The Second Half Enrichment series will host a presentation by Rev. John Nunes, CEO of Lutheran World Relief at 2 p.m. Feb. 26 at First Lutheran Church in Brainerd.
The Second Half Enrichment series is intended to bring together people 50-years old and older for events that “enhance the lives of senior adults in the Brainerd lakes area, speak to real faith questions and needs and provide space for friendships to flourish.”
The Feb. 26 event will begin at 2 p.m. with music by Brainerd High School Choir ensemble Windfall, then at 2:20 p.m. will be the presentation and then from 3:30-4 p.m. will be hors d’ouevres, refreshments and fellowship.
The series next event in the 2011-12 series will be at 1:30 p.m. April 29 with Janice Amatuzio, known as “The Compassionate Coroner.”
Tickets for each event are available in the First Lutheran Church office, 424 S. 8th St, Brainerd, or by going to http://flcbrainerd.com and clicking on the “Enrichment Series” link. Tickets are $10 each in advance, $10.50 if purchased online or $15 at the door.
Nunes joined Lutheran World Relief, a $35 million global organization specializing in international development and disaster relief, as president and Chief Executive Officer in 2007. With a passion for service and deep commitment to LWR’s core values, Nunes leads staff in 17 countries in working to end poverty, injustice and human suffering worldwide.
Prior to joining LWR, Nunes served on the faculty of Concordia University Chicago as a professor of theology, and as pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church in Chicago. He has also served as a management consultant, and as an urban parish pastor and community organizer in Dallas and Detroit. A gifted public speaker, John is also a frequent keynote presenter.
“I believe deeply that God created everyone to live in justice, dignity and peace,” Nunes said in a news release. “When people’s most basic needs, like food, water and shelter, remain unmet, they are unable to live out their true calling. By working alongside families and communities struggling to lift themselves out of poverty, LWR helps people around the world live into their full promise.”
Nunes holds a bachelor of arts from Concordia College, Ann Arbor, Mich.; a master of divinity from Concordia Seminary in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada; and a master of theology from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago. He has also received honorary doctorates from Concordia University, Ann Arbor and Carthage College, Kenosha, Wis. He recently received his doctorate from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Nunes is the author of “Voices from the City: Issues and Images of Urban Preaching.” He also has written for Concordia Journal, Hartford Seminary’s Conversations in Religion and Theology and www.Beliefnet.com.
Born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Nunes grew up in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and has lived in the U.S. since 1981. He lives in Baltimore, Md.
