In the midst of the recent deluge of neighborhood violence in the city and cries from the community for action, Saint John’s United Church of Christ (UCC) is working with its partners to try to answer the question, “What is the church doing?” with “The Beloved Community: Equipping the Saints for the Work of Justice,” an ecumenical conference that will provide practical tools and information that citizens and communities of faith can put into action immediately.  The event will be held November 5-9^th at Saint John’s UCC, 4136 North Grand Boulevard, at the corner of Grand and Lee Avenue.  It includes two worship experiences, a play by The Black Rep, three separate ministry institutes, a discussion on faith and politics and two community service opportunities.  Conference partners and supporters include the Missouri Mid-South Conference of the UCC, The African American Pulpit Journal (Memphis, TN), The Black Rep, Washington Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church,…

This item was written for Civil Religion by Liz Stoever, a Post-Dispatch intern from Northern Illinois University:

Harold “Russell” Ewell II

When Harold “Russell” Ewell II, a blind student, began his classes at Eden Theological Seminary graduate school in 2004, he knew the odds were against him. Ewell said at times he doubted himself.

“I just at one point asked myself why I was here and could I actually do the work to be able to graduate,” he said. Because of his disability, Ewell said it takes him three times longer to do homework assignments. He also has to scan his books into a computer to turn them into speech.

“I really received one-third of the information everyone else does,” he said.

Professors also had to teach lectures differently by making sure that they say everything they write on the board.

Despite his struggles in the classroom, Ewell, a United Methodist, recently completed his graduate degree and…

Capitol image courtesy of www.mo.gove

In an earlier post I wrote about the Rally for a Compassionate Missouri Budget coming up tomorrow, April 5, at the Old Courthouse.  More details have been announced, including that the speakers will include Dr. David Greenhaw, President of Eden Theological Seminary, F. Sessions Cole, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics at Washington University and Chief Medical Officer, Director of Newborn Medicine at Children’s Hospital, the Rev. Janet Scurlock, and Rabbi Susan Talve. Also, the Community Gospel Choir and a group called Disability Rap will perform.

The organizers are promising this will be a quick and focused rally.  Their press release reads, in part:

The Missouri House of Representatives passed on March 26 its version of the state budget which cuts $250 million from the safety net of vital state services. This is depsite hundreds of million dollars from the federal government in an emergency stimulus package designated specifically so sates (like…