Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action

Led by Mr. Dionisio G. Salazar

April 8, 2016 – 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Conflict happens in all congregations and culture plays a part. Come and learn about conflict and culture. Take home a new skill to address conflicts in your congregation and to build consensus on important issues.

Recommended for pastoral leaders serving congregations in which Hispanic/Latino/a people are in the majority. Ordained elders, licensed local pastors, Commissioned Ruling Elders, and all priests and pastors welcome.

Cost: $60 (includes lunch and a one-one-one follow-up consultation). Scholarships available (Contact grich@austinseminary.edu.)

Qualifies for .7 Clergy CEUs

The workshop is in Spanish and English.

Date: May 3, 2016

Time: 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 pm

Location: Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, McCord Community Center
100 East 27th Street, Austin, 78705

Presented by The Wesley Connection at Austin Seminary

Come and learn from scholar pastors formed in the Wesleyan tradition who are leading the church into the future.

Cost:  $15 (Lunch Included) $15 Livestream
(Contact beyondthewalls@austinseminary.edu.)

Recommended for: clergy and lay leaders of all denominations

http://mfsaweb.org/?page_id=212

Current Faith in Action from General Board of Church & Society –

http://umc-gbcs.org/faith-in-action

Please join with us as we connect progressive United Methodists in putting faith into action!

Membership in MFSA is not predicated on ability to pay.  We do not have “dues”.  However, our Chapter and the National Office need funding each year for programs and activities.  Membership gifts and special giving are always appreciated. MFSA is classified as a 501(c)(3) organization by the IRS.   Membership gifts to MFSA are tax deductible as provided by law.

There are several easy ways to join or support MFSA.

·       You can log onto the national MFSA website, http://mfsaweb.org/ and follow the instructions there (you can safely use a credit card). Please indicate that you are part of the Rio Texas Chapter.

·       Or, you can use this “Donate” button to contribute directly to our Rio Texas Chapter of MFSA.  This button uses PayPal^tm to collect your donation via your major credit card.  (You do not need a PayPal^tm account in order to donate – just click and follow the instructions.) https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=LLZWDFTTVUMAW

MFSA – National Site: http://www.mfsaweb.org

Introduction to Undoing Racism & Community Organizing Charlotte Caples    Through dialogue, reflection, role-playing, strategic planning and presentations, a 2.5 day Undoing Racism intensive training challenges participants to analyze the structures of power and privilege that hinder social equity and prepares them to be effective organizers for justice. In this Introduction to Undoing Racism® Community Organizing, participants will gain an understanding of the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, its vision and a foundation for how the Institute helps individuals, communities, organizations and institutions move beyond addressing the symptoms of racism to undoing the causes of racism so as to create a more just and equitable society.

UMC General Conference Legislation

Abel Vega

This workshop will provide an overview of General Conference 2016, the legislative process and framework of key legislative proposals as well as the Jurisdictional Conference episcopal election process. It will look at the emerging shifts of the UMC as a global church and its relationship to the mission field.  With this backdrop, conversation will be facilitated regarding implications, challenges, and opportunities for the Rio Texas Conference UMC in the 21st century in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.   Workshop participants can visit http://www.umc.org/who-we-are/general-conference-2016 to familiarize themselves with General Conference 2016.

The Red Bench: Religious Intolerance

Join us on February 23rd at First United Methodist Church for a courageous conversation on another pressing issues of our time:religious intolerance.

Please RSVP in advance!

February 23, 2016

6:30 pm – 8:30pm

First United Methodist Church – Family Life Center1300 Lavaca St

Dean’s Lecture Series: Thalia González

Monday, February 15 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

Restorative Justice at the Crossroads: From Practice to Policy to Systemic Reform

Light lunch will be served starting at 11:30am. Please RSVP to sw-rsvp@austin.utexas.edu 

Restorative justice in the United States is at a crossroads; it is no longer simply viewed as a grassroots practice, but instead as a policy solution in such areas as school discipline, youth justice, child welfare, violence, policing, racial disparities, mass incarceration, and recidivism.  In this lecture, Professor González will discuss the growth of the restorative justice movement, its shifting focus, and how restorative justice is currently being used across the United States in a diverse range of systems.  She will also highlight the tensions between aspirational and practical understandings of restorative justice, as well as the versatility of restorative approaches to address some of the most pressing contemporary issues.

February Delegates Assembly for the Austin Interfaith Coalition

Monday, February 15, 6:45 pm – 8:30 pm

St. John’s/San Juan Lutheran Church, 409 W. Ben White Blvd.

On February 15, United Methodist congregations will join with the other congregations, schools, workers’ associations and unions that make up Austin Interfaith to hold a Delegate’s Assembly at 6:45 pm at St. John’s/San Juan Lutheran Church, 409 W. Ben White Blvd. At this Delegates Assembly leaders will ask public officials to commit to working on important issues affecting central Texas families – like education, healthy neighborhoods, immigration reform, living wages for all, affordable housing, and more.

Monday, Feb. 1: last day to register to vote (more info on registering).

Tuesday, Feb. 16: first day of early voting.

Friday, Feb. 19: last day to accept ballot by mail applications (received, not postmarked).

Friday, Feb. 26: last day of early voting

http://www.votetexas.gov/

January 27, 2016

Texas United Methodist Women affirm the dedication of every member of the Texas Legislature. We thank you for your service to our state and we look forward to thanking you for your good work in the 85th legislative session. The following issues are key priorities for us, but they do not represent the sum of our concerns: Healthy Texas, Quality Education, Living Water, and Religious Liberty. See the full text at: http://texasimpact.org/content/umw-2016-resource-center.

We know that you will make decisions about vast and varied issues. We urge you to consider that everything is important because everyone is important: the decisions you make must be for the good of all people in Texas.

“Moving Forward: Race in the New Millennium” 

Week 1 – Opening keynote and discussion with Heidi J. Kim, Missioner for Racial Reconciliation, The Episcopal Church, Wednesday, February 3, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in Weeks Center.

Week 2 – Book Discussion led by Academic Dean Scott Bader-Saye on Reconciling All Things: A Christian Vision for Justice, Peace and Healing, by Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice, Monday, February 8 at 4:00 p.m. Community Hour in Maddux Lounge. (Order your book from this link on Amazon and the seminary will receive 6% back on the purchase.)

Week 3 – African American Arts and Culture event, Wednesday, February 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Weeks Center.
An event showcasing African American arts and culture in a variety of mediums. Several Austin artists from the African American Community will display their artistry throughout the seminary’s Weeks Center. Light refreshments will be served.

Week 4 – Celebration Eucharist with Southwest alumna, the Rev. Freda Marie Brown, director of St. Vincent’s House, Galveston, Thursday, February 25 at 5:30 p.m. Reception to follow http://www.austinseminary.edu/page.cfm?p=3424

Play on Solitary Confinement

February 25 & 26, 2016

7:00 pm  to  9:00 pm

The Prison Justice League will host two performances of the play “Mariposa & the Saint: From Solitary Confinement, A Play through Letters.” In 2012, Sara (Mariposa) Fonseca was sentenced to 15 months in solitary confinement. Through letters with longtime friend and current collaborator, Julia Steele Allen, Mariposa brings her experience to the stage.

Locations:

Thursday, 7 pm, Parker Lane United Methodist Church, 2105 Parker Lane, Austin, 78741

Friday, 8 pm, Salvage Vanguard Theater, 2803 E Manor, Austin, 78722

Beyond Diversity: Racial Justice on Campuses and in Communities

Date: February 16, 2016

Time: 3:30 pm  to  5:00 pm

As the Supreme Court ponders the role of race and ethnicity in campus admissions, social movements on campuses and in communities across the country are raising foundational questions about racial justice.

A panel of UT educators will address these issues and open up a conversation with the audience.

The program is sponsored by the Senior Fellows Honors Program of the College of Communication.

Location: Belo Center for New Media, First Floor Auditorium, (BMC 1.202), 300 W. Dean Keeton, Austin

Robert Jensen Discussing Plain Radical

Date: February 14, 2016

Time: 12:15 pm  to  1:30 pm

University of Texas professor Robert Jensen will lead a discussion about the ideas in his new book, Plain Radical: Living, Loving, and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully.

Location: University United Methodist Church, 2409 Guadalupe St., Austin, 78705

Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America

Date: February 11, 2016

Time: 7:00 pm  to  8:00 pm

Taylor Brorby will read from his book Fracture: Essays, Poems, and Stories on Fracking in America. Bearing witness to hydraulic fracturing in the United States, the book brings together the voices of more than 50 writers exploring the complexities of fracking through first-hand experience, investigative journalism, story-telling, and verse.

Location: BookPeople, 603 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, 78703

Screening of “Plastic Paradise”

Date: February 10, 2016

Time: 6:30 pm  to  9:00 pm

“Green Is the New Black,” a student environmental justice group at Huston-Tillotson University, will screen the documentary film “Plastic Paradise,” followed by a discussion.

In the film, journalist/filmmaker Angela Sun explores plastic consumption and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where high concentrations of plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris have been trapped by the currents.

Location: Dickey-Lawless Auditorium, Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St., Austin, 78702

Palestine in Shadows: A Counter-History of American Racial Politics

Date: February 5, 2016

Time: 2:15 pm  to  4:00 pm

Keith Feldman, a professor in the department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California-Berkeley, will discuss the relationship of Israeli violence in the Palestinian territories to racial politics in the United States. Feldman, author of A Shadow over Palestine: The Imperial Life of Race in America, tracks how U.S. civil rights and antiwar struggles were forged together with Israeli occupation and Palestinian resistance.

The event is sponsored by the University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, and the Social Justice Institute. More information online.

Location: University of Texas, Gordon-White Building (GWB) Multi-purpose Room, Austin

Movies & Meaning is a “dream space” for creating a better world. Here are good reasons to join us:

1. The lineup of storytellers and leaders includes Richard Rohr, Gareth Higgins, Teresa Pasquale, and acclaimed director Godfrey Reggio. Click here to learn more about the presenters.
2. The featured films include transcendent icons, overlooked delights, and surprise films. Each will highlight a different aspect of how we can co-create a better world through the stories we tell.
3. Breakout sessions offer opportunities to dive deeper into storytelling as it intersects with social activism, personal healing, and learning dynamic ways to teach story in our communities.

The festival is just a few weeks away. Register soon at the price level you can best afford: $399 or $299. Friends of the CAC receive 10% off registration: use coupon code CAC10 when you register. Visit moviesandmeaning.com/festival/ for more details.

CONSPIRE 2016
Friday, July 15–Sunday, July 17, 2016
Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Also available worldwide via live webcast

https://cac.org/events/conferences/conspire-2016-overview/

Allies Against Slavery invites you to the

2016 Slave Free City Summit

Austin, Texas  •  April 22 – 23 •  For the City Center

“Intersections & Opportunities”

What would happen if the cities of the future were deeply committed to freedom?

For more information go to:

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e9c861634e940342ca66dfd3a&id=90c01f46f1&e=3dc87813c1

New Seminar

In Fall 2016, Faith and Reason will present Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB, at Christ Church Cathedral in Houston, Texas in an all-new seminar titled Spirituality, Self, and Society.

New Voices

We’re proud of our ongoing relationship with scholars like John Dominic Crossan and Sr. Joan Chittister, among others. We’re also proud to showcase insights from thinkers like Joerg Rieger, Keri Day, and Robin Meyers. Follow us on Facebook for more exposure to their important work. We’ll also soon be releasing a survey to learn from you what issues in the church and the world are important to you, to guide our future endeavors.