The next movement
The Imagine What’s NEXT community is a unique space created out of The United Methodist Student Movement. NEXT is about encouraging and supporting those who dream of making a difference in the world right now for Christ. As we grow and connect across the globe, NEXT serves as a pool of partners, perspectives, and resources to help you in your faith and leadership development. Most importantly, doing good work is not a chore, it’s who we are as United Methodists. It is a way of life.
Dream . go . do
Imagine What’s NEXT is a high-energy gathering of dreamers, activists, and difference-makers who put their faith and gifts to use in authentic and effective ways. Set in a historic venue, in a city globally known for its innovation, diversity, and growth, here’s what will happen at NEXT16…
What to Expect
Hear
from leaders of the most successful and influential social movements in the world
Learn
how to put your faith, skills, talents, and gifts to use in new and exciting ways
Meet
collaborate and connect with fellow dreamers who are doing God’s work in the world
Dream
and be inspired to think about how God is stirring your heart and your passions
Go
out into the city of Atlanta to learn, hear, and meet community activists and difference makers
Do
it all in one authentic weekend, in an exciting city, for such a time as this
Details
Date
November 04 – 06, 2016
Location
The Tabernacle Theater 52 Luckie St NW Atlanta, GA 30303 United States
Time
Friday
6:30pm
–
Sunday
11:00am
The Venue
The Tabernacle
152 Luckie Street NW Atlanta, GA 30303
@NEXTUMC #NEXT16 #ROADTONEXT #NEXTUMC
The Tabernacle is an Atlanta institution, rich in history. It served as both a church and a hospital from 1911 until 1994. During the 1996 Olympics, the building was converted to a concert venue, and in 1998 it became the venue we know it as today.
Headline Speakers
Romal Tune
Romal is the embodiment of living beyond the label. After overcoming the setbacks of his upbringing and the destructive choices of his youth, he is now a sought out communicator, community strategist, and inclusion consultant. His platform, one of the most potent and rich stories of hope you’ll ever hear, is REDEMPTION. If it is true that a story must be lived before it is told, Romal’s story of redemption is as genuine as it is moving. With every opportunity he has to impact decision makers or crowds of people around the world, Romal is a cultivator of hope and dignity, moving individuals from setbacks to success as leaders — something he knows full well.
Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne graduated from Eastern University and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. In 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Eastern. His adventures have taken him from the streets of Calcutta where he worked with Mother Teresa, to the wealthy suburbs of Chicago where he served at the influential mega-church Willow Creek. As a peacemaker, his journeys have taken him to some of the most troubled regions of the world – from Rwanda to the West Bank – and he’s been on peace delegations in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Farhana Sultana
Farhana Sultana is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University. She is broadly interested in nature-society relationships, political ecology, development studies, feminist theories, climate change, water governance, and South Asia. She has conducted research in Bangladesh for several years on a variety of environment-development topics. Her latest book is “The Right to Water: Politics, Governance and Social Struggles”.
Guest Band
Saturday Night Concert with: STARS GO DIM
In Genesis 22, God promised Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars in the sky, and we are a product of that promise. We have been given lives and breath, but as surely as the sun rises, so our lives are “like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Symbolically, our lives follow much of the same pattern of a star in the sky: they are formed, burn, dim, and die. Conversely, our Creator, who made every atom in the sun, sky, and sea, and who knitted us together, never dims, tires, fades or leaves us in any way. “His light shines in the darkness and darkness can never extinguish it.”(John 1:5). As ultimately our “Stars Go Dim” in this life, we as a band want to point with all that we have to the One who created light and life, the One who steadily shines and sustains. – Chris, Michael, Kyle, and Josh of Stars Go Dim