David C. Jehnsen to Preach 4/28/2011

We are pleased to announce David C. Jehnsen as the featured speaker for the 2011 Intercultural Consultation and Celebration's opening worship service on Thursday, April 28.

A member of the Church of the Brethren, Jehnsen is the Chair and Founding Trustee of the Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities. He has worked as a social change activist, organizer, and educator in adult education for democracy, with emphasis on special projects and systems related to nonviolence and social responsibility. In addition to his Brethren roots, Jehnsen's work is also stimulated by his exposure to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s leadership of nonviolent human rights campaigns during the Albany, Georgia Movement.

Jehnsen combines his Ed.M. from Harvard with the experience and skills of organizing social movements with innovative ideas about the philosophy of learning and leadership education to design training on nonviolent conflict resolution and democratic social change for public and private organizations. In 1980-81, he served as Deputy Director of the U.S. Congressional Commission charged with the design of the United States Institute of Peace, drafting its first proposal and supporting legislation for Chair Senator Spark M. Matsunaga.

Since 1964, Jehnsen has worked closely with Bernard LaFayette, Jr., another leader in the Kingian human right movement, as a multidisciplinary team to promote Kingian Nonviolence Conflict Reconciliation strategies and programs in the United States and internationally. In 1978, they formed the Institute for Human Rights and Responsibilities. He and LaFayette co-authored The Leaders Manual: A Structured Guide and Introduction to Kingian Nonviolence - The Philosophy and Methodology.

He has also served on the Every Church a Peace Church board since 2007, including as its chair in 2008, as well as the Churches Supporting Churches as Vice Chair of its National Working Group in New Orleans since 2005.

David Jehnsen is a native of north-central Michigan and lives in Galena, Ohio with his wife Deborah. They are founding members of Living Peace Church of the Brethren in Columbus, Ohio. They have been active in local politics, including a term David spent as his party’s county chair, and have relationships to progressive religious and social change movements throughout the nation and internationally.