This podcast is from the opening worship and keynote session of ‘s 2018 .

Iris de León-Hartshorn has worked within the Mennonite
Church in various roles since 1996, serving as a leader in
racial and gender justice in the church. She is currently
director of transformative peacemaking for Mennonite Church
USA. In this role, she coordinates initiatives and programs
related to the churchwide priority of “undoing racism and
advancing intercultural transformation.”

For the opening plenary of the , Christena Cleveland and Drew Hart explore the Good Samaritan story. They  consider how Jesus told this unsettling narrative which exposed and confronted how power and difference were organizing people’s lives. They guide us into a reflection on the ethical implications for our own lives as we navigate our society.

has written of her personal faith journey and is familiar with the issues raised by the theme of A Church for All Generations in an Age of “Nones”. She opens the 2015 SLT  by addressing the intersections and challenges of these two in her keynote, “Fear and Courage in a Tiny Church: Reflections on Life in a Small Parish.” Lauren Winner is a historian, author and lecturer and Assistant Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School.