Changas.

Nation said it's clear many teachers, especially those fresh out of college, have not been prepared to deal with children who truly struggle socially -- not typical class clowns, but kids who are homeless, forced to raise siblings or living in different hotels from week to week.

"I think many of us would be shocked at the percentage of kids who fit into that category," Nation said.

Factor in the importance of test scores, and sitting quietly in a row frequently becomes the only acceptable way to learn.

Nation said teachers must have more tools than suspension as a first step.

"It may be they contact their parents. It may be to make a referral to the school counselor. But there's some response that says that this child isn't just a 'demon seed' and we need to get him out of the classroom, but there's probably something socially or emotionally going on, and we need to at least investigate that before we remove them from the educational setting," said Nation.

"It's hard to look at the numbers and not think racial bias," said Channel 4 I-Team reporter Demetria Kalmodimos. "There's got to be some (racial bias) at play at some level."

"There probably is some racial bias among some teachers, but I think it's a much more complex question and issue than simply a teacher looking and having a biased reaction to a child," said Nation.

Woods said the disparity cannot be ignored or in any way justified.

"This is dynamite evidence in a re-segregation case; it really is," he said. "I just don't understand why the leadership of the school board and the school system hadn't solved this problem 10 years ago."

District Works To Decrease Suspension Numbers, Racial Disparity

The last step before suspension is called twilight school. It's after hours, from 2:30-6 p.m., while other kids are shooting hoops or riding bikes or, hopefully, doing homework. The hope is students in trouble are learning how to learn.

"One suspension can just rock some child's world, so to speak, and others, multiple suspensions won't do any good at all," said Ralph Thompson of Metro Schools.

"Some students are looking for a way out, if you will," said Changas. "That's why we have programs like the twilight school. "That's why we have alternative centers and other alternative opportunities for students to learn -- so we can remove them from the immediate classroom or environment and not stop their learning opportunities."

Though up-to-date numbers have yet to be reported to the federal government, Metro said some of its suspension-prone schools have made big gains in the last year or so.

Jere Baxter has seen suspensions of black boys go from 65 percent in 2008 to slightly more than 50 percent so far this year. Suspension of white boys is down from 55 percent to less than 30 percent.

At W.A. Bass, the change is pretty substantial: 63 percent of its African-American boys were suspended in 2007, and just 34 percent this year. The numbers for white males are down as well, from 35 percent to 19 percent.

Systemwide, suspensions are down 25 percent. In some cases, it's been as basic as posting the rules for conduct on the wall and not rushing to punishment but rewarding those who follow the rule.

"We now have a process by which the first time the child is identified, the parent is called and there's also an opportunity, before they make a referral to the office, they make a referral to a school counselor," Nation said.

"When a referral comes in on a child, rather than just saying, 'OK, Johnny's been absent' or 'Johnny's not playing well' or whatever, we try to get to the root cause as to what's causing Johnny to miss school, what's causing Johnny to fail academically, what's causing Johnny to not communicate or relate with peers," Thompson said.

Some parents may think too much time is being spent on troublemakers, but Nation said that logic doesn't wash.

"You never know when your kid may be the one who runs into a subject that they're going to have trouble with, and will the school have the capacity to be flexible and provide that additional support your child may need as they go forward?" he said.

Even critics said they are willing to recognize legitimate gains, if the numbers reflect improved behavior and student success, not just a shifting of the problem.

"The problem with some of these alternatives like twilight school is once you take children out of their regular curriculum and regular classes, you're on a slippery downhill slope," said Woods. "These are the kids who are going to be the dropouts. These are the kids who are not going to be able to find a job. These are the kids we're failing. Now, I don't mean to say some kids don't deserve discipline; of course they do at times. But to do this kind of massive disruption of particular groups in our entire school system and not to realize, 'Hey, maybe we're doing something wrong here,' there's no excuse for that."

To find data about a certain district or school, go to U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection. Do a district search by entering Nashville and Tennessee. On the far right side of the screen, choose "Discipline Of Students Without Disabilities." Do a school search by entering a school name. To see all schools, enter Nashville, TN. Data should come up by school.

The most recent numbers reported to the feds are from 2006.

2010 People of Color/HK on J, Justice and Unity Legislative Day! on 5/26/2010
The 2010 Justice and Unity Legislative Day will be held May 26, 2010 at First Baptist Church on 101 S. Wilmington St in Raleigh, North Carolina. Come join us as we discuss the theme "Not Just Money, We Want A Just Budget."

Clergy Breakfast on Immigration!
This year, the NC Council of Churches is continuing its successful statewide series of "Clergy Breakfasts" on immigration. These events are geared towards busy religious professionals and faith leaders, and they provide an overview of immigration issues in the context of a great networking event (and free breakfast!).

Event Details:
Thursday, May 27, 2010
8:30-10:00am
St. Matthew's United Methodist Church
600 East Florida Street
Greensboro, NC 27406-3196

Speakers include:
Rev. Mark Sills, FaithAction International House
Dr. Maria Teresa Palmer, NC A&T

Click here for more information and to RSVP:
www.welcometheimmigrant.org/greensboro

Regional Youth and Camp & Conference Minister Position Opening

The Christian Church in North Carolina is searching for an individual to fill the position of Regional Youth and Camp & Conference Minister. The person called to this position will live at Camp Caroline, managing the facilities, program, and lead the regional youth ministries. For more information contact John Richardson, Regional Minister, john@ncdisciples.org. Deadline for applications is June 15, 2010.

Pastor’s Conference Scholarships Announced (added 5/12/2010)

The Office of the General Minister and President has received an anonymous and generous gift to provide scholarships to the 2010 Pastors’ Conference for persons not yet registered. The 2010 Pastors’ Conference is September 21-23, 2010 in San Diego, California. Dr. Diana Butler Bass is the featured keynote speaker for the three day event. The donor has designated the following: 50 first-time attendee scholarships for persons who did not attend the 2008 Pastors’ Conference; 25 for New Church Pastors; 50 for Pastors of congregations with an average worship attendance less than 100; 25 for pastors racial / ethnic congregations; and 50 scholarships for pastors under the age of 40. Each scholarship is valued at $150. Participants can qualify in up to two areas, receiving a maximum of $300 in scholarship assistance. For example, a new church pastor, under the age of 40 can receive $300. An African-American pastor of a church with an average worship attendance under 100 can receive $300. Scholarships are on a first-come, first served basis. The current conference registration fee is $450. A person qualifying in two areas would only have to pay $150 to attend the conference. The registration fee includes: two-nights lodging, the conference fee, opening dinner, breakfast and lunch on Wednesday and breakfast on Thursday, plus transportation from the San Diego airport to the hotel and back to the airport.

Scholarships are in the form of a coupon code for use at the time of registration. Scholarships codes are available by contacting Gerri Lynn Reeves at greeves@ogmp.disciples.org or 317-713-2414.

Airfares to San Diego remain very reasonable. The following are sample, roundtrip airfares (not including tax) as of April 15, 2010:

* From Baltimore (BWI): $222
* From Charlotte (CLT): $207
* From Tampa (TPA): $240
* From Indianapolis (IND): $193
* From Des Moines (DSM) $289
* From Kansas City (MCI) $207
* From Oklahoma City (OKC) $238
* From Austin (AUS) $213
* From Denver (DEN) $166
* From Portland (PDX) $240
* From Boise (BOI) $256
* From Omaha (OMA) $240

____________________________________________________________________________

Greetings from your colleagues in ministry at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity! (4/21/2010)

I write to invite you to apply for Foundations of Christian Leadership, a program that helps new and emerging leaders of church institutions explore their gifts for leading in the church; develop their capacity for effective, strategic and theologically wise leadership; and examine what it means to be a Christian leader in a Christian organization.

Foundations of Christian Leadership is designed for people who are directing significant programs or services within a Christian ministry. In particular, this experience will most benefit leaders who have been in their current position no more than three years and have responsibilities that include recruitment, marketing, supervising and budgeting. This could include associate and lay ministers who work in congregations with a minimum of 600 people in weekly attendance and program or project directors within institutions.

Thanks to the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc., scholarships are available to help cover program costs. Participants will be responsible for travel costs. To learn more about our ministry go to http://www.faithandleadership.com/overview.

For an application and more information about Foundations of Christian Leadership, please go to: http://www.faithandleadership.com/programs-training/for-young-leaders/foundations-christian-leadership . Applications for Foundations of Christian Leadership 2010-11 will be reviewed in June, July and August 2010. The first application deadline is June 1, 2010. Early applications will receive first consideration; once the program capacity is reached, registration will close.

If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me or Tamara Kissane (tkissane@div.duke.edu).

Peace,
Bill Lamar

Leadership Education at Duke Divinity
leadership@div.duke.edu
919.613.5323

____________________________________________________________________________

Federal Financial Reform on Floreclosures
Letter from SERF ARPR partner Center for Responsible Lending:

Every 13 seconds, a new foreclosure is filed, translating into 6600 new foreclosure starts every day.

This week, the Center for Responsible Lending released a new edition of Faith & Credit* which takes a look at the foreclosure problem and steps to repair it and save homes.

Meanwhile, CRL is closely watching federal financial reform to ensure the final bill truly protects households from predatory financial deals. Last fall, faith leaders sent a letter to Congress outlining principles for financial reform: ending usurious practices, keeping families in their homes, and restoring integrity to the financial system through sound regulation. I’m looking forward to working with you to keep bringing these principles to the forefront as the Senate now takes up financial reform.

Finally, check out the top articles on CRL’s faith-based page for news on how religious groups speaking out for payday reform in Missouri, Colorado, and elsewhere.

Please contact me with any questions about this update. Let me know what’s happening in your community and any items you’d like to see highlighted in Faith & Credit in the future.

All the best,

Rachel

*Faith & Credit is a quarterly update from the Center for Responsible Lending’s Faith-Based Program.

Faith and Credit (Winter 2010)

Rachel Anderson
Director of Faith-Based Outreach
Center for Responsible Lending
910 17th St, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006


	News National Convocation releases new book about Disciples history (source: Disciples News Network) National ConvocationOn the eve of the 21st Biennial Session of the National Convocation, the Convocation has released the new book Know Us Our Story Shall Be Continued: A History of Black Disciples in the Mid-Atlantic Eastern North Carolina and Virginia by Rev. J.O. Williams Sr. Know Us Our Story Shall Be Continued is a detailed study of the development and establishment of the Assembly Churches along the eastern seaboard. Williams has played a historic role in Disciples' history. He was the first African-American pastor to a white congregation in North Carolina and is the father of Second Vice Moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Marilyn F. Williams. Each registrant to National Convocation's Biennial Session, which will take place July 29-Aug. 1 in Oklahoma City, will receive a copy of the book. To find out more about National Convocation, visit: www.disciples.org/convo North Carolina Disciple honored by new stamp for Negro League Players Aug 13, 2010 (source: Disciples News Network) A North Carolina Disciple is among a group of former Negro League baseball players, who helped celebrate the issuance of a commemorative United States postal stamp which honors the league. Carl Long, who played with the Black Barons of Kinston, N.C., was recognized with the dedication of a new stamp on July 2 in Washington, N.C., along with several other former athletes from the Negro League. Long is a member of Grove Park Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Kinston. Long is the father of Sotello V. Long, regional pastor of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in South Carolina. Sotello Long and his wife, Dee, congregational services consultant for Church Extension, were involved in the unveiling of the new stamp. In addition, "Carl Long's Day" was observed in Kinston on July 3 during the Kinston Indians baseball game. 2010 Peacemakers Camp Middle-schoolers, aged 10-14, are invited to the 2010 Peacemakers Camp, July 26 through July 31 at Koinonia Partners near Americus. Each day students will visit peacemakers and their communities, learn about fair trade goods, civil rights work, the Nobel Peace Prize, and fair housing practices. The camp is lead by Marilyn McGinnis, teacher, activist, and parent, and Jonah McDonald, adventurer and environmentalist. Call or email Jonah if you have questions: jonah@surefootadventures.com or 404.373.8036. For more information, visit www.surefootadventures.com Nashville Schools Have Suspended 50% Of Black Boys WSMV 4 Nashville NBC NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Metro School Board calls the numbers troublesome but true: Nine Metro middle schools have suspended more than half of all the black boys in the schools. In some cases, only black boys have been barred from the buildings for causing problems, and regardless of a school's racial balance, it seems it is the group suspended most often. "We're talking about 9-, 10-, 11- and 12-year-olds," said VanderbiltUniversity psychologist and human development specialist Maury Nation, who has worked closely with some of the suspension-prone schools for the past year. At Jere Baxter and W.A. Bass middle schools, more than 60 percent of the black boys and almost 50 percent of white boys have been suspended, thrown out at least once, according to the U.S. Department of Education, as reported by Metro. JT Moore said it has suspended 58 percent of African-American boys, but just 10 percent of its white males. It's a similar gap at Bellevue: 58 percent suspension among black boys, and 13 percent of white males, according to the Education Department. The federal statistics don't include why a child is suspended, just how many were suspended. Metro is required to send these numbers -- from 2006-2007, the most recent at the federal level -- to the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. "That's a terrible track record," said attorney Larry Woods, who is suing the school system over inadequate textbooks and resources. According to Metro's numbers, six elementary schools have suspended only black males, and four of those schools have a mixed population of blacks and whites overall. Three elementary schools suspended only white students, and 10 Metro elementary schools sent no one home. "I think the entire community's going to be shocked and surprised at these numbers," said Woods. "These aren't the occasional bad kid or bad seed; they're suspending more than half their minority students." "The numbers are still higher than we would like, clearly," said Paul Changas of Metro Schools. It isn't just in Nashville -- in Tennessee, African-Americans are four times as likely to be suspended. Nationally, they're sent home three times more often than white kids. In the Metro school system, discipline decisions are left up to individual principals, yet it's just now that the district has started to keep watch across the board on a daily basis. "So that hopefully, we can intervene in a more timely manner when we see discrepancies," said Changas. Nation said it's clear many teachers, especially those fresh out of college, have not been prepared to deal with children who truly struggle socially -- not typical class clowns, but kids who are homeless, forced to raise siblings or living in different hotels from week to week. "I think many of us would be shocked at the percentage of kids who fit into that category," Nation said. Factor in the importance of test scores, and sitting quietly in a row frequently becomes the only acceptable way to learn. Nation said teachers must have more tools than suspension as a first step. "It may be they contact their parents. It may be to make a referral to the school counselor. But there's some response that says that this child isn't just a 'demon seed' and we need to get him out of the classroom, but there's probably something socially or emotionally going on, and we need to at least investigate that before we remove them from the educational setting," said Nation. "It's hard to look at the numbers and not think racial bias," said Channel 4 I-Team reporter Demetria Kalmodimos. "There's got to be some (racial bias) at play at some level." "There probably is some racial bias among some teachers, but I think it's a much more complex question and issue than simply a teacher looking and having a biased reaction to a child," said Nation. Woods said the disparity cannot be ignored or in any way justified. "This is dynamite evidence in a re-segregation case; it really is," he said. "I just don't understand why the leadership of the school board and the school system hadn't solved this problem 10 years ago." District Works To Decrease Suspension Numbers, Racial Disparity The last step before suspension is called twilight school. It's after hours, from 2:30-6 p.m., while other kids are shooting hoops or riding bikes or, hopefully, doing homework. The hope is students in trouble are learning how to learn. "One suspension can just rock some child's world, so to speak, and others, multiple suspensions won't do any good at all," said Ralph Thompson of Metro Schools. "Some students are looking for a way out, if you will," said Changas. "That's why we have programs like the twilight school. "That's why we have alternative centers and other alternative opportunities for students to learn -- so we can remove them from the immediate classroom or environment and not stop their learning opportunities." Though up-to-date numbers have yet to be reported to the federal government, Metro said some of its suspension-prone schools have made big gains in the last year or so. Jere Baxter has seen suspensions of black boys go from 65 percent in 2008 to slightly more than 50 percent so far this year. Suspension of white boys is down from 55 percent to less than 30 percent. At W.A. Bass, the change is pretty substantial: 63 percent of its African-American boys were suspended in 2007, and just 34 percent this year. The numbers for white males are down as well, from 35 percent to 19 percent. Systemwide, suspensions are down 25 percent. In some cases, it's been as basic as posting the rules for conduct on the wall and not rushing to punishment but rewarding those who follow the rule. "We now have a process by which the first time the child is identified, the parent is called and there's also an opportunity, before they make a referral to the office, they make a referral to a school counselor," Nation said. "When a referral comes in on a child, rather than just saying, 'OK, Johnny's been absent' or 'Johnny's not playing well' or whatever, we try to get to the root cause as to what's causing Johnny to miss school, what's causing Johnny to fail academically, what's causing Johnny to not communicate or relate with peers," Thompson said. Some parents may think too much time is being spent on troublemakers, but Nation said that logic doesn't wash. "You never know when your kid may be the one who runs into a subject that they're going to have trouble with, and will the school have the capacity to be flexible and provide that additional support your child may need as they go forward?" he said. Even critics said they are willing to recognize legitimate gains, if the numbers reflect improved behavior and student success, not just a shifting of the problem. "The problem with some of these alternatives like twilight school is once you take children out of their regular curriculum and regular classes, you're on a slippery downhill slope," said Woods. "These are the kids who are going to be the dropouts. These are the kids who are not going to be able to find a job. These are the kids we're failing. Now, I don't mean to say some kids don't deserve discipline; of course they do at times. But to do this kind of massive disruption of particular groups in our entire school system and not to realize, 'Hey, maybe we're doing something wrong here,' there's no excuse for that." To find data about a certain district or school, go to U.S. Department of Education's Civil Rights Data Collection. Do a district search by entering Nashville and Tennessee. On the far right side of the screen, choose "Discipline Of Students Without Disabilities." Do a school search by entering a school name. To see all schools, enter Nashville, TN. Data should come up by school. The most recent numbers reported to the feds are from 2006. 2010 People of Color/HK on J, Justice and Unity Legislative Day! on 5/26/2010 The 2010 Justice and Unity Legislative Day will be held May 26, 2010 at First Baptist Church on 101 S. Wilmington St in Raleigh, North Carolina. Come join us as we discuss the theme "Not Just Money, We Want A Just Budget." Clergy Breakfast on Immigration! This year, the NC Council of Churches is continuing its successful statewide series of "Clergy Breakfasts" on immigration. These events are geared towards busy religious professionals and faith leaders, and they provide an overview of immigration issues in the context of a great networking event (and free breakfast!). Event Details: Thursday, May 27, 2010 8:30-10:00am St. Matthew's United Methodist Church 600 East Florida Street Greensboro, NC 27406-3196 Speakers include: Rev. Mark Sills, FaithAction International House Dr. Maria Teresa Palmer, NC A&T Click here for more information and to RSVP: www.welcometheimmigrant.org/greensboro Regional Youth and Camp & Conference Minister Position Opening The Christian Church in North Carolina is searching for an individual to fill the position of Regional Youth and Camp & Conference Minister. The person called to this position will live at Camp Caroline, managing the facilities, program, and lead the regional youth ministries. For more information contact John Richardson, Regional Minister, john@ncdisciples.org. Deadline for applications is June 15, 2010. *Pastor’s Conference Scholarships Announced (added* 5/12/2010)** The Office of the General Minister and President has received an anonymous and generous gift to provide scholarships to the 2010 Pastors’ Conference for persons not yet registered. The 2010 Pastors’ Conference is September 21-23, 2010 in San Diego, California. Dr. Diana Butler Bass is the featured keynote speaker for the three day event. The donor has designated the following: 50 first-time attendee scholarships for persons who did not attend the 2008 Pastors’ Conference; 25 for New Church Pastors; 50 for Pastors of congregations with an average worship attendance less than 100; 25 for pastors racial / ethnic congregations; and 50 scholarships for pastors under the age of 40. Each scholarship is valued at $150. Participants can qualify in up to two areas, receiving a maximum of $300 in scholarship assistance. For example, a new church pastor, under the age of 40 can receive $300. An African-American pastor of a church with an average worship attendance under 100 can receive $300. Scholarships are on a first-come, first served basis. The current conference registration fee is $450. A person qualifying in two areas would only have to pay $150 to attend the conference. The registration fee includes: two-nights lodging, the conference fee, opening dinner, breakfast and lunch on Wednesday and breakfast on Thursday, plus transportation from the San Diego airport to the hotel and back to the airport. Scholarships are in the form of a coupon code for use at the time of registration. Scholarships codes are available by contacting Gerri Lynn Reeves at greeves@ogmp.disciples.org or 317-713-2414. Airfares to San Diego remain very reasonable. The following are sample, roundtrip airfares (not including tax) as of April 15, 2010: * From Baltimore (BWI): $222 * From Charlotte (CLT): $207 * From Tampa (TPA): $240 * From Indianapolis (IND): $193 * From Des Moines (DSM) $289 * From Kansas City (MCI) $207 * From Oklahoma City (OKC) $238 * From Austin (AUS) $213 * From Denver (DEN) $166 * From Portland (PDX) $240 * From Boise (BOI) $256 * From Omaha (OMA) $240 ____________________________________________________________________________ Greetings from your colleagues in ministry at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity! (4/21/2010) I write to invite you to apply for Foundations of Christian Leadership, a program that helps new and emerging leaders of church institutions explore their gifts for leading in the church; develop their capacity for effective, strategic and theologically wise leadership; and examine what it means to be a Christian leader in a Christian organization. Foundations of Christian Leadership is designed for people who are directing significant programs or services within a Christian ministry. In particular, this experience will most benefit leaders who have been in their current position no more than three years and have responsibilities that include recruitment, marketing, supervising and budgeting. This could include associate and lay ministers who work in congregations with a minimum of 600 people in weekly attendance and program or project directors within institutions. Thanks to the generous support of Lilly Endowment Inc., scholarships are available to help cover program costs. Participants will be responsible for travel costs. To learn more about our ministry go to http://www.faithandleadership.com/overview. For an application and more information about Foundations of Christian Leadership, please go to: http://www.faithandleadership.com/programs-training/for-young-leaders/foundations-christian-leadership . Applications for Foundations of Christian Leadership 2010-11 will be reviewed in June, July and August 2010. The first application deadline is June 1, 2010. Early applications will receive first consideration; once the program capacity is reached, registration will close. If you have any questions about the program, please do not hesitate to be in touch with me or Tamara Kissane (tkissane@div.duke.edu). Peace, Bill Lamar Leadership Education at Duke Divinity leadership@div.duke.edu 919.613.5323 ____________________________________________________________________________ Federal Financial Reform on Floreclosures Letter from SERF ARPR partner Center for Responsible Lending: Every 13 seconds, a new foreclosure is filed, translating into 6600 new foreclosure starts every day. This week, the Center for Responsible Lending released a new edition of Faith & Credit* which takes a look at the foreclosure problem and steps to repair it and save homes. Meanwhile, CRL is closely watching federal financial reform to ensure the final bill truly protects households from predatory financial deals. Last fall, faith leaders sent a letter to Congress outlining principles for financial reform: ending usurious practices, keeping families in their homes, and restoring integrity to the financial system through sound regulation. I’m looking forward to working with you to keep bringing these principles to the forefront as the Senate now takes up financial reform. Finally, check out the top articles on CRL’s faith-based page for news on how religious groups speaking out for payday reform in Missouri, Colorado, and elsewhere. Please contact me with any questions about this update. Let me know what’s happening in your community and any items you’d like to see highlighted in Faith & Credit in the future. All the best, Rachel *Faith & Credit is a quarterly update from the Center for Responsible Lending’s Faith-Based Program. Faith and Credit (Winter 2010) Rachel Anderson Director of Faith-Based Outreach Center for Responsible Lending 910 17th St, NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20006