We have greater awareness of our neighbors than ever before. This awareness includes the present reality of great division across racial and ethnic lines. Your congregation can play a key role in creating safe space to have difficult conversations about racial inequities. You can help lead the way in moving our culture toward collective action to achieve a fairer and more just society.
 
Dr. Michael R. Twyman, subject matter expert on race and racism, leads this full-day workshop. He will help increase your understanding about race, as well as actions and responses your congregation can take to combat racism.

In the morning session, he will define terms, introduce a conceptual framework for race, discuss the historical precedents and the science of race, and present the implications for the role race plays in the life of congregations and in the broader community. In the afternoon session, he will facilitate an interactive, hands-on deep dive into how your congregation can be mobilized and empowered to promote racial justice within your respective institutions, and the communities you represent and are called to serve.

REGISTER HERE FOR HAMMOND WORKSHOP.

REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON FOR INDIANAPOLIS WORKSHOP.

The workshop is designed to achieve two fundamental goals:

• To provide you with various tools and resources to have healthy dialogue about race within your congregation.
• To equip you with knowledge and techniques to confront racism and racial oppression within your congregation and the broader society.

It is understood that you will have to determine if and how to share and apply the information presented in your respective congregation.
 
In this workshop, you will:

• examine the history and development of racial classifications and understand why they are socially constructed.
• identify and explain what racism is (definitions of) and how it manifests itself on a systemic, institutional, and interpersonal level.
• explore how institutional religion and faith-based institutions may have played a role in creating and/or perpetuating racial inequities, implicitly and explicitly.
• deconstruct theoretical assumptions, religious teachings and scientific myths of white superiority, historical and contemporary.
• become familiar with best practice examples of what some congregations are doing across the country to promote racial reconciliation and healing.

Dr. Michael R. Twyman is the principal/owner of InExcelsis, a private consulting firm that works with institutions seeking to maximize their performance and effectiveness. He has assisted numerous organizations with governance, cultural competency, strategic planning, fund development, program management, and evaluation. An associate faculty member of the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Twyman teaches courses on race and social justice.

This workshop is 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (Central time) Thursday, February 22, 2018 in Hammond and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. (Eastern time) Thursday, April 12, 2018 in central Indiana. The cost is $30 per person. When congregational teams of three or more register together, the cost is discounted to $25 per person. This fee includes continental breakfast, lunch and workshop materials.

Workshops limited to Indiana congregations.

REGISTER HERE FOR HAMMOND WORKSHOP.

REGISTRATION WILL BE AVAILABLE SOON FOR INDIANAPOLIS WORKSHOP.

How can you maximize your learning in this workshop and others? Check out this Center for Congregations article, "Getting the Most from an Education Event."