Social Justice and Adult Ed Welcome Guest Speaker

This Sunday, October 26, the Social Justice Ministry and Adult Ed are excited to welcome guest speaker Jeanette Mott Oxford (who prefers to be called "J-MO").

J-MO will be giving a talk titled "Everything I Needed to Know in Life, I Learned from Isaiah 58." The presentation will take place after coffee hour at 11:00 am.

Jeanette Mott Oxford (who prefers to be called “J-MO”) has a deep vocational passion for public policy. Ze served in the Missouri House of Representatives from 2005-12 and was executive director of two statewide not-for-profits addressing access to basic human needs, Empower Missouri (from 2012-20) and Reform Organization of Welfare (from 1991-2000). Oxford also founded the Coalition Against Public Funding for Stadiums when use of tax dollars was proposed for a new Cardinals’ ballpark in 2001. That grassroots effort saved taxpayers more than $200 million and contributed significantly to a national trend away from publicly

funded sports projects.

Oxford graduated with high honors from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1986 with a B.A. in Religious Studies. Ze earned a Master of Divinity degree from Eden Theological Seminary (1989) as well as being a Niebuhr scholarship recipient while there. Eden Theological Seminary also presented an honorary doctorate in humane letters to zir in 2010.

J-MO and zir wife, the Rev. Dorothy M. Gannon, a retired hospice chaplain, live in the Benton Park neighborhood of St. Louis City. They enjoy movies, cards and board games, travel, and singing duets, including some written by Dorothy and arranged for guitar by J-MO. Oxford retired in October, 2024, and enjoys being of service as board president of the Consumers Council of Missouri, a member of the Workers Rights Board at Missouri Jobs with Justice, and a Council member at Epiphany United Church of Christ.

We hope you will join us for this time of learning about the intersection of faith and public policy.