Kristen Opalinski
Kristen Opalinski serves as the Manager for Ecumenical and Inter-Religious Relations on the staff of the Office of the Presiding Bishop for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Her role centers around helping to shepherd new and existing ecumenical and inter-religious partnerships, to communicate their work, and to assist in the development of resources to aid in the engagement and formation of ELCA members in the work of ecumenical and inter-religious relations.
From 2010-2014, Kristen served as regional communications officer for the Lutheran Communion in Southern Africa (LUCSA). During her tenure with LUCSA, Kristen was an interfaith delegate at COP17 (UN climate conference in Durban) and served as the communications director for the Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa's (IFAPA) 2012 summit in Johannesburg. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, a global interfaith peacemaking organization based in Chicago, and as a North American advisor for the South Africa-based NGO, Sonke Gender Justice.
Kristen graduated from Augsburg College in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art. She is a graduate of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary), where she earned a Master of Arts in Religion with specializations in public leadership and conflict transformation. In addition, Kristen has been a part of the Summer Peacebuilding Institute at Eastern Mennonite University and the Summer Institute for Reconciliation at Duke Divinity School. She is currently serving as a partner theologian with the Branches of Peace Initiative, a peace and reconciliation theology project of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission.
Kristen has written a number of articles, including reflections on her personal faith journey, women’s leadership development across the global church, and the Lutheran Church’s legacy of peacemaking. In addition to her writing, she is an artist, photographer, graphic designer, and composer. Her work has been featured by the Lutheran World Federation, the Product (RED) Campaign, CNN, the United Nations, The Desmond Tutu Peace Foundation, and Westminster John Knox Press.