<p><img alt=Convention Logo src=/sites/default/files/conv2013/DignityUSA_Logo_FINAL_0.jpg style=width: 120px; height: 133px; margin: 5px; float: right; />By Jim Smith DignityUSA Program Manager</p> <p>The theme of Dignity&rsquo;s upcoming convention &ldquo;Let Justice Roll Like a River&rdquo; slips swimmingly off the tongue doesn&rsquo;t it? And adding cleverness to this poetic phrase the convention&rsquo;s host city Minneapolis happens to have the mighty Mississippi rolling just blocks away from our Dignity celebration. Somebody was thinking!</p> <!--break--> <p>Poetic congruence aside the prophet&rsquo;s phrase means <em>nothing</em> if we don&rsquo;t see ourselves in the phrase. Are we that river&rsquo;s current carrying justice by nurturing right relationships within Dignity within the wider Church and within all our communities? Are we that river called to convey the dignity of our shared humanity to the shores of Church and society?</p> <p>We will answer &ldquo;Yes!&rdquo; during the 21st National Convention plenary sessions and workshops; not with ethereal academic presentations that make us feel smart (or dumb!) but with challenges to the very ways we live our lives and engage others. A primary goal of our convention is to send us away empowered with new tools and new energy to express justice in real time.</p> <p>A taste of some workshops:</p> <ul> <li>A &ldquo;tell it like it is&rdquo; nun Maureen Fiedler will discuss best practices of past dissent to give us a crucial compass to move forward and effect real change.</li> <li>Jeanette Rodriguez will challenge our snobbery when it comes to an &ldquo;old-fashioned&rdquo; devotion and ask us to see it anew as an icon for liberating action.</li> <li>James Nickoloff and his partner Robert McCleary will expose a dangerous incongruity in Church teaching and invite us to honor our lived experience regarding sexual ethics.</li> <li>Jamie Manson and her partner Gretchen Boeskool invite us to see the crucial intersection of justice issues.</li> <li>Nikki Young who has mined grace resilience and creativity from her lived experience as a queer person of color will help us glean power from our own stories when facing homophobia and heterosexism.</li> <li>Delfin Bautista will invite us to surrender traditional and dominant understandings of gender to begin building a trans-inclusive and trans-affirming Catholic narrative.</li> <li>Patrick Cheng will show how LGBT individuals and others can reclaim the doctrines of sin and grace through the intersection of sexual ethics and the queer experience.</li> <li>Members of our Young Adult Caucus along with other Dignity members will invite us to explore the ways in which a truly intergenerational membership empowers and enlivens our communities.</li> <li>We&rsquo;ll offer a new opportunity in the form of two &ldquo;experiential justice sessions.&quot; These will run a bit longer than the regular workshops to offer a deeper interactive experience.</li> </ul> <p>The convention&rsquo;s three plenary sessions will all weave the thread of justice but each from a distinct perspective. What are the strong traditions we stand on to move forward? How can we be better equipped to ensure full LGBT dignity and rights? Having gut-level understanding of the struggles for LGBT justice how are we uniquely positioned to stand with others who currently experience oppression?</p> <p>The mighty river of justice has room for you! Convention registration opens January 15th so plan to join us.&nbsp;</p>