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UWFaith CEO Sally Vonner visits Minnesota

Sally Vonner, United Women in Faith’s new General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer as of June 1, 2023, visited the Twin Cities area of Minnesota the week of July for a conference. She stayed on MN Conference UWFaith President Cindy Saufferer’s farm in Morristown. 

While here, she visited the site of Emma Norton’s Restoring Waters and also joined the ENS Board, which includes Cindy and Twin Cities District President Melinda Kohrt, for their work day on Saturday. Emma Norton is a UWFaith National mission.

 

After leaving Emma Norton, Ms. Vonner and Cindy joined other UWFaith members at Say Their Names Cemetery, an art installation at 37th Street and Park Avenue memorializing People of Color from across the United States who lost their lives as the result of police brutality over the decades of the 20th and 21st centuries. Becky Coleman, Twin Cities District Program Coordinator), Shirley Durr (Conference Social Action Coordinator), and Rev. Dennis Alexander (retired UMC clergy) joined them.

 

Becky Coleman (far left), Shirley Durr (center in the distance), and Sally Vonner (far right)         Photo by Dennis Alexander


At the memorial, Cindy encouraged us to say each name as we walked the installation and use our phones to search for some unfamiliar names in order to learn about them, to see them as individuals rather than statistics.


Photo by Dennis Alexander

Leaving the Say Their Names Cemetery, Cindy and Ms. Vonner visited George Floyd Square on the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, a memorial on the site where George Floyd lost his life as the result of police brutality in 2020. Becky, Dennis, and Shirley, who live in South Minneapolis, have visited George Floyd Square several times.


Photo by Cheryl Goode
The following day, Ms. Vonner was the guest speaker at Epworth UMC’s Sunday worship service where she met UWFaith members from three districts. 
 

Nancy Iverson and Catherine Williams come from River Valley; Cindy is from Southern Prairie. Twin City churches represented besides Epworth were Centennial, Minnetonka, Discovery, and Living Spirit.


You can watch a recording of that service by clicking here.


Photos below by Carol Heather, Cheryl Goode, and Dennis Alexander 


















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