2018 Skills Training

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Community Organizing 101: Effectively Listening and Mobilizing Communities

We live in a time of polarized politics and fragmented communities. Now, more than ever, we need bold congregations ready to lead their local communities in transformative change. Across the nation, congregations are learning and using the tools of community organizing to form meaningful relationships with people most affected by today’s issues, build power, and make change together. This session is for leaders who want to learn a new way of making change that will transform your church and your community.

Speaker:
Rev. Alison Dunn-Almaguer, Washington Interfaith Network – IAF 

Advocacy 101: How to Effectively Engage Power Structures

You’ve listened to the community. You’ve helped the people organize for action. Now what? In this session, you will learn how to help grassroots movements pivot from agitation to legislation by engaging local civic, government, business, and other community leaders. This interactive workshop will provide you with the practical skills and tools required to help you and your community transform harmful systems and structures into life affirming models of peace and justice.

Speaker:
Stephanie Roja and Andrea Landeros, ARISE

Art as a Spiritual Practice and Catalyst for Change
Building a successful movement to welcome our migrant neighbors down the block and around the world is strengthened by creativity and a spiritual commitment. Join an interactive workshop to reflect on this year’s theme. We will turn this reflection into creative expressions to respond to the immigration and migration crises today. Participate in a live screen printing demonstration and take home the theme-inspired print. This workshop will be led by The Sanctuaries, a local, diverse, young adult community of artists seeking to ignite the sacred power of art to make social change.

Speaker:
Representative of The Sanctuaries

Steps to Becoming a Sanctuary Congregation
Participants will learn practical steps required to be a refuge for those in danger of being deported from the United States and returned to communities rife with violence and poverty. Members of congregations who are currently housing and/or preparing to house people in danger of deportation will share their experiences and provide best practices for those interested in joining this important work.

Speakers:
Representatives of DMV Sanctuary Congregation Network/PICO National Network

Practical tools to combat voter suppression

with Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness
2018 is an election year with all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate up for grabs. As we have seen in the past, not all of these contests will be waged fairly with unscrupulous partisans willing to do anything to win, even deny American citizens their right to vote. There are steps we as people of faith can take to ensure that our election processes are fair, impartial and free of interference, including poll monitoring, election participation and lawsuits. This workshop will discuss states and regions which have demonstrated a history of voter suppression as well as present strategies to ensure a fair and democratic election.

Speaker:
Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, Director of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness

White Folk Work: Uprooting White Supremacy in Ourselves

In this workshop, we will discuss the specific work that white people need to do with one another to dismantle racism and white supremacy, and how to leverage our social capital to do so. All white folks need to have difficult but necessary conversations about racial justice this year. The call to challenge one another has come directly from faith leaders of color from around the country including the PCUSA. The moment has never been more urgent to answer them. This work includes opportunities to discuss what we can do to address racism in ourselves and our communities, and to challenge the scapegoating of “other” white people- especially working class white folks and/or white folks living in rural or rust belt towns. We will discuss the historic precedent of white Christians organizing in the Civil Rights movement, and make connections to current movement building work.

Speaker:
Nora Leccese, Associate for Domestic Poverty and Environmental Issues, PCUSA