The Institute for the Study of Asian American Christianity (ISAAC) will host its sixth annual symposium, “A Christian Vision of Belonging: Race and Gender,” on Monday, Nov. 3, to Tuesday, Nov. 4, at Hillside Community Church in Los Angeles.
The symposium is designed to engage Asian American and African American experiences of race and gender in the church and community to foster a sense of belonging and inclusion between the two communities.
The plenary speaker will be Dr. Willie James Jennings, professor of theology and black church studies at Duke Divinity School. Other notable presenters include Rev. Soong-Chan Rah, distinguished author and professor of church growth and evangelism at North Park Theological Seminary; Rev. Dr. Cecil “Chip” Murray, chair of Christian ethics in the School of Religion at USC; and Dr. Charlene Jin Lee, professor of theological studies at Loyola Marymount University.
Bill Watanabe, former executive director of the Little Tokyo Service Center, will be presented with the 2014 ISAAC Legacy Award, which honors pioneers and leaders from the Asian American Christian community. Past recipients include Rev. Dr. Hoover Wong, Eleanor Huang, LCSW, and Bishop Roy I. Sano.
The two-day symposium’s early bird registration fee is $100 per person until Oct. 15, and $130 per person thereafter. Conference registration covers Monday and Tuesday plenary addresses and break-out groups, plus Monday night’s banquet. The symposium is Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For more information, to register, or to become a sponsor of the event, visit www.isaacweb.org/symposium or email info@isaacweb.org.
The ISAAC Symposium was established in order to address the unique challenges facing Asian American Christians and churches in all their generational, cultural, and theological differences. It provides a space of learning by gathering both scholars and church leaders for an invigorating series of discourses for effective ministry.