The 2007 Peacemaker of the Year Award for Heartland Presbytery will be given to Jim Kenney at the Festival of Peacemaking event on Saturday, April 28, at Second Presbyterian Church, 318 W. 55th Street, Kansas City, Missouri.

Jim is one of the founders of Citizens for Justice in the Middle East and a retired Presbyterian minister who, with his wife Ginger, currently serve as the Midwest Field Representatives for Friends Committee on National Legislation. He is receiving the award, the first for the Presbytery, for his support of Clergy and Church Against Racial Violence, his organizing contribution to the Kansas City Sabeel Conference last fall at Village Presbyterian Church and his deep and abiding commitment to Christ’s peace in the world.  CJME was one of the main sponsors of the conference.

Jim attended Princeton Seminary and served as a pastor for five years in Grand Lake, Colorado; eleven years at Second Presbyterian in Kansas City and four years in Rockford, Illinois. At McCormick Seminary Jim focused his Doctor of Ministry program on the Ministry of the Laity which led him to organize significant Stephen Ministry programs at his last two pastorates.

In 1976 Jim and Ginger took the first of five trips to Israel/Palestine where they developed a passion to comprehend the dynamics of that conflict. Their most recent trip to Israel/Palestine was in March 2004 with Fellowship of Reconciliation on a fact-finding delegation with the Interfaith Peace Builders. They have spoken to audiences about the Middle East frequently, including a presentation in October 2004 with Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor, who traveled to the West Bank.

The Festival of Peacemaking event is Saturday, April 28, at Second Presbyterian Church, 55th and Oak, Kansas City, Missouri from 2:30 - 7:00pm. There is no charge for the program, dinner is included. Reservations are required by calling Mindy at the Presbytery office, 816-924-1730 or e-mail nurture@heartlandpby.org.