218th General Assembly 2008

218^thGeneral Assembly
2008
Witherspoon Luncheon speaker Carol Hovis

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Introducing the Witherspoon Awards Luncheon speaker, the Rev. Carol M. Hovis

[5-26-08]

Carol Hovis

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