Friends,
Over the last three weeks, I’ve travelled more than 10,000 miles to meet FOR members and activists around the country. It has been an inspiration to meet with individuals and groups who are committed to a more peaceful and just world, and I am continually blessed to be a part of the FOR network.
 Two weeks ago I was in Baltimore, MD as part of FOR’s support of Baltimore United for Change, a coalition mobilizing the community following the death of Freddie Gray. (Photo of me, right, flanked by Rev. Osagyefo Sekou and Dr. Cornel West during our mass meeting that drew over 1,000 attendees.)
%20(800x600).jpg) I then flew to southern California to meet with faculty at Riverside City College and the Inland Communities FOR chapter (photo on right). I also visited FOR members at Pilgrim Place in Claremont, and lay plans for the multi-faith workshop I will co-lead at the Parliament of the World Religions this October. (We are so honored to be invited - less than 10% of workshop proposals were accepted for this once-a-decade event!).
Then it was onward to the Midwest to meet with Louisville FOR chapter members; and, from there, I took a bus to central Tennessee and sat down with leaders of one of FOR’s newest affiliate groups, the Nashville Peace & Justice Center.
In this our Centennial year, the FOR team and I have lots of fun and important travel plans ahead, and maybe we'll be near you. Here are several opportunities we have to connect with you this summer:
.jpg) June 4-7: Louisville KY – “Merton 100: Living the Legacy” national conference to honor the 100 birthday of Thomas Merton, author and FOR member – FOR National Council member Mark Meade is one of the conference coordinators.
June 13-15: Nyack NY – FOR National Council meeting – All FOR staff and NC members will be present.
 July 1-4: Seabeck WA – FOR Seabeck 57th annual conference: "Strengthening the Links" – Keynote speakers Jacqui Patterson and Rev. Osagyefo Sekou. FOR National Council chair Laurie Childers will attend along with NC members Doug Mackey, Patty Lyman, and myself.
July 6-11: Harrisonburg VA – Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America/ Bautistas por la Paz annual conference – Rev. Sekou will be a conference preacher; FOR training coordinator Gretchen Honnold will attend alongside NC members Kate Fields and Steve Jacobsen.
 July 9-12: Hot Springs NC – 5th annual Wild Goose Festival: "Blessed Are the Peacemakers" – endorsed by FOR; organizing director Ethan Vesely-Flad will attend and moderate a panel on the death penalty that will include NC member Rev. Jeff Hood.
July 24-26: Cleveland OH – Movement for Black Lives national convening – endorsed by FOR; Osagyefo Sekou and NC members Sahar Alsahlani & Irving David Allen plan to attend.
August 5-11: St. Louis MO – one-year commemoration of the death of Mike Brown in Ferguson – Ethan Vesely-Flad, Gretchen Honnold, NC member Anthony Grimes, and I plan to join Osagyefo Sekou at this national mobilization. [Details TBA on Ferguson Action web site.]
 August 6-9: Santa Fe NM – Campaign Nonviolence national conference – endorsed by FOR; featuring keynote speaker Rev. James Lawson (past FOR staffer and NC chairperson), who Martin Luther King, Jr. called “the leading theorist and strategist of nonviolence in the world.”
We would LOVE to see you in the coming weeks. Please join us at these important events and invite us to your own special actions, celebrations, and programs.
In peace,
 Rev. Kristin Stoneking
Executive Director
Fellowship of Reconciliation
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