Mennonite
Central
Committee

Panelists taking part in the conversation between religious leaders in the United States and Canada and the president of Iran.

 

Drew Christiansan

Father Drew Christiansen, S. J. is editor in chief of the Jesuit weekly America. For thirteen years he advised the U. S. Catholic bishops on Mideast Affairs, first as director of their Office of International Justice and Peace (1991-1998), then as counselor for international affairs (1999-2004). He is co-editor of Peacemaking: Moral and Policy Challenges for a New World and co-author of Forgiveness in International Politics: An Alternative Road to Peace.

 

 

Mary Ellen McNish

AFSC General Secretary
Mary Ellen was appointed General Secretary of the AFSC in June 2000. She is responsible for the administration of programs and projects in more than 30 countries and nine regions in the United States. While with the AFSC, Mary Ellen has met with several key world leaders such as Yasser Arafat, Kim Dae-jung, Mikhail Gorbachev, and most recently with the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. She attends the annual gathering of Nobel Peace Laureates on behalf of the AFSC, which won the prize in 1947.

Mary Ellen has an extensive nonprofit and development experience in organizations such as Weil Medical College of Cornell University, New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Medical College of Pennsylvania and was chief operating officer of Planned Parenthood, MD.  Hailing from Scranton Pennsylvania, Mary Ellen spent thirteen years in several roles in the Friends General Conference, including assistant presiding clerk.

 

 

Chris Ferguson

The Rev. Chris Ferguson is an ordained minister of the United Church of Canada.He is the World Council of Churches Representative at the United nations in New York. From 2004 to 2006 he was the World Council of Churches Representative in Jerusalem. Chris was a senior denominational leader in the United Church of Canada for 14 years including serving as General Secretary of the Division of World Outreach and as Executive Minister and Ecumenical officer of the Justice, Global and Ecumenical Relations Unit. He was a Professor of Ministry and Theology at the Latin  American Biblical Seminary in Costa Rica. His whole ministry has been devoted to Human Rights, Peace, Justice and Interfaith cooperation.

 

 

Karen Hamiliton

As its general secretary, the Rev. Dr Karen Hamilton works within the Canadian Council of Churches (CCC) to end racism and promote social justice in Canada. She has facilitated efforts of Canadian churches in speaking against anti-semitism and has been involved in the CCC's campaign for just global trade and equal health care for the people of Canada. Recently, many of the CCC churches participated in a letter-writing campaign to encourage the prime minister to avoid involvement in the war in Iraq and to commend him for doing so.

 

 

Glen Stassen

Glen Stassen is the author of Living the Sermon on the Mount (Jossey Bass: July, 2006), Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context, with David Gushee (InterVarsity, 2003), and Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace (Westminster/John Knox: 1992). Kingdom Ethics won the Christianity Today Award for Best Book of 2004 in Theology or Ethics.

He is Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena. At Berea College, he won the Seabury Award for Excellence in Teaching, and at Fuller Theological Seminary he won the All Seminary Council Faculty Award for Outstanding Community Service to Students