The Rev. Shari Prestemon is acting associate general minister and co-executive of global ministries for the United Church of Christ.

She also is Elmhurst University’s National Visiting Scholar of the United Church of Christ this year. On March 17, she will lead “Ministering & Witnessing Together: A Conversation in Such a Time as This” with members of the campus community and other UCC leaders. Their conversation will center around international issues, different platforms of ministry being provided in this moment, and the role of education in shaping agents of change.

Prestemon’s faith journey has been profoundly shaped by direct experiences with the ministries she now supports in her current role with the UCC’s National Ministries. She served as a peace and justice intern for one year with the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. She also has participated in and led multiple study trips to Palestine and Israel, and has journeyed with Global Ministries delegations to Haiti, Columbia, Germany, Indonesia and East Timor. She partnered extensively with Global H.O.P.E. when Hurricane Katrina devastated Back Bay Mission and the Gulf Coast region in 2005.

Prestemon’s talk will begin at 4:00 p.m. on Monday, March 17, in the Frick Center, Blume Board Room. Admission is free but reservations are encouraged, at elmhurst.edu/Cultural. The intercultural and religious lectures and other diverse cultural programming at Elmhurst University support community engagement and lifelong learning, and prepare students to thrive as adaptive leaders.