A former Archbishop of Canterbury and the Secretary General of the International Religious Liberty Association have been added to the Saturday, April 2 program of the Religion Communicators Council 2016 Convention in New York.

The convention’s Saturday keynote lunch, “Intersections: Faith and the Global Community,” will feature presentations by Lord George Carey, who served as the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1991 to 2002, and Dr. Ganoune Diop, who also is the Director of the Public Affairs and Religious Liberty Department at the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Both speakers will focus on the intersection of religion and the secular world, especially in the United Nations setting, and the importance of protecting both freedom of religion and a free expression of religion.

Dr. Diop’s priorities include fostering interfaith understanding and building people’s capacity to work for peace, justice and human rights. He is secretary of the Conference of Secretaries of the Christian World Communions, and formerly served as Permanent Representative of the SDA Church at the United Nations. Dr. Diop is executive editor of Religious Freedom World Report and Fides et Libertas.

Lord Carey served as archbishop of Canterbury during a time of significant social change for the Anglican Church worldwide.  During his tenure, the first women priests were ordained and significant initiatives were made towards dialogue with Muslims. He is chair and co-founder with Jim Wolfensohn, former President of the World Bank, of the World Faiths Development Dialogue, now situated at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University.

He also serves on the boards of the International Shinto Foundation and Worldwide Support for Development, both related to Dr. Haruhisa Handa, patron of RCC’s new Handa Fellows in Interreligious Communication.

Saturday’s program at the United Methodist-owned Church Center for the United Nations also will include two workshops and a United Nations Panel on faith groups, the U.N. and the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.

The day will conclude with the Wilbur Awards reception and dinner at the historic St. Vartan Cathedral Armenian Center.

A special Wilbur Award will be given to the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, former head of the National Council of Churches and former Director of Religion at the historic Chautauqua Institution. The honor will recognize Campbell’s over 30 years of public and behind-the-scenes work in all forms of media.

For more information on the convention, including hotel information and registration, please visit www.religioncommunicators.org/convention. Full registration is $395, which includes banquet meals. Day rates and specific banquet tickets are also available from the event registration site.

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an association of communications professionals who work for and with a diverse group of faith-based organizations in the areas of communications, public relations, marketing and development.