“Lifting the Peace-a-lujah Voice” at the LEPOCO Annual Dinner

LEPOCO Annual Dinner featuring Reverend Billy and Savitri D of the "Church of Life After Shopping" at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity (321 Wyandotte Street) in Bethlehem. Bill Talen AKA Reverend Billy, performance artist, author, and activist, will give a talk titled "Lifting the Peace-a-lujah Voice!" for the Annual Dinner of LEPOCO.

In character as Reverend Billy, Talen acts as the spiritual leader of the Church of Life After Shopping, a radical performance community using theater, humor, and grassroots organizing to advance individuals and communities towards a more equitable future. They are dedicated to participatory democracy, ecological sustainability, the preservation of vibrant communities and local economies, and the return of free expression to public space. They pursue these goals through creative resistance to consumerism, militarism and the corporations who profit from these systems. In short, they work for peace and justice. After several years of writing and producing experimental theater in California, Bill Talen moved to New York City in 1994, where he became an artist in residence at St. Clement's Church. Taking inspiration from Andy Kaufman, Lenny Bruce, and Professor Elaine Pagels, Talen developed his street preacher persona in collaboration with Reverend Sidney Lanier. Soon, the Reverend Billy came to life on the sidewalks of Times Square. Opposing the corporate takeover and Disneyfication of the neighborhood, he set up his portable pulpit at the door of the Mouse, the Disney Store. Moral soap operas, also called "Retail Interventions" were staged inside the chain stores, principally Disney, the GAP, Nike, and Starbucks. The satirical preacher was soon accompanied by a choir, and began staging whole “Worships”, where unsuspecting shoppers were jolted with passionate sermons and songs decrying the sweatshop exploitative tactics of these corporate entities. Bill Talen is the author of two books "What Should I Do if Reverend Billy is in My Store?" and "What Would Jesus Buy?: Fabulous Prayers in the Face of the Shopocalypse", and is featured in the film "What Would Jesus Buy?" He has won the OBIE Award, The Dramalogue Award, The Historic Districts Council's “Preservation” Award (for leading demonstrations to save the Edgar Allan Poe House at 85 W 3rd Street, NYC), has been jailed over 50 times, and ran for mayor of New York City as the Green Party candidate in 2009.

The program will also feature the drawing for an Art Raffle, the election of LEPOCO's Steering Committee members and music by the LEPOCO Peace Singers. The Art Raffle includes prizes donated by Sommerville Pottery, Lee & Ellen Buck, Gene Mater, and Anna Reczek, all artists and craftspeople working in the Lehigh Valley area. Gift certificates were also donated by Sign of the Bear Natural Foods Store and the Civic Theatre of Allentown's 19th Street Theatre. Doors open at 5pm, for music and appetizers, with a festive vegetarian dinner being served at 5:30pm. The program should begin at 6:15pm. Program-only tickets $10 (limited income $5) can be purchased in advance or at the door. Tickets for the dinner and program are $25 regular and $10 for limited income and children. Reservations for the dinner must be made by Friday, February 26th, at the LEPOCO Peace Center, call 610-691-8730, e-mail lepoco@fast.net, or visit 313 West Fourth Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015.