An advocate for the welfare of children, active in ecumenical relations in the United States, will deliver the annual A. J. Muste lecture at Hope College, titled "Christian Unity in a World of Religious Pluralism," on Tuesday, April 12, at 11 a.m. in room 102 of VanderWerf Hall.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Dr. Eileen Lindner is a Presbyterian minister and deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC), the nation's largest ecumenical agency, comprised of 36 Protestant, Episcopal and Orthodox churches with a constituent membership exceeding 50 million Americans. In that capacity she is editor of the NCC's annual "Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches," widely recognized as the most accurate and complete compilation of facts and figures on U.S. and Canadian churches and related organizations. She is frequently asked to preach and teach around the country.
In addition to her responsibilities in the NCC, she has long served as an advocate for the needs of children in the United States and around the world.
She previously served as director of the Child Advocacy Office and is the author of numerous books and articles on a variety of child advocacy subjects, most notably "When Churches Mind the Children," reporting on the nation's most extensive child care study. She has served on national and international commissions dealing with topics related to children and to families. She serves as Theologian in Residence to the Children's Defense Fund's Summer Institute in Child Advocacy Ministry and as a member of the Board of Directors of Stand for Children.
The A.J. Muste Memorial Lecture is given each year in honor of the 1905 Hope College graduate A. J. Muste. A longtime leader in the peace movement and in labor organizing, Muste was once called "the nation's leading pacifist" by "Time" magazine. His deeply religious approach to peacemaking was widely recognized.
The lecture series began at Hope in his honor in 1985, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Each year a person is asked to speak who in some way embodies the values of Muste. Lindner will be the 19th Muste lecturer.
VanderWerf Hall is located on 10th Street between Central and College avenues.