Congo Mission Network 2025 Conference

October 23-25, 2025, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

2025 CMN Banner

The Congo Mission Network will host its annual conference on Oct. 23-25, 2025, at Stillman College and Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa, AL.  All are welcome.

How wonderful  to meet at the alma mater of the Rev. William Henry Sheppard, who helped lay the foundation for the Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  Supported by the Sheppards and Lapsley Presbytery that now bears their names, Rev. Sheppard and the Rev. Samuel Lapsley established the first American Presbyterian mission in the Congo at Luebo in 1891.

Rev. William Henry Sheppard
The Rev. William Henry Sheppard, a graduate of Stillman College, helped found the first American Presbyterian mission in the Congo in 1891.
The Rev. Dr. Isaac Kalonji, President and Legal Representative of the CPK, will deliver a keynote address on ethical leadership at the CMN conference.

Rich Sessions for a Changing World

The 2025 conference will feature rich sessions shaped jointly by Congolese and American partners with plenty of time reserved for open discussion. Together we can make use of creative problem-solving and relationship to find ways for all to flourish in a changing world.

The Rev. Dr. Isaac Kalonji of Kinshasa, the President and Legal Representative of the  Presbyterian Community of Kinshasa (CPK) will give the conference keynote presentation on ethical leadership.

The history and vision of historic Stillman College and Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church will be another highlight.  There will be tours of the campus, church, and sites in Tuscaloosa and beyond with a focus on DR Congo and the struggle for civil rights.  We will learn about  Rev. William Sheppard and his wife, Lucy Gantt Sheppard,  who went on to minister to the Congolese and challenge both colonial and ecclesiastical racism.

The CPK will sponsor a session on living together in cultural diversity, focusing specifically on the Bantu and Batwa (Pygmy) people in the Equateur Province of the DRC.

Other session topics will examine:

  • the role of education in the formation of ethical leadership.
  • finding new models for funding missions in Congo.
  • living together amid racial or ethnic differences in families, churches and schools.

Gracious conference hosts are Stillman College and Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tuscaloosa and the Presbytery of Sheppards and Lapsley.  Information on registration, hotel accommodation and hospitality will be available soon.