Ethics Without Borders:
Global Issues with Local Connections Plenary PresentersDavid Beckmann is president of Bread for the World and one of the foremost U.S. advocates for hungry people in the United States and worldwide. He is a Lutheran clergyman as well as an economist. Prior to joining the Bread staff, he served on the staff of the World Bank, playing key roles in making the Bank more effective in reducing poverty. Bread for the World is a nationwide faith-based citizens’ movement against hunger with 56,000 members, including 3,000 churches and mobilizing a quarter of a million constituent letters to Congress each year. He has written several books and articles, including Transforming the Politics of Hunger and Grace at the Table: Ending Hunger in God’s World.
Lauran Bethell has been a missionary with International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches/USA for twenty-two years. She first served in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she helped young women from tribal communities receive educational and vocational training so that they might have economic alternatives to working in prostitution. Currently based in Prague, Czech Republic, Lauran serves as an international consultant, facilitating the development of new projects which address the issues of the exploitation and abuse of women and children and raising awareness about prostitution and human trafficking. In 2005 at the Centennial World Congress, Lauran received the Baptist World Alliance’s Human Rights Award, which was presented to her by President Jimmy Carter.
Keith Jones has served as Rector of the International Baptist Theological Seminary (IBTS) of the European Baptist Federation in Prague since 1998. From 1973-1990, he ministered in the United Kingdom in Yorkshire, his home county, and then served as Deputy General Secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain. Trained at the Northern Baptist College and the University of Manchester, he has done post graduate work in the Universities of Bradford, Leicester, and Wales and at IBTS in both Rueschlikon and Prague. His interests are in Baptist and Anabaptist history, ecclesiology, and theological reflection.
Charles Kimball is Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion and Professor of Comparative Religion in the Divinity School at Wake Forest University. He is a graduate of Oklahoma State University and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and received his doctorate from Harvard University in comparative religion with specialization in Islamic studies. He is a frequent lecturer in universities and church-related settings as well as an expert analyst on issues related to the Middle East, Islam, Jewish-Christian-Muslim relations, and the intersection of religion and politics in the United States. He has made more than 35 visits to the Middle East and worked closely with Congress, the White House, and the State Department during the past 20 years.
Carla Nelson is Canadian Baptist Ministries’ (CBM) Educational Facilitator. A teacher, psychologist, and trainer of teachers, she has been coordinating CBM’s Diploma in Christian Teacher Education and Counseling, which is affiliated with Carey Theological College in Vancouver and the Africa Brotherhood Church in Kenya. This program links Christian educators from Canada with their colleagues in Kenya and is focused on issues related to HIV/AIDS. She is also involved with the Guardians of Hope, an opportunity for Canadian Baptists to partner with African Christians in the fight against HIV/AIDS through education and awareness, pastoral care, and ministries with AIDS orphans.
Anna Robbins serves on the faculty of the London School of Theology where she lectures in Theology and Contemporary Culture and supervises research in theology, culture, and ethics. She researches, writes, and speaks in the United Kingdom and elsewhere on social ethics, contemporary culture, and apologetics, and in so doing, challenges Christians to think clearly about how to live out their faith in a rapidly changing world. A native of Nova Scotia, she holds degrees in international politics and theology and received her Ph.D. in Christian social ethical method. She is the author of Methods in the Madness, and Sharing the Feast.
Tadeusz Zielinski serves as Professor in the Christian Academy of Theology in Warsaw and Academic Dean of Warsaw Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds the Ph.D. in church-state studies and has written extensively on church-state issues. During 1993-1997 and 1997-2001, he served as a member of the Polish National Parliament and was involved in securing legislation regarding human rights and health care. He also participated in drafting the Religious Clauses of the Polish Constitution of 1997 and bills on Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Methodist, Eastern Orthodox, Reformed, and other denominations. He serves on the Human Rights Core Group of the European Baptist Federation and on the Human Rights Committee of the Baptist World Alliance.
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