Summer 2021 Bios
Keon Heywood is Literature teacher by profession, but an “Artist at Heart”. He is a young Prize Winning Guyanese Creative who has performed as Poet, Actor and Dancer in Guyana and other parts of the Caribbean. Keon enjoys working with at risk youth and other vulnerable groups. In his spare time he enjoys playing the drums.
Rev. Cairn Neely, The Outdoor Chaplain
Rev. Cairn Neely, The Outdoor Chaplain, is passionate about nature and community. They include daily doses of time and prayer outdoors as part of a spiritual wellness routine. Involved in chaplaincy for more than 10 years, Rev. Neely received an M. Div from Lancaster Theological Seminary with Chaplaincy Specialization and earned a UNESCO Environmental Sustainability diploma through immersion studies with the shamans and people of the Ecuadorian rainforest. Their clinical experience includes trauma, grief, and bereavement work. Rev. Neely holds certifications in Pastoral Care and Crisis Intervention. Professional engagement includes racial, environmental, and social justice both locally and with the International Council of Community Churches (ICCC), CUIC, and consulting work for Interfaith Philadelphia.
Margaret Somerville
Margaret Somerville is an educator, deeply involved in Quaker pedagogy and social justice education. Her language programming is used internationally to explore the common ways in which people of different traditions communicate. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), she also works near Philadelphia as the pastor of interfaith engagement. A board member of Interfaith Philadelphia, her primary interest is in developing programming for interfaith engagement and dialogue, bringing faith communities together to learn from and grow with one another in the hope of greater justice for all humanity
The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson
The Rev. Dr. Karen Georgia A. Thompson is the Associate General Minister (AGM) for Wider Church Ministries (WCM) and Operations in the United Church of Christ and Co-Executive for Global Ministries with the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She is an inspiring preacher and theologian, who shares her skills and gifts in a variety of settings nationally and internationally, often using her poetry as a part of her ministry.
Rev. Thompson provides strategic visioning and leadership for the programmatic ministries of Global Ministries, Global H.O.P.E (formerly Humanitarian Aid and Development), Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, Events and Scholarships Management and Archives. These areas include sustainable development, global advocacy, mission, humanitarian aid, ecumenical and interfaith relations and the administration of the United Church of Christ General Synod.
Rev. Thompson provides leadership for the joint United Church of Canada and United Church of Christ committee working on the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024) and continues to be an advocate and activist on global racial justice issues and concerns, and is a strong proponent for human rights. Her ecumenical expertise is evident in her leadership roles within the World Council of Churches (WCC) on the Central Committee and as a Thursdays In Black Ambassador, the Joint Working Group with the Roman Catholic Church (JWG), and the Commission for Education and Ecumenical Formation as the Rapporteur for the work of the commission.
As the former Ecumenical Officer for the UCC she nurtured relationship with critical partners like the World Council of Churches and coordinated theological dialogues and ecumenical initiatives. She instrumental in guiding the six-year process for the United Church of Christ/United Church of Canada full communion relationship.
Her ecumenical and interreligious commitments have overlapped with her interest and implementation of global consultations on multiple religious belonging. Her leadership in this area has created opportunities for dialogue in the church and created safe space for engaging the variety of expressions of religious multiplicity. Her doctoral dissertation was focused on research in this area, looking specifically at the ways in which African Caribbean people continue to practice African derived religious and spiritual expressions along with other religions and often times with Christianity.
She is a gifted writer and poet whose writings have been published in books, journals and on-line publications. Her book of poetry Drums in Our Veins will be published soon and is a compilation of poems that focus on the injustices facing people of African Descent and the fight and desire for racial justice globally. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, her poetry and writings reflect her Jamaican heritage and culture as well as the traditions and lore of her Ancestors.
Rev. Dr. Thompson earned a BA from Brooklyn College in New York; a Master of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University in Durham, NC; and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in New York. She earned her Doctorate in Ministry at Seattle University.