"The
plight of the many millions of poor people in the world is one
that must lie heavy on the Christian conscience.
Yet it is only too easy to be daunted by the magnitude of the
task when we think of it in world-wide general terms. I specifically
welcome Millennium Congregation because it is prayer-based and
its concern is to bring specific aid to specific communities.
May God bless this wonderful work."
John
Polkinghorne KBE FRS, Cambridge University, England, is a Fellow
of the Royal Society, a Fellow (and former President) of Queens'
College,Cambridge. His distinguished career as a Physicist began
at Trinity College Cambridge where he studied under Dirac and
Abdus Salaam and others. He received his MA in 1956, was elected
a Fellow of Trinity in 1954, and gained his PhD in 1955. In 1956
he was appointed a Lecturer in Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh:
returning to Cambridge as a Lecturer in 1958, promoted to Reader
in 1965 and Professor in 1968. In 1974 he was elected Fellow of
the Royal Society (FRS) in and awarded an ScD by Cambridge. During
this time he published many papers on theoretical elementary particle
physics in learned journals, and 2 technical scientific books,
The Analytic S-Matrix (CUP 1966, jointly with RJ Eden, PV Landshoff
and DI Olive) and Models of High Energy Processes (CUP 1980).
In 1979 he
resigned his Professorship to train for the Anglican Priesthood,
studying at Westcott House, He was ordained Deacon in 1981and
priest in 1982. He was appointed an Honorary Professor of Physics
at the University of Kent in 1984. In 1986 he was appointed Fellow,
Dean and Chaplain Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and in 1989 he was
appointed President of Queens' College, from which he retired
in 1996. He was appointed KBE (Knight Commander of the order of
the British Empire) in 1997.
During the
same period he has published a series of books exploring and developing
aspects of the compatibility of religion and science. These began
with The Way the World Is, and continued in a trilogy published
by the SPCK: One World, Science and Creation, and Science and
Providence. He has continued to produce a superb series of
books.
He was awarded
the Templeton Prize for Science and Religion in 2002 and also
in that year became the Founding President of the International
Society for Science and Religion.
Dr.
Jeffrey D. Sachs
"The
end of extreme poverty is the great work of our generation. Millennium
Villages offer a way for each of us to get involved, as partners
with the poor, in building a world of shared prosperity and security
for all. Millennium Congregation will reach across America so
that our country in our time helps to lead the world to justice
and peace. The Reverend Jay Lawlor, whom I've known and worked
with for years, is wonderfully qualified to galvanize and lead
this effort in congregations across the U.S."
Jeffrey
D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor
of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and
Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor
to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to
2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special
Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the
Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals
to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015.
Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance,
a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty.
He is widely
considered to be the leading international economic advisor of
his generation. For more than 20 years Professor Sachs has been
in the forefront of the challenges of economic development, poverty
alleviation, and enlightened globalization, promoting policies
to help all parts of the world to benefit from expanding economic
opportunities and wellbeing. He is also one of the leading voices
for combining economic development with environmental sustainability,
and as Director of the Earth Institute leads large-scale efforts
to promote the mitigation of human-induced climate change.
In 2004 and
2005 he was named among the 100 most influential leaders in the
world by Time Magazine. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, a high
civilian honor bestowed by the Indian Government, in 2007. Sachs
lectures constantly around the world and was the 2007 BBC Reith
Lecturer. He is author of hundreds of scholarly articles and many
books, including the New York Times bestsellers Common Wealth
(Penguin, 2008) and The End of Poverty (Penguin, 2005). Sachs
is a member of the Institute of Medicine and is a Research Associate
of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Prior to joining
Columbia, he spent over twenty years at Harvard University, most
recently as Director of the Center for International Development.
A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A.,
and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard University.
The Most
Reverend Desmond M. Tutu
"If
you want to eradicate poverty and promote justice, compassion
and reconciliation, then I invite and encourage you and your congregation
to join Millennium Congregation's exciting initiative in support
of Millennium Villages."
The
name Desmond Tutu resonates strongly with people all around the
world. While his vigorous anti-apartheid activism in his native
South Africa first propelled him into the glare of international
news media, today heis revered as a "moral voice" to
end poverty and human rights abuses. While he is an Anglican Archbishop
emeritus and steadfast in his religious beliefs, Tutu places great
value on religious inclusiveness and interfaith dialogue.
In 1958, Tutu
decided to enter the ministry. He was ordained in Johannesburg
three years later.
Following further theological studies at King’s College in
London, Tutu held several positions in teaching and theological
work in southern Africa. In 1978, he was persuaded to leave his
job as Bishop of Lesotho to become the new General Secretary of
the South African Council of Churches (SACC). In this position,
which he held until 1985, Tutu became a national and international
figure.
The SACC was
committed to fulfilling the social responsibility of the Church,
and as its chairperson, Tutu led a formidable crusade in support
of justice and racial conciliation in South Africa. His tireless
work was recognized in 1984, when he was awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize. Then, following a short stint as the Bishop of Johannesburg,
Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, an office he
held until his retirement in 1996.
In 1996, he
was appointed by President Nelson Mandela to chair the Truth and
Reconciliation Commission, a body set-up to probe gross human
rights violations during apartheid. Following
the presentation of the Commission’s report to then president
Mandela in October 1998, Tutu has been a visiting professor at
Emory University, Atlanta, the Episcopal Divinity School, Cambridge,
MA and the University of North Florida, Jacksonville. He has published
several books, the latest of which is titled ‘God Has a Dream’.
He has a private office near his home in Milnerton, Cape Town.
Dr.
Miroslav Volf
"That
extreme poverty persists next to superabundant plenty is the major
social scandal of our age. As followers of Christ who fed the
hungry and healed the sick and as worshipers of God who cares
even for sparrows, we need to do everything in our power to end
extreme poverty. Millennium Congregation initiative is a superb
way to help do just that."
Miroslav
Volf is Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry
B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology. In addition to teaching
courses in systematic theology, he teaches courses on the theology
of Luther, on grace and forgiveness, and many others. A native
of Croatia, he has forged a theology of forgiveness and non-violence
in the face of the horrendous violence experienced in Croatia
and Serbia in the 1990s. While he maintains active interest in
many aspects of faith’s relation to culture, his primarily
work has focused on theological understandings of work, the church,
the Trinity, violence, reconciliation and memory.
After receiving
the B.A. from the Evangelical-Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia,
Miroslav received his M.A. from Fuller Theological Seminary and
both his Dr. theol. and Dr. theol. habil. from the University
of Tübingen, Germany. He served as co-editor (1979-84) and
then editor (1984-89) of Izvori a Croatian Christian monthly and
he has published numerous books and articles in the U.S., Germany,
and his native country. His book Exclusion and Embrace: A Theological
Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation received
the 2002 Grawemeyer Award which is given annually by Louisville
Presbyterian Theological Seminary and the University of Louisville.
His two newest books are Free of Charge: Giving and Forgiving
in a Culture Stripped of Grace (Zondervan 2005) and The
End of Memory: Remembering Rightly in a Violent World (Eerdmans
2006). He has written more than 70 scholarly articles and hundreds
of popular editorials and articles.
Professor Volf has given many prestigious lectureships including
the Dudleian Lecture, Harvard; the Chavasse Lectures, Oxford;
the Waldenstroem Lectures, Stockholm; the Gray Lectures, Duke
University; and the Stob Lectures, Calvin College. He has been
featured on National Public Radio’s Speaking of Faith and
Public Television’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, as well
as a keynote presenter for the Trinity Institutes’s 36th
National Conference, “The Anatomy of Reconciliation”
(2006). Prior to coming to Yale, Miroslav taught at Fuller Seminary
for a decade.
"Millennium
Promise is excited for the opportunity to partner with Millennium
Congregation in the effort to end extreme poverty. By establishing
support between congregations in the United States and Millennium
Villages in Africa, Millennium Congregation will help expand our
work in Rwanda, and beyond, empowering those communities to lift
themselves out of the poverty trap. Millennium Promise thanks
the Reverend Jay R. Lawlor, Mr. Jonathan Denn and Millennium Congregation
supporters for their commitment to achieving the Millennium Development
Goals."
The
mission of Millennium Promise is to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) - eight globally endorsed objectives that address
the many aspects of extreme poverty - in Africa by 2015. To that
end, Millennium Promise works with impoverished communities, national
and local governments, and partner organizations to implement
high-impact programs aimed at transforming lives on the continent
and engaging donor nations, corporations, and the general public
in the effort. Our work is premised on the belief that, for the
first time in history, our generation has the opportunity to end
extreme poverty, hunger, and disease.
John
Polkinghorne KBE FRS, Cambridge University, England, is a Fellow
of the Royal Society, a Fellow (and former President) of Queens'
College,Cambridge. His distinguished career as a Physicist began
at Trinity College Cambridge where he studied under Dirac and
Abdus Salaam and others. He received his MA in 1956, was elected
a Fellow of Trinity in 1954, and gained his PhD in 1955. In 1956
he was appointed a Lecturer in Mathematical Physics at Edinburgh:
returning to Cambridge as a Lecturer in 1958, promoted to Reader
in 1965 and Professor in 1968. In 1974 he was elected Fellow of
the Royal Society (FRS) in and awarded an ScD by Cambridge. During
this time he published many papers on theoretical elementary particle
physics in learned journals, and 2 technical scientific books,
The Analytic S-Matrix (CUP 1966, jointly with RJ Eden, PV Landshoff
and DI Olive) and Models of High Energy Processes (CUP 1980).
Jeffrey
D. Sachs is the Director of The Earth Institute, Quetelet Professor
of Sustainable Development, and Professor of Health Policy and
Management at Columbia University. He is also Special Advisor
to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. From 2002 to
2006, he was Director of the UN Millennium Project and Special
Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the
Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals
to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger by the year 2015.
Sachs is also President and Co-Founder of Millennium Promise Alliance,
a nonprofit organization aimed at ending extreme global poverty.
The
name Desmond Tutu resonates strongly with people all around the
world. While his vigorous anti-apartheid activism in his native
South Africa first propelled him into the glare of international
news media, today heis revered as a "moral voice" to
end poverty and human rights abuses. While he is an Anglican Archbishop
emeritus and steadfast in his religious beliefs, Tutu places great
value on religious inclusiveness and interfaith dialogue. 
Miroslav
Volf is Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Henry
B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology. In addition to teaching
courses in systematic theology, he teaches courses on the theology
of Luther, on grace and forgiveness, and many others. A native
of Croatia, he has forged a theology of forgiveness and non-violence
in the face of the horrendous violence experienced in Croatia
and Serbia in the 1990s. While he maintains active interest in
many aspects of faith’s relation to culture, his primarily
work has focused on theological understandings of work, the church,
the Trinity, violence, reconciliation and memory.
The
mission of Millennium Promise is to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs) - eight globally endorsed objectives that address
the many aspects of extreme poverty - in Africa by 2015. To that
end, Millennium Promise works with impoverished communities, national
and local governments, and partner organizations to implement
high-impact programs aimed at transforming lives on the continent
and engaging donor nations, corporations, and the general public
in the effort. Our work is premised on the belief that, for the
first time in history, our generation has the opportunity to end
extreme poverty, hunger, and disease.