June 2007 - Off to Summer Camp

Off To Summer Camp

From the Executive Director

Dear friends,

It's June, and time to go to Camp! Not the kind of camp with canoes and crafts and conifers, but Camp Coast Care and Camp Wellstone.

In June, 22 student members of The Beatitudes Society will head off to camp: 10 students will participate in "Heads, Hearts, Hands", a week of witness and work on post Katrina rebuilding on the Gulf Coast, and 12 students will begin their eight-week Beatitudes Society Summer Fellowships with Camp Wellstone training in community organizing.

Our Service Trip students, together with Beatitudes Society faculty, staff, board members, and friends, will travel to New Orleans and then to Camp Coast Care in Gulfport, Mississippi, where we will work during the daytime, and do some learning and worshipping together each evening. You'll hear more about this experience in our July newsletter.

Our Beatitudes Society Summer Fellows will practice basic community organizing skills (messaging, community mapping, coalition-building, etc.) at special Camp Wellstone sessions scheduled for them in Washington, DC and San Francisco. Read a bit more about these students below!

Fellowship and Service Trip opportunities will give each of these 22 students hands-on experience in social change and social advocacy work, and I am betting these experiences will change their lives. Thanks to all of you who helped fund these opportunities for these students. You are helping us build a Beatitudes world, one student, one heart, one soul at a time.

And now, meet the Summer 2007 Class of Fellows of The Beatitudes Society!

In Christ's Peace,

The Rev. Anne S. Howard

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Beatitudes Society Fellows Serving in San Francisco Bay Area, CA

	Ryan Sommers Baum is from Albany, NY. He attends Pacific School of Religion and will graduate in May '09. After his Beatitudes Society Fellowship at Oakland Community Organizations (an affiliate of PICO network), he will begin a full-year, full-time internship in the fall. He is excited to learn the PICO model of community organizing and getting an inside look at how organizing changes urban communities for the better.
	Justin R. Cannon, from Lexington, MI is finishing his first year at Church Divinity School of the Pacific. He will graduate in May 2009. He will be working at United Religions Initiative. He says that he sometimes struggles with how theoretical his studies are and sometimes feels disconnected from the real issues people face, so he is looking forward to working with a grassroots faith-based group that addresses practical social and inter-religious concerns.
	Audrey deCoursey is from Oak Park, IL. She is a 2nd year Masters of Divinity student, graduating May 2008 from Pacific School of Religion, in Berkeley, CA. Audrey will be working with The Regeneration Project for her Beatitudes Society Fellowship. She is looking forward to building connections with other progressive faith organizations in the Bay Area and nationally, while increasing skills for living out a call to witness, in word and deed, to Christ's call to justice and nonviolence.
	Jeff Gottlieb’s hometown is Dallas, TX. He is in his first year at the Graduate Theological Union, Jesuit School of Theology. He is studying for a Master of Arts in Ethics and Social Theory and expects to graduate in Spring '08. Jeff will be working with The Regeneration Project for his Beatitudes Society Fellowship. He is most excited about becoming a part of the political process from the standpoint of an organization that isn't afraid to mix religion and politics.
	Ashley Wright is from Pensacola, FL. She is a 2nd year student in the Master of Arts in Specialized Ministry Program in Justice and Peace at Iliff School of Theology. She will graduate in 2008. She will be interning at United Religions Initiative for her Beatitudes Society Fellowship, and is looking forward to working with an organization dedicated to building strong communities based on a unique vision for peace and justice, inspired by various faith traditions.

Beatitudes Society Fellows Serving in Washington, DC

	Barbara Calvin's hometown is Charlotte, NC. She has finished the 1st year of a 3-year program at Wake Forest University Divinity School, and plans to graduate in May 2009. She will be a Beatitudes Society Fellow at Children's Defense Fund this summer, and is looking forward to learning more about the social justice issues that the Children's Defense Fund addresses and how to influence national public policy on those issues.
	Justin Harkins, from Woodstock, GA, is a Masters of Divinity student at Vanderbilt Divinity School. He is a part of the Class of '09. Justin will be working at the Episcopal Public Policy Network office during his Beatitudes Society Fellowship. He is most looking forward to learning in Washington, DC - a dynamic and exciting environment - alongside other emerging Christian leaders.
	Emily Kuhn is from Conover, NC. She is graduating from Yale Divinity School with a Masters of Divinity in May 2007, and will complete a Masters of Sacred Theology in liturgy next year at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. She will be interning at Bread for the World for her Beatitudes Society Fellowship. She is most looking forward to combining two interests - liturgy and social justice/hunger and poverty awareness - into one internship, and hopes to learn to create liturgies around the theme of social justice.
	Leigh Rogers is from Ann Arbor, MI and is currently a Master of Arts '08 candidate at Union Theological Seminary. She will be working with Sojourners for her Beatitudes Society Fellowship. She is looking forward to working with and contributing to an organization addressing social justice issues as matters of faith. She is also looking forward to meeting new people and getting to know the DC area.
	Kini Spady is from Sanford, FL, and currently attends Howard School of Divinity. She will graduate in May, 2008 with a Masters of Divinity. She will serve her Beatitudes Society Fellowship at People for the American Way/African American Ministers Leadership Council. She believes that ministry should expand beyond the "walls" of the church, and sees this as an opportunity to make a positive contribution to the organization while gaining knowledge and skills that she will use in ministry and life.
	Krista Stevens is from Hoover, AL. She attends Weston Jesuit School of Theology and will graduate in May 2008. Her Beatitudes Society Fellowship is at Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good. She is looking forward to engaging theology in a more contextual and practical way to get at the bigger issues of social justice.
	Matthew Sudnik is from New Kensington, PA, and is a student at Harvard Divinity School. He will be interning at Faith in Public Life for his Beatitudes Society Fellowship. Matt is eager to learn new organizing skills and make a contribution to religious communities working to create a more just society on the grassroots level.