Coming Together 2010 Plenary Speaker – Dr. Christena Cleveland

Dr. Christena Cleveland has been called “an academic with a pastor’s heart.” As a social psychologist with a hopeful passion for church unity, she works to help church leaders understand why divisions in the body of Christ exist at all, why we naturally tend to congregate with similar others, why we often misperceive dissimilar others, and more. Drawing from a vast body of research, she also helps leaders develop ways to overcome these tendencies in order to restore unity.

Dr. Christena Cleveland speaking about how group psychology affects how even Christians segregate into different groups.

Christena earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a Ph.D. from the University of California. She has conducted research on group processes for the last seven years and has written numerous scholarly articles on the subject. In addition to academic experience, Christena brings ministry experience to her efforts to build church unity. While a faculty member at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA, she served on the leadership team at her local church, consulted with pastors and church leaders on multicultural issues, and spoke regularly at churches, conferences and universities and colleges.

Christena recently relocated to the Twin Cities where she has joined the Psychology faculty at St. Catherine University, is currently writing a book on overcoming divisions within the body of Christ, and is swiftly falling in love with the beautiful lakes in the area.

Coming Together 2010 Keynote Speaker – Rev. Samuel Rodriguez

Rev. Samuel Rodriquez has been named one of the “7 most influential Hispanic leaders” in America. As President of the NHCLC that represents 16 million Hispanic Christians, Rodriguez boldly proclaims, “We want Hispanics to be the forerunners, and preservers, of our Christian faith” in America.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez speaking at "Coming Together 2010" on the future of Hispanic Christianity in America.

He meets frequently with members of congress, and participates in White House meetings, advocating on issues of justice, family values and immigration on behalf of Hispanic evangelicals.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, National Association of Evangelicals, and Christianity Today. He also serves on the advisory Board of the National Campaign to Reduce Teen Pregnancy and Pro Life initiatives with various coalitions.

Rev. Rodriguez is the Current President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, also known as the Hispanic NAE, America’s largest Hispanic Christian Organization with 25,434 member churches.
Sam lives to Build the Kingdom of God, reconciling a platform of righteousness and justice.

CNN named Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, “The leader of the Hispanic Evangelical movement”. The Wall St. Journal has identified him as one of America’s 7 most influential Hispanic Leaders, and the only religious leader on the list. Meanwhile the San Francisco Chronicle described Samuel as one of the 6 Leaders of the New Evangelical Leadership.

Often quoted by the Washington Post, CNN, FOXNEWS, Bill Moyers, Chicago Tribune, Christianity Today, Newsweek, Univision NY Times, The Wall St. Journal, Boston Globe, Atlanta Constitution, Ministries Today, and others as the Preeminent Leading Voice of Hispanic Born Again Believers in America, Sam is the leading voice of Hispanic evangelicals in America.

He is an Assemblies of God Ordained Minister since the age of 23. He resides in California with his wife Eva , celebrating 20 years of marriage while she serves as Senior Pastor of Christian Worship Center. Rodriguez earned his Master’s degree in educational leadership from Lehigh University. Currently he pursues a doctoral degree in Organizational Management and Behavior.

As the leading Hispanic Christian on the issue or Comprehensive Immigration Reform, Rev. Rodriguez and the NHCLC were credited by Sydney Blumenthal and others as the primary reason why the plans for deportation were stymied. He frequently meets and consults members of both parties in Congress and participates in White House meetings on social justice, Latino and values issues.

An award winning writer, Rodriguez writes and contributes to world recognized publications such as Ministries Today, Enrichment Journal, The Washington Post and Newsweek “On Faith” Panel, Outreach magazine, Vida Cristiana, Charisma, Christianity Today, Yale Reflections” and others.

Podcast of Carl H. Nelson speaking at Elim Church November 7.

Reflections on Cape Town 2010 – The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization.

“God is so much bigger than I can imagine; The Gospel is bigger than what we usually think of; Our global Christian family needs (but not like they used to need us).”

Cape Town 2010 & the Lausanne Movement

Table group members from Malaysia, England, Germany and India with Carl Nelson.

The Lausanne Movement is a global network of Christians, including almost every Protestant denomination, which collaborates to spread the whole Gospel of Jesus throughout the entire world.

It gets its name from its first gathering place in Lausanne, Switzerland. In 1974 prominent Christian leaders and theologians like Billy Graham and John Stott – an Anglican Bishop – invited a representative group of church leaders and missionaries to meet in Lausanne to see if Christians could work together better and thereby make the Church stronger.

That first Congress in 1974 had far-reaching effects. It launched the missionary focus on Unreached People Groups – cultures that have no Christians at all, and it changed how we think about evangelism – telling people about Jesus – and compassion and justice – loving people like Jesus loves them. It brought both evangelism and compassion together and said they are both part of the Whole Gospel of Jesus and Christians are to be committed to both caring for people and telling them about Jesus.

Watch dozens of video of speakers and workshops at Cape Town 2010
conversation.lausanne.org

Erwin McManus

GMAE Evangelical Leaders Forum