Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Room: Erie

presented by Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Director of Religion, Chautauqua Institution

When I turned 75 last year, my 17 year old granddaughter asked me how it feels to have more years behind me that ahead of me. After the shock of the question, I attempted to answer her profound question for myself. My musings are the subject of my sharing with the community of IB educators.

My life has been devoted to healing the brokenness of our world. There have been many disappointments, many promising starts that sputtered out in the face of old fears and hidden agendas. But my hope for the future survives, even strengthens, as I get older. The journey has taken me around the globe and has introduced me to women and men, familiar and unknown, who share this hope. In this session, we will work together to discover the sources of strength that can sustain us in all our life long journeys toward justice and peace.

Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Director of Religion, Chautauqua Institution
The Rev. Dr Joan Brown Campbell is an ordained minister and a leader in the ecumenical interfaith movement. She is currently director of the Department of Religion at the historic Chautauqua Institution in New York. The Rev. Dr Campbell served for a decade as the general secretary to the National Council of Churches, USA. She was the first woman to be named executive director of the U.S. office of the World Council of Churches. She worked with Martin Luther King and brought him to her own congregation in Cleveland; she served as a key election monitor in the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa; she negotiated with President Clinton and Fidel Castro to arrange the return of Elian Gonzales to his father. She has led peace missions to the Middle East and worked with the Rev. Jesse Jackson to free American servicemen held captive in Serbia. She was previously a member of the U.S. State Department's advisory committee on Religious Freedom Abroad, and continues her commitment to peace as chair of the Global Women's Peace Initiative. She is particularly dedicated to women's rights and their physical security, and to enhancing the role of women in civil discourse and civil society.