LA MIRADA, CALIF. — Biola University will host the 22nd annual Student Congress on Racial Reconciliation (SCORR) Conference from Feb. 15 to 17 for nearly 1,000 students, staff and faculty from colleges and universities from across the United States. The conference will focus on training students, staff and faculty to be agents of reconciliation amidst racial, ethnic and nationalist tensions in the nation at large.
The verse Amos 5:24 will guide discussions at the conference: “Let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
“The words of the prophet Amos are as timely as ever,” said Glen Kinoshita, director and founder of SCORR. “As we embark on the 22nd annual SCORR conference, let us focus our hearts and minds on honoring God by caring for the afflicted soul and to be agents of reconciliation; as a result, may we see ‘rivers of justice and streams of righteousness’ flow through us into our broken world.”
Students, staff and faculty from Christian colleges and universities from across the nation will come together to be trained on how to engage the wrongs in society to bring about healing and restoration. More than 1,000 students, staff and faculty from 18 different colleges and universities gathered last year for the SCORR Conference.
Curtiss Paul DeYoung, CEO of the Minnesota Council of Churches, is the keynote speaker for this year’s conference. He was previously the executive director of the historic racial justice organization, Community Renewal Society in Chicago, and the inaugural professor of reconciliation studies at Bethel University in St. Paul. He is an author and editor of 10 books on reconciliation, multiracial congregations, interfaith social justice activism, racism and cultural diversity. He consults and speaks nationally and internationally with extensive relationships among activists and peacemakers in South Africa and the Holy Land.
The 2018 SCORR conference will feature a Story Slam on Feb. 17, where Biola students, alumni, and guest artists will share their perspectives and experiences of redemption found in the midst of pain and struggle through various forms of storytelling.
Registration is open for universities and the Biola community to attend. For more information about the conference and schedule, visit the registration page.
For more information, contact Media Relations at media.relations@biola.edu.