Amy oden
“Jesus’ Invitation to Mindful Living”
Jesus’ invites us to have eyes to see and ears to hear, to be attentive God in the present moment in daily life, especially in times of trouble or challenge. We’ll explore spiritual practices that help root us in Christian mindfulness.
Born and raised on the prairies of Oklahoma, Amy has found her spiritual home under the wide-open sky. Her passion is to introduce spiritual practices that can ground and nourish lives to follow Jesus into the world. She has been a seminary professor for 35 years, teaching at Saint Paul School of Theology, Oklahoma City University and Wesley Theological Seminary, where she also served as dean. For the last 10 years, she has focused on spiritual formation and direction.
View more about Amy by clicking here.
Suggested readings for her presentation, “Jesus’ invitation to Mindful Living”:
Amy Oden, Right Here, Right Now: The Practice of Christian Mindfulness, Abingdon Press, 2017.
Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto, Little, Brown Spark, 2022.
Juan Carlos Huertas
“Scripture as Liberative Text”
will invite participants to approach the reading of scripture and meditating on it in a way that liberates not just them but the communities where they live, work, and play. It will invite the community to a type of reading and hearing of the story that is formative, communal, and liberative.
Juan Carlos describes himself as a follower of Jesus, husband, dad, spiritual director, and pastor. Currently he is Minister of Proclamation and Practice of Justice at First-Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, NE. Juan says what God has called him to do in his ministry is, “To work as Jesus would have us work to make a difference in our community, to work together for peace and justice.” Juan is married to Shannon Perry Huertas and they have three children, Seth, Isabelle, and Lucas.
View more about Juan Carlos by clicking here
Suggested readings for his presentation, “Scripture as Liberative Text”:
Miguel de la Torre, Reading the Bible from the Margins, Orbis, 2013
Cole Arthur Riley, This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories that Make Us, Random House, 2023