2022 IBS-ELS Annual Members’ Dinner
The International Bonhoeffer Society – English Language Section invites you to our annual Bonhoeffer Society Dinner, which is held conjointly with the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting
When: Friday, November 18, 2022
Time: 5:45 pm Wine Reception and Book Display
6:15-8:00 pm Dinner and Program
Where: Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church, 1100 Fillmore St. Denver, CO. 80206
The church is located 2.8 miles from the Convention Center in the Capitol Hill neighborhood adjacent to downtown Denver. We recommend a Lyft, Uber, or Taxi.
RSVP: Space is limited.
The cost of the dinner is $40 per person.
Program
The IBS-ELS Board of Directors is pleased to announce that our society president, Dr. Jennifer M. McBride, will be our speaker for the evening. She will read excerpts from her new book You Shall Not Condemn: A Story of Faith and Advocacy on Death Row (Cascade Books, 2022), take questions, and engage conversation. McBride’s work is informed by her long engagement with the life and work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but about the life and death of Kelly Gissendaner. Central to the book are letters from prison between Kelly and the internationally renowned German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, an early reader of Bonhoeffer.
From the publisher:

This book tells the story of Kelly Gissendaner, the only woman on Georgia’s death row until her execution in 2015, and highlights the role theological studies played in her faith and in advocacy efforts on her behalf. Central to the book is the written correspondence between Kelly and German theologian Jürgen Moltmann, known internationally as the “theologian of hope.”
After reading Moltmann’s work in a course taught by McBride at the prison, Kelly began a five-year correspondence with him. When Kelly was denied clemency, a local and international advocacy movement arose that was rooted in her theological studies and friendship with him. The advocacy campaign challenged Christians who supported the death penalty to re-examine basic truths of Christian faith. As it was unfolding, the story of Kelly’s transformation changed people’s minds, not only about her case, but also about the death penalty itself. Weaving together powerful storytelling and theological expertise, McBride recounts that story again here, with an aim toward abolition, and offers practical ways that readers may enter the work.

A Word about Dinner
Dinner will be catered by SAME Cafe.
SAME Cafe is the second nonprofit “pay-what-you-can” restaurant established in the United States. The philosophy behind the restaurant — namely, that “everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy food while being treated with dignity” — is summed up in their name, So All May Eat, and mission, “good food for the greater good.” Someone from the cafe will join us to briefly share about their work.

You must be logged in to post a comment.