DATE: February 22, 2001
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For More Information, Contact:
Bud Bunce (503) 233-8373
bbunce@archdpdx.org
REFLECTIONS AND TEACH-IN ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER PASTORAL LETTER
The fourteenth annual "Peace-ing It Together" Conference will be held on
Saturday, March 3, 9:30 am - noon, at
the University of Portland's Buckley Center
Auditorium. This year's conference will
consider the new pastoral letter by the Catholic
Bishops in the northwest "The Columbia
River Watershed: Caring for Creation and the
Common Good." The morning will be a "story-telling,
teach-in" on the pastoral letter.
The conference will provide an opportunity to explore and consider local
community projects to help renew the watershed.
Participants will be inspired by the
stories of the river (e.g. the story of
Celilo Falls by Elizabeth Woody) and reflect on the
common desire for spiritual, social and
ecological transformation. As the pastoral letter
suggests, all people in the Pacific Northwest
are invited to contemplate "the rivers of
our moment, memory, vision and responsibility."
The Archdiocese of Portland Office of Justice and Peace, the Archdiocese
of
Seattle Office of Justice and Peace and
the University of Portland are the sponsors of
the annual Peace-ing It Together conference
this year. There is no pre-registration or
admission fee necessary, but participants
are encouraged to either call or email to let
the sponsors know how many people will
be attending. Contact the Office of Justice
and Peace in Portland (503) 233-8361 or
the Office of Justice and Peace in Seattle
(206) 382-4869, or email ffromherz@archdpdx.org,
or jld@seattlearch.org.
All are
welcome. Copies of the Pastoral Letter
and a reflection guide will be available for
purchase at the door. The University of
Portland is located at 5000 N. Willamette
Boulevard in Portland.
Schedule follows below.
###
Peace-ing It Together Conference
Reflections and Teach-in on the Columbia
River Pastoral Letter
Schedule
Day: Saturday March 3, 2001
Place: University of Portland, Buckley
Center Auditorium
Time:
9:30 am Refreshments
Pickup copy of Pastoral Letter and Reflection Guide
9:40 am Welcome -- Host
for the Story-Sharing Teach-in: Gray Eubank, OPB Radio
"Morning Edition." Gray Eubank will introduce the "Story-Sharing Teach-in"
process.
Frank Fromherz, member of the Pastoral Letter Steering Committee, director
of the Office of Justice and Peace/Catholic Campaign for Human
Development, Archdiocese of Portland, and adjunct faculty member,
Theology Dept., University of Portland.
9:50 am The Rivers through
our Memory -- The story of Celilo Falls
Elizabeth Woody, poet, author, member of the Confederated Tribes of the
Warm Springs Reservation, and staff member of Eco-Trust; to be introduced
by Charles Hudson, Columbia Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
10:05 am Franz Hall for small group sessions
11:30 am Reconvene back in Buckley
Center Auditorium --
Rev. Charles Lienert, Vicar of Clergy, Archdiocese of Portland, and resource
consultant for the pastoral letter, will share how the pastoral letter's
flow --
moment, memory, vision, responsibility -- speaks to his own story of sense
of place in the watersheds, and he will invite all of us to take this process
of
moment, memory, vision and call to action into our communities in the
weeks and months ahead.
Silvia Vazquez-Rios, born and raised in Puerto Rico, on a farm of coffee--
avocados--and various tropical fruits; lives with her 18 yr. old daughter,
in
Corvallis, OR; she serves in Hispanic Ministries for St. Mary's Parish,
Corvallis,
and serves as a member of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission;
served 20 years in the US Army, and lived 13 of those years in Europe.
11:50 am Music - Calvin Allmon, director of the Choir, Immaculate Heart Church
11:55 am Blessing with Holy Water
and Sending Forth
Sr. Janet Ryan, SNJM, staff for the Justice & Peace Commission of St.
Ignatius Parish, Holy
Names Sister and member of the Metropolitan Broad-Based Organizing Project,
will, together
with several other members of communities of women religious in Oregon,
lead this blessing of
one and all.
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