Leadership conference to feature best-selling author

Author and Christian activist Shane Claiborne will be the keynote speaker at Northwestern College’s 20th annual College Leadership Conference on April 9 and 10. Claiborne will deliver two addresses, and students will also have the opportunity to attend a concert by singer/songwriter Aaron Strumpel and two workshops.

There is no charge for college students to attend the conference. For more information, or to register, visit www.nwciowa.edu/leadership2010. Deadline to register is April 2.

The conference is open to any students who have a desire to learn more about leadership. “Our theme, ‘Unfinished Leadership,’ signifies that we all have a lot to learn about the subject,” says Marlon Haverdink, Northwestern’s director of service learning. “Also, the theme points to the reality that leadership often comes from those who may not fit the mold of a traditional leader. Everyone will have an opportunity to lead at some point in life, no matter how ‘finished’ the person may be.”

Claiborne travels extensively, speaking about peacemaking, social justice and Jesus. He is featured in the DVD series Another World Is Possible and is the author of several books published by Zondervan and InterVarsity Press, including The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, Jesus for President and Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers. A frequent speaker at college campuses, Claiborne is also featured at denominational gatherings, festivals and conferences around the globe. His work has received news coverage by Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, CNN and National Public Radio.

An alumnus of Eastern University who did graduate studies at Princeton Seminary, Claiborne worked alongside Mother Teresa in Calcutta, served at Willow Creek Community Church outside Chicago, and spent three weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team. He is a founding partner of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner-city Philadelphia that has helped to birth and connect radical faith communities around the world, and an advisory board member for the Christian Community Development Association.

Strumpel is an Iowa native who studied music education, jazz and composition studies. Through an artist community called Enter the Worship Circle, he recorded his first solo album and a subsequent collaborative album. Strumpel has toured in 40 states, 11 countries and three continents. His latest project, Elephants, won the Bandspotting Contest at the 2009 Calvin College Festival of Faith and Music.

Conference registration will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, April 9, at American Reformed Church, 407 Albany Ave. SE in Orange City. Claiborne’s first address will begin at 6:30, with Strumpel presenting a concert at 7:45.

Saturday’s activities will include another keynote address by Claiborne at 10 a.m. in Northwestern’s Christ Chapel, and two workshop sessions led by pastors, community leaders, professors and Northwestern staff members in Van Peursem Hall. The conference will conclude around 2:15 p.m.