Featured Speakers

Keynote Address: Denny Davidoff
"Living the Questions"
 
"As my service to the UUA as Moderator draws to a close, I reflect on what I have learned about our movement, our congregations, and about me. My need to have the right answers is not as strong as it used to be; now I want to ask the right questions!"
 
As Moderator of the Unitarian Universalist Association, Denny Davidoff holds the highest position held by a volunteer in this liberal religious organization. Elected by the UUA's General Assembly in June, 1993, and reelected to a second four-year term in 1997, her primary duties are presiding over the annual General Assembly, chairing the quarterly Board of Trustees meetings, and representing the Association at special events.
 
Her service to the UUA has also included the presidency of the UU Women's Federation, chairing the General Assembly Planning Committee, and serving on the Ministerial Fellowship Committee.

Judy Lecturer: Rev. Dr. William R. Murry
"Growing Vital and Faithful UU Congregations"
 
"If Unitarian Universalism is to grow in numbers and in our impact on society, we need strong and healthy congregations and leadership with vision and integrity. Drawing on something Theodore Parker said over 150 years ago, I want to suggest several characteristics that will enable our congregations and their leaders to become stronger, more influential, and, at the same time, faithful to our tradition."
 
The Rev. Dr. William R. (Bill) Murry is currently president and Academic Dean of the Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, one of two seminaries affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Association. Prior to taking that position in 1997, he served as senior minister of the River Road Unitarian Church in Bethesda, MD, for 17 years and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bloomington, IN, for three years.
 
Dr. Murry holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Culture from Drew University, a Master of Divinity degree from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Oklahoma Baptist University. He was a campus minister at Columbia University in a joint appointment with the Riverside Church and is the author of A Faith for All Seasons: Liberal Religion and the Crises of Life.
 
The Arthur M. Judy Memorial Lecture was established by the Prairie Star District in honor of the dynamic Swiss immigrant who served as minister of the First Unitarian Church in Davenport, Iowa from 1881-1907 and as president of the Iowa Unitarian Association from 1896-1906.

Saturday Evening Entertainment: Storyteller Jim Stowell
 
Jim Stowell, based in Red Wing, Minnesota is an actor, playwright, director, and storyteller. He has taught playwriting and storytelling at universities throughout the United States and at workshops in Central and South America. Of his storytelling, Minneapolis Star Tribune critic Peter Vaughan has written, "Stowell captivates an audience by the intensity of his performance, the freshness of this tales, and the honesty of his recollections." In his performance following the banquet on Saturday evening, Stowell will tell stories about religious intolerance from his boyhood on the Texas-Mexico border, seen through the lens of his recent stay in Northern Ireland.