Austin’s World Refugee Day Celebration is an annual event which is a collaboration between the Austin Refugee Roundtable and the Bullock Texas State History Museum. The Austin Refugee Roundtable is comprised of the agencies and groups that work with refugees in Austin, and its mission is to make Austin a welcoming community for refugees.

Hundreds of people come to the Bullock Texas State History Museum for the World Refugee Day celebration each June. The museum is decked out in colorful world flags, and many participants wear the traditional clothing of their home countries and ethnic groups. The event kicks off with a ceremony in which former refugees who have become eligible for naturalization are sworn in as U.S. citizens.

Throughout the day, visitors of all ages engage in educational activities about the refugee journey and enjoy arts and crafts, face painting, storytelling, and games. A professional photographer takes portraits for refugee families to have as keepsakes. The event culminates with live music and dancing by refugee groups and other local performers. The museum makes its exhibits free to the public during the day, and many first-time visitors take advantage of the opportunity to explore.

Austin’s World Refugee Day celebration is held each year in June. For information on this year’s event, please check our calendar.

This process includes one-on-one relational meetings, small group conversations called “house meetings”, neighborhood and community walks, and research actions. An organizing process is always connected to the mission of the particular institution, and should be flexible in order to meet the needs of each congregation or school.

Learn about the good work of this organization at the Austin Interfaith Leaders Meeting and Training this month.

When:  Thursday, May 28, 2015 at 07:00 PM

Where:  Trinity United Methodist Church  – 4001 Speedway – Austin, TX

RSVP at: Austin Interfaith Leaders Meeting and Training – 5.28.15

Over the past 60 years, organizers, pastors, lay leaders, principals, and parents in IAF organizations have developed a practice of “institutional organizing”: using the skills of community organizing to develop leadership, identify issues, reweave relationships, and build the capacity within their institutions to act on issues which affect families.

This process includes one-on-one relational meetings, small group conversations called “house meetings”, neighborhood and community walks, and research actions. An organizing process is always connected to the mission of the particular institution, and should be flexible in order to meet the needs of each congregation or school.

Learn about the good work of this organization at the Austin Interfaith Leaders Meeting and Training this month.

When:  Thursday, May 28, 2015 at 07:00 PM

Where:  Trinity United Methodist Church  – 4001 Speedway – Austin, TX 78751

RSVP at: Austin Interfaith Leaders Meeting and Training – 5.28.15

Make plans to join us as we come together to exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships and move closer to our goal of ending hunger and, ultimately, poverty. Registration and more event details will be posted mid-July. http://www.baylor.edu/texashunger/index.php?id=89082

10,000 People.  80 Nations.  50 Faiths.

Register • Submit Proposals • Exhibit • Sponsor

What:     The 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions

When:    October 15 – 19, 2015

Where:   Salt Palace Convention Center, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

The Parliament is the oldest, the largest, and the most inclusive gathering of people of all faith and traditions.

The first Parliament took place in 1893. Since, this historic event has taken place in Chicago, USA  • Cape Town, South Africa  • Barcelona, Spain  • Melbourne, Australia – and now in Salt Lake City, Utah!

Economic Inequality

Date: April 7, 2015

Time: 7:00 pm  to  9:00 pm

The second of a four-part series on the fight for social justice in Texas will focus on economic inequality, a concern that disproportionately affects women and racial minorities. Panelists will discuss labor movements, legislative milestones, and efforts to reclaim political and economic rights.

Moderator Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project will be joined by panelists Merline Pitre, professor of history and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences at Texas Southern University, and Sonia Hernandez, a native of the Rio Grande Valley and a professor at Texas A&M University specializing in the intersections of gender and labor in the U.S.-Mexican borderlands, Chicana/o history, and modern Mexico.

This program is presented in partnership with the Social Justice Institute at the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Civil Rights Project. More information online.

Location: Bob Bullock Museum, 1800 N. Congress Avenue, Austin, TX, 78701 (Congress and MLK)

Save the Date:

Texas Social Justice Series: Justice in Education

Date: May 7, 2015

Time: 7:00 pm  to  9:00 pm

Texas Social Justice Series: Right to Vote

Date: May 2, 2015

Time: 7:00 pm  to  9:00 pm

University UMC – 2409 Guadalupe St, Austin

Friday, April 17, 6 to 9 pm, & Saturday, April 18, 9 am to 3 pm 

Join us for a weekend of workshops with Rev. Susan Beaumont, author of “Inside the Large Congregation.” Beaumont is a consultant, author, coach and spiritual director who has consulted with over one hundred congregations and denominational bodies across the United States and Canada. She is known for her ground-breaking work in the leadership dynamics of large congregations. Before establishing her own practice, Beaumont worked for nine years as a Senior Consultant with the Alban Institute.