Regional Assembly: Stories of Hope, Courage, Resistance, and Resilience

Advertisement for PWR Regional Assembly - Stories of Hope, Courage, Resistance and Resilience. Photos of Pramila Jayapal, William Barber, Susan Frederick-Gray

Dear Pacific Western Region Congregational Leaders,

I am happy to announce that “Stories of Hope, Courage, Resistance, and Resilience” will be the theme of our Regional Assembly, which will be held April 27-29, 2018, at the Double Tree Hotel in Portland, Oregon.

I’m also happy to announce who some of our speakers will be.

Our keynote speaker on Saturday, April 28, will be Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. Jayapal is the first Indian-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Before being elected to represent Washington State’s 7th District in 2016, Congresswoman Jayapal was an immigration and labor activist in Seattle. Her writing has been featured in The New York Times and The Nation. She has been written about in Mother Jones as well as many other publications.

The speaker at our worship service on Sunday, April 29, will be the Rev. Dr. William Barber. As an NAACP leader and civil rights activist in North Carolina, Barber led the “Moral Mondays” protests in that state beginning in 2013. The founder of Repairers of the Breach, an organization formed to train religious leaders across the country in social justice work, Barber is currently leading a new “Poor People’s Campaign.” His most recent book is The Third Reconstruction: Moral Mondays, Fusion Politics, and the Rise of a New Justice Movement.

In addition, the Rev. Susan Frederick Gray, the newly elected president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, will speak to us to share her emerging vision for the future of the UUA and our wider movement.

In addition to these three speakers during the Regional Assembly, the Rev. Erika Hewitt will be presenting a workshop for religious professionals, including ministers, religious educators, and music directors, on multi-generational, multicultural worship during the day on Friday, April 27, immediately before the regional assembly. Hewitt is on UUA staff as the Minister of Worship Arts and is the editor of Braver/Wiser, a weekly spirituality series.

I expect more details about our Regional Assembly, including registration details, to be available in December.

Warmly,
Rev. Dr. James Kubal-Komoto, Regional Lead