SESSION ABSTRACT

As people of faith, involved in professions that strive for restoration and the full flourishing of people, one can be faced with many complex factors.  By going deep into particular case studies, the speaker will draw out themes to help increase understanding and awareness around injustice and poverty.  Attendees will see the impact the broader context has on individual patients/clients and possible pathways for flourishing will be explored.

Presenter Bio

Nikki Toyama-Szeto works with leaders of faith communities to help ignite a passion for biblical justice among the Global Church. She speaks and trains leaders nationally and globally. She writes and speaks from her experiences as a leader in organizations like International Justice Mission, the Urbana Conference and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She served on the Third Lausanne Congress (2010), helping to develop the plenary program.

session abstract

Serving in a helping profession is a way to love your neighbor as yourself, but professional norms may challenge your ability to love God totally at the same time: i.e., to serve our neighbors in a way that honors God’s wisdom. The talk will suggest ways to identify and negotiate the challenge, with special attention to the importance of religious freedom for social workers of diverse faiths.

bio

Stanley Carlson-Thies is founder and senior director of the Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance, which promotes the religious freedoms that enable faith-based organizations to make their uncommon contributions to the common good. He is the co-author of Free to Serve: Preserving the Religious Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations (2015), The Freedom of Faith-Based Organizations to Staff on a Religious Basis (2004), "Religious Freedom is Good for Social Work and Social Justice," Social Work & Christianity 44, no. 1 & 2 (2017): 96-111.

BIO

The Reverend Dr. Bernard L. Richardson is the fourth Dean of the historic Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel. As the appointed officer for religious affairs at the University, he coordinates the wide array of ministries sought by students and their parents, faculty, staff, and the community at-large; directs and participates in religious services and public programs; and serves as the liaison between the University and religious organizations.