PONTIAC — The first annual New Directions New Connections conference, which the Michigan Roundtable is co-sponsoring with the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) will be held on Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 10-11, at the Marriott Pontiac Centerpoint and will feature Reuniting the Children of Abraham on Monday evening. While walk-ins will be welcome at the door, the registration deadline is Oct. 31. To register, call 313.963.7172, ext. 134 or go to www.cyodetroit.org, where you will find the registration brochure in the left hand column. To reserve a hotel room, call the Marriott at 800.579.8395 and use the CYO code to get the discounted rate.

The conference is designed for adult youth workers to develop skills individually and collectively. Speakers include many leading interfaith advocates, such as Kari Alterman, Regional Leadership Director and Detroit Chapter Director for the American Jewish Committee; Msgr. Patrick Halfpenny, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit; Imam Salie, a Muslim educator; Rabbi Josh Bennett, Temple Israel; Rev. Jeff Nelson, Untied Methodist Church; Dawud Walid, executive director, Michigan Branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations; Najah Bazzy, transcultural nurse clinical specialist and a diversity specialist; Brenda Rosenberg, co-executive producer of “Reuniting the Children of Abraham Project” and interfaith advocate in Southeast Michigan; Rev. Dr. Kevin M. Turman, Senior Pastor of Second Baptist Church of Detroit; Victor Ghalib Begg, Co-Chair of the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion and co-founder of the Interfaith Partners; Rabbi Robert Dobrusin, Beth Israel Congregation, Ann Arbor; Rev. George Lambrides, Executive Director of the Interfaith Round Table of Washtenaw County; and Ken Wilson, Senior Pastor of Vineyard Church, Ann Arbor; and David Crumm, co-founder and editor of ReadtheSpirit.com. Topics range from general sessions on justice and reconciliation to mega-sessions on the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. Workshop modules include the Michigan Roundtable’s “Different People Trading Places” as well as several other skill-building topics.