Summary: <br> Parker Palmer, founder and senior partner of the Center for Courage & Renewal, is coming specifically to support the vision of Mountain Sky Area Bishop Karen Oliveto’s Beloved Community. Our Bishop Karen is challenging us to create, within our local churches and our surrounding communities, Beloved Community – a community which truly embraces the diversity of who we are as God’s creation.<br> Palmer is a world-renowned writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He has reached millions worldwide through his nine books, including Let Your Life Speak, The Courage to Teach, A Hidden Wholeness, and Healing the Heart of Democracy.<br> Parker holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Berkeley, as well as eleven honorary doctorates, two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the National Educational Press Association, and an Award of Excellence from the Associated Church Press. In 2010, Palmer was given the William Rainey Harper Award whose previous recipients include Margaret Mead, Elie Wiesel, and Paolo Freire. In 2011, he was named an Utne Reader Visionary, one of “25 people who are changing your world.”<br>
