Jump to: Worship & Bible Study: ~ Worship Leaders ~ Bible Study Leader ~ Preachers Plenary on the Intersections Plenary on Marriage Equality Plenary on Global Connections Breakfast Table-Talks Recreation and Affinity Groups Preconvocation Forums Workshops

As plans develop, more convocation program information will be added here. So check back from time to time.

At Justice & Joy, you can:

• Rest, relax, and restore in the beauty of God's creation;
• Learn, organize, and launch reconciling initiatives;
• Pray, play and sing the new creation into action.

Worship & Bible Study

Worship provides the framework, i.e, the beginning and closing, as well as the foundation for Reconciling Convocations. Convocation worship is dynamic, engaging and spirited.  Powerful singing as well as outstanding preaching are highlights of these times of passionate praise and prayer.

Justice & Joy participants will have opportunities to participate in leadership of worship in many ways, including music. Artists can fill roles in dramas, dance, readings, and other rituals.  Singers are invited to join the convocation choir that will rehearse occasionally. Persons who play musical instruments are encouraged to bring those and add their musical gifts to worship. Be sure you indicate your music or artistic gift when you register for the convocation.

Dr. Marcia McFee is an author, worship designer and leader, professor, preacher and artist. She  combines her background and experience in professional companies of music, theater and dance with a variety of worship and preaching styles in order to bring a fresh experience of the Gospel to each worship setting.

Marcia’s passion for helping the church to worship God fully is especially directed toward the education of local congregations. She travels extensively in order to teach regional workshops that are accessible to congregational leaders and worship teams. Additionally, Marcia has begun a program of continuing education events in her home town of Lake Tahoe and an on-line subscription to season worship design help.

As well as her experience with local church worship, Marcia specializes in designing and leading conference worship. Over the last 18 years, she has coordinated worship for countless regional and agency conferences. Most recently, she designed and led 22 worship services over a 10 day period for the General Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Dr. McFee received a Master's of Theological Studies degree at Saint Paul School of Theology with a concentration in Preaching and Worship, where she recently received the Outstanding Graduate Award from the Alumni Association. She earned a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies at the Graduate Theological Union with an allied field of Ethics. She has been a guest lecturer and adjunct faculty at nine seminaries and served as the North Texas Conference (UMC) Consultant on Worship & the Arts.

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Bible Study Leader:

The Rev. Dr. Elaine A. Heath is the McCreless Assistant Professor of Evangelism at Perkins School of Theology, the director of the Center for the Advanced Study and Practice of Evangelism at Southern Methodist University, and is an Elder in the East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist  Church.  In local church ministry her special area of interest is leadership development leading to congregational health and evangelistic vitality, and the development of new monastic faith communities. Dr. Heath has provided retreat and seminar leadership in spiritual formation and leadership development for clergy for many years.  Among her research interests are the new monasticism, the emerging church, spirituality and evangelism, and gender and evangelism. 

Dr. Heath holds a B.A. degree from Oakland University, an M.Div. from Ashland Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from Duquesne University. Her publications include: Naked Faith: Mysticism and Mission in the Theology of Phoebe Palmer, Princeton Theological Monograph Series (Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2009); The Mystic Way of Evangelism: A Contemplative Vision for Christian Outreach (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008); and Longing for Spring: A New Vision for Wesleyan Community, co-authored with Scott Kisker, (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2009).

Dr. Heath is co-founder and pastor of The People of New Day, a new monastic community in the United Methodist tradition in Dallas, Texas.  She and her husband Randall Bell live in Garland, Texas and are the parents of two adult daughters.  Favorite activities include hiking, camping, bicycling, canoeing, sailing, flea markets, music and watching movies..

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Preachers:

Vincent Cervantes grew up in a traditional Catholic family of Spanish-decent didn't leave room for questioning one's sexual orientation or considering that homosexuality wasn't a worldly perversion. After graduating high school, Vincent attended Azusa Pacific University, the second largest Evangelical university in the United States, where homosexuality wasn't only taboo, but also condemned and punishable by university policies.

After years of hiding his same-sex attractions, Vincent submitted to reparative therapy through counseling, ex-gay support groups, and even consented to an exorcism. With over a year being spent in counseling and years trying to pray away his homosexuality, Vincent came out and fully accepted himself as gay man in July 2006.

As an out gay student at an Evangelical university, Vincent faced many obstacles with fellow students and the administration. In October 2006, Vincent was forced to withdraw from the university because his sexual orientation conflicted with their policies that prohibited "homosexual acts or behaviors."  Vincent then became an advocate for social justice and equality, leading him to organize the "Right To Serve Campaign" in Los Angeles through Soulforce. In 2007, Vincent continued his work with Soulforce as member of the Soulforce Equality Ride. During a two-month journey across the U.S., Vincent along with over 50 other young adults visited Christian colleges and universities that have policies that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students, to share their stories and create dialogue about faith and sexuality.

The Rev. Dr. Eunice Musa Iliya is the director of the newly-created Directorate of Evangelism and Stewardship of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria. This is a key position in church management as part of Nigerian United Methodist efforts to build and transform the church there.

Dr. Iliya, a mother of four, is a native of the Zing local government area of Taraba in Nigeria.  She joined the ministry in 1991. She earned her first degree in theology at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS). She has worked in different capacities as associate and senior pastor of many United Methodist congregations in Nigeria. She was also principal of the women’s leadership training center in Zing, Nigeria from 1997-1999 and was appointed conference treasurer in 1999.

Dr. Iliya won the American Green Card 2002/2003 lottery, which gave her opportunity to become a permanent resident of the United States. While in the U.S. she received a Master’s in Theological Studies degree and a Doctorate in pastoral care and counseling from Claremont School of Theology. She has been a frequent and popular preacher in many churches in the U.S.

Dr. Ilyea was elected a delegate from Nigeria to the United Methodist General Conference in 2008.  Despite being admonished by other members of her delegation, she stood in support of the demonstration again the church’s discriminatory policies and actions against LGBT persons.  While noting the extreme difficulty of being a solitary support, she affirms that she stood "to support my fellow brothers and sisters who part of this body. … They are all children of God, and we should support them and give them opportunity to be in the same place where God has called us to be."

The Rev. Drew Phoenix has been an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church since 1989.  Drew has served several urban churches, both in Bethesda, Maryland and Baltimore City, Maryland. He most recently served St. John’s of Baltimore City UMC, a Reconciling Congregation.  In 2007, while at St. John’s, Drew came out publicly as a trans male to the Baltimore-Washington Conference.  As a result, charges were brought against him and his case went before the Judicial Council.  The charges were dismissed and no anti-transgender laws were added to the Book of Discipline.

In addition to his Master of Divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C., Drew has a Master of Science in Development Management from American University in Washington, D.C. and a Master of Acupuncture from the TAI SOPHIA Institute in Laurel, Maryland. In response to the Spirit’s calling, Drew is currently serving in an Extension Ministry position as Managing Director of Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT), a grassroots environmental health and justice organization in Anchorage, Alaska.

Plenary on Marriage Equality

"As Long as You Both Shall Live: Rings, Vows, Health Care, Extended Family."

Leaders from both the secular and faith efforts for marriage equality for all families will update us on the status of efforts, analyze successes and challenges, share future prospects and expand the scope of the conversation to explore what is left out of the current conversations.

The Rev. Roland Stringfellow is Coordinator of the Coalition of Welcoming Congregations in the Bay Area of California with the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Sexuality (CLGS) on the campus of Pacific School of Religion. Stringfellow earned a Bachelor of Science degree in education and a Master of Science degree in counseling from Indiana University. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in ministry from Grace Theological Seminary and in 1990 became a licensed minister in the Baptist Church.

In 2005 Roland was ordained with the Metropolitan Community Church and in 2006 he earned his M. Div. degree from the Pacific School of Religion with a certificate in Religion and Sexuality. He has worked as a pastor in Indiana and California. In addition to all his work within church contexts, Roland also worked in the field education in a variety of capacities–teacher, guidance counselor, college advisor, and vice-principal.

In his current position, Rev. Stringfellow is working to create dialogues on the topic of LGBT equality with church congregations and in religious institutions in northern California.  He played an active leadership role in the campaign against the state of California’s Proposition 8 in November 2008, speaking to and organizing support within religious communities and communities of color.

Evan Wolfson was founder of Freedom to Marry, the gay and non-gay partnership working to win marriage equality in the U.S., and serves as the organization’s Executive Director.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Pittsburgh, Wolfson graduated from Yale College in 1978. For two years, he worked as a Peace Corps volunteer in a village in Togo, West Africa. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1983, and teaching political philosophy at Harvard College, Wolfson served as assistant district attorney for Kings County (Brooklyn), NY.

Beginning with his 1983 law school thesis on gay people's freedom to marry, Wolfson has published numerous articles on sexual orientation and civil rights, and is a frequent speaker on such topics. As a pro bono cooperating attorney for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund from 1984 to 1989, Wolfson wrote Lambda's amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in Bowers v. Hardwick and NGTF v. Board of Education of Oklahoma City.

From 1989 to 2001, Wolfson worked full-time at Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund. As Director of Lambda's Marriage Project, Wolfson coordinated the National Freedom to Marry Coalition and led the ongoing national movement for equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. He was co-counsel in the landmark Hawaii marriage case, Baehr v. Miike, which launched the current nationwide debate. Wolfson also contributed his expertise to the team in Baker v. Vermont, the Vermont Supreme Court ruling that led to the creation of "civil unions," a new legal marital status for same-sex couples, and to the GLAAD team in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, which on May 17, 2004 led to marriage equality in Massachusetts.

In 2000, the National Law Journal honored Evan Wolfson's civil rights leadership by naming him one of "the 100 most influential attorneys in America." In 2004, Evan was named one of the "Time 100," Time magazine's list of "the 100 most influential people in the world." Evan Wolfson's first book, Why Marriage Matters: America, Equality, and Gay People's Right to Marry, was published by Simon & Schuster in July 2004 and was re-released in paperback with a new foreword in June 2005.

The Rev. John Makokha is senior pastor of Riruta UMC in Nairobi, Kenya.  He earned his B.Ed. Degree at the University of Nairobi and served as graduate teacher at Maji Mazuri High School. There he taught Kiswahili and history and communications skills and was a counselor, mentor, drama patron and chaired the school’s HIV/AIDS association.

He was ordained as a minister in the Triumphant Pentecostal Church and served as a pastor in a Free Methodist Church. After earning an M.A. degree in Missions at Nairobi Evangelical School of Theology, he started Riruta United Methodist Church, the only Reconciling Ministry in Africa.

He also served as Communications Director in the Kenyan United Methodist Church.

He has written articles, spoken on TV and radio programs and led workshops on human rights for homosexuals in Kenya. In many ways John challenges United Methodist clergy and laity in the East Africa Annual Conference to be witnesses of God’s inclusive love to LGBTI persons and their families.  In the past year he became the volunteer Coordinator for Other Sheep Kenya.

The Rev. Araceli Ezzatti is founder and pastor of  Diaconia Cristiana en la Diversidad ICM (Christian Service in Diversity), the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC) congregation in Montevideo, Uruguay,  She is duly-credentialed with the Methodist Church of Uruguay, in which she has served as clergy for many years. Until recently she served as interim pastor for Central  Methodist Church in Montevideo (which was the first Methodist congregation in the country). That church asked her to resign because of her advocacy for LGBT people.

After receiving a Master’s degree in education and theology from Seminario Menonita of Theology in Montevideo, she did graduate studies at the ISEDET in Buenos Aires. There she studied pedagogy with Professor Paolo Freire. She served as a member of the executive & editorial committee that published Freire’s books. She participated in workshops on popular education that Freire led throughout South America, Africa and with the World Council of Churches in the 1970s. She then taught courses and workshops on the Pedagogy and Methodology of Freire at a number of universities and seminaries.

More recently, Araceli completed training and certification as a psychologist, including work with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. She has served as Dean of the Institute of Psychology of Uruguay; Director of the National Program of Training for Methodist educators and leaders in Uruguay; Pastoral Coordinator of five low-income Methodist parishes; and Coordinator of  Theological Training for the Methodist Church in Uruguay.