Carol is an ordained Presbyterian minister (PCUSA)
and the Executive Director of the Marin Interfaith Council,
since July 2004. Prior to her position with MIC, she served for
six years as the Community Advocate with the San Rafael Canal
Ministry in San Rafael, CA.
She moved to northern California from northern
Virginia in January 1998. Born and raised in metropolitan
Washington, DC, Carol attended college in Pennsylvania and Union
Theological Seminary in New York City. She returned to the DC
area in 1988 to serve a Presbyterian congregation in Fairfax,
VA. After nine years on staff at Providence Presbyterian Church,
seven as associate pastor, she resigned in November 1997 to
begin an eleven-month personal sabbatical which took her to
northern California. In September 2000, Carol received the
Diploma in the Art of Spiritual Direction from the San Francisco
Theological Seminary in San Anselmo, CA.
Carol Hovis describes her work as:
Seeking justice with patience, while building
interfaith community
When I served on the Board of the Marin
Interfaith Council (MIC) from 2003-2004, I experienced the
challenges of addressing social and public policy issues amongst
a diversity of colleagues who represented 8 religious
traditions. Because we were essentially re-building the Marin
Interfaith Council after a low period of several years, creating
healthy and respectful relationships was paramount to our
process. Thus, I found myself praying for much patience and
compassion as my justice-seeking heart wanted to stir things up.
When I became the Executive Director of MIC in
July 2004, I knew that my new role required my commitment to
ongoing relationship-building, while at the same time I believed
there was a way to marry the interreligious values of community,
compassion and peace with my particular passions for
truth-telling, community-organizing and action. Time would tell.
It
was a great moment in April 2006, almost 2 years later, when the
MIC Board of Directors, representing 14 congregations or
nonprofits and 10 faith traditions, voted unanimously to approve
its Board Resolution,
Compassionate Immigration Reform.
At
the same Board meeting, the Directors also approved a Resolution
entitled
Moratorium on Executions in the State of
California.
In my talk for the Witherspoon luncheon, I will
address how a vitally active and diverse interfaith council has
been able to debate, discuss and decide on contentious social
issues facing our nation, our state and our county.
MARIN INTERFAITH
COUNCIL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RESOLUTION
COMPASSIONATE IMMIGRATION REFORM
We, the members of the Board of Directors of
the Marin Interfaith Council, aware of the current national
debate regarding immigration reform, call attention to the
moral dimensions of any immigration policy. As religious and
ethical persons, we believe any and all public policies must
honor and uphold the inherent human dignity of each person.
Our representative faith traditions teach us
to welcome the stranger in our midst with love and
compassion. We recognize that current immigration law and
enforcement policies are broken and call for compassionate,
just reform.
As leaders in our communities, we witness the
human consequences of the current immigration system. We see
and hear the suffering of immigrant families who have been
abused at the hands of smugglers, who have lost loved ones
in the desert, and who have experienced exploitation in the
workplace, both in their countries of origin and here in the
United States. We call for our elected officials and the
media to recognize that the rising tide of immigration to
the United States from many of the world’s poorest countries
is directly related to long-standing economic and political
policy decisions of our country, other rich nations, the
World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
To the extent that they are humane and fair,
we support the call for the United States government to
enforce its laws and control our borders. At the same time,
we support comprehensive immigration reform to include
legalization for the millions of immigrants who are already
here and the creation of humane, effective and fair channels
for future immigrants to come to the United States.
We reject the punitive nature of House
Resolution 4437 and call for comprehensive and just
immigration reform which will balance national security with
the general welfare of all persons.
April 20, 2006
Marin Interfaith Council
Board of Directors
