Published on February 8, 2012  

Samford University will host a free public conference on the intersection of religion and immigration Feb. 23. Conference activities will begin at 10 a.m. and continue to 10:30 p.m. and will include plenary sessions for students, pastors and the public, pastor/student lunch and dinner, a public forum, presentations by national and local evangelical leaders and a screening of the film "A Better Life".

The G92 South Immigration Conference, which takes its name from the number of references to the "stranger" (the Hebrew "ger") in the Biblical book of Hebrews, seeks to promote a national and local conversation about immigration from a Biblical perspective.

The evening public forum will feature Dr. Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Land will explain the official Southern Baptist Convention position on immigration, present what he believes are the Biblical principles that should guide Christian attitudes and actions towards immigrants, and state his beliefs about what the federal government should be doing to ensure what he describes as "an orderly, functioning immigration system".

Other speakers will include:

• A panel of Alabama pastors including Dr. John Killian, First Vice President of the Alabama Baptist Convention and Pastor of Maytown Baptist Church

• Mayor Paul Bridges, City of Uvalda, Georgia

• Noel Castellanos, CEO of the Christian Community Development Association

• Matthew Soerens, U.S. Church Training Specialist for World Relief

• Jenny Yang, Director of Advocacy and Policy for the Refugee and Immigration Program, World Relief

• Rev. Gabriel Salguero, President of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition

• Lisa Sharon Harper, Director of Mobilizing, Sojourners

• Dr. Osvaldo Padilla, Samford University's Beeson Divinity School

The Samford event will be the second national G92 conference. The first, held in October 2011 at Ohio's Cedarville University, set the challenge of equipping a new generation of leaders to look beyond sound bites and respond to immigration issues in a Biblical way.

The speakers will be available by request for interviews, photography and videography (contact Brad Radice).

For a complete conference agenda and media registration, visit: www.G92conference.org 

Twitter Hashtag: #G92South

 

 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.