Mark your calendar! Rio Texas MFSA is sponsoring the One Human Race Series on three Saturdays in April (16th, 23rd, and 30th) at St. Luke UMC, 1306 West Lynn, Austin, 78703. We will meet once a week for three weeks to create a safe environment to communicate about race using the following resources: ·     Watch PBS Series: “Race: The Power of An Illusion” in one hour segments; ·     Participate in group discussions with trained group leaders; ·     Examine the American concept of race; ·     Share feelings and experiences with a goal of building community and common ground. You do not have to attend all three sessions. If you miss a session, you can register for it later at another location. Registration will be available soon. Contact Anne Mund, ennadnum@hotmail.com, if you have questions.

We look forward to seeing you on April 16, 23, and 30th.

By Rolando Perez in Trinity UMC

Sunday, January 17, 6-8pm

Trinity UMC

Inspired by the legacy of Dr. King, America’s Sunday Supper invites people from diverse backgrounds to come together to share a meal, discuss issues that affect their community and highlight the power each one of us has to make a difference.

In that spirit, returning facilitator Jeremy Solomons will guide us in Leading Difficult Conversations Across Difference, a communication skill-building lab. The model Jeremy presents is as useful in managing conversations from the simplest differences of opinion to the gulf between deeply-held beliefs.

So please join us on Sunday January 17, 2016 from 6-8 pm.

This is a potluck Peace Through Pie Social – so bring a pie to share, savory or sweet!

Please RSVP to diversitydignitydialogue@gmail.com if you are planning to attend. Everyone is welcome and an RSVP is not required, but it will help us get a general sense of how many folks for which we should plan.

Topics: “Listening to All of God’s Children” and “Which Black Lives Matter?”

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.

Led by The Reverend Dr. Tanya Marie Eustace and The Reverend Dr. Jennifer Leath

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

Cost:  $15 (Lunch Included) $15 Livestream  Click here to register.

(Contact beyondthewalls@austinseminary.edu.) Recommended for: clergy and lay leaders of all denominations.

You’re invited to attend Trinity Institute’s annual New York City conference via webcast in Austin!

First United Methodist Church and Eremos, a center of contemplative life, are proud to be the exclusive Austin co-hosts of this event. We bring all the world-class speakers and panel discussions of the NYC conference to you via webcast.

Trinity Institute 2016 is an action-oriented theological conference for racial justice. This year, Trinity Institute (TI2016) will explore the most pressing issues of our time, including structural racism, mass incarceration, and policy change.

Come with open ears and hearts; leave with a greater capacity to create change in Austin.First United Methodist Church and Eremos will be the exclusive Austin-area hosts (a streamed partner site at 1201 Lavaca Street Austin, TX 78701).  TI2016 takes place in New York City and will be streamed at partner sites around the world January 21-23, 2016.  Here, in Austin, we’re choosing to spread the content out over two weekends to allow for maximum participation

Listen for a Change AUSTIN WEBCAST DETAILS:

DATES:

Thursday evening January 21st (live webcast), Saturday, January 23rd (on demand webcast) AND Saturday, January 30th (on demand webcast). See below for detailed schedule and content.

LOCATION:

First United Methodist Church Sanctuary at 1201 Lavaca Street Austin, TX 78701

FEES: $40 for the entire event (includes lunch on both Saturdays!) OR $25 if you plan to attend only one Saturday (Thursday evening is free). Scholarships are available. Please contact event organizer, Pastor Cathy Stone at cathy@fumcaustin.org for more details on scholarships.

What you’ll experience:

• Compelling presentations (via webcast) by action-oriented theologians and thought leaders, including Nicolas Kristof, Anna Deavere Smith, and Emilie Townes to provide us with inspiration and ideas we can use in Austin to make a positive impact now.
• An opportunity for open dialogue — facilitated by local, trained facilitators in small circles (maximum 20 participants) — about how systemic racism is hurting us and what we can do to create change—a process that starts with listening. These life-giving conversations will teach us more about the racial issues of our time, including structural racism, mass incarceration, and policy change.
• TI2016 recognizes that many of us avoid conversations about race because they’re difficult, uncomfortable, or risk being perceived as prejudiced. Instead, the conversations in TI2016 will be learning opportunities: chances to talk skillfully and with less apprehension about charged issues with people who might have differing perspectives.
• Connections and conversations during breaks and lunch with others in the Austin area committed to making positive changes now in systemic racism.

Check the schedule and register for this event at:

http://fumcaustin.org/listen-for-a-change-sacred-conversations-for-racial-justice/

The General Commission on Religion and Race has just begun a powerful video series about racial justice, diversity, and effectiveness in your congregation or community.  GCORR began this series In October with Dr. Robin DiAngelo. Watch the first video here.

The UMC looks to GCORR to facilitate, resource, guide, and support discussions on how to move to efficacy, justice, and courageous, positive action.  It is our hope that these videos transform lives, congregations, and communities.  Participation in our Vital Conversations: A Video Series will jumpstart the conversation about racial justice, diversity, and effectiveness in your congregation or community. GCORR begins this series with Dr. Robin DiAngelo.

Dr. Robin DiAngelo is the author of What Does it Mean to Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy and has been an anti-racist educator, and has heard justifications of racism by white men and women in her workshops for over two decades.  This justification, which she calls “white fragility,” is a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves.  These moves include outward display of emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and behaviors such as argumentation, silence, and leaving the stress-inducing situation.

CONVERSATIONS ON RACISM: Suggested READINGS

From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice, by Brian Arao and Kristi Clemens. This text explores the practices of establishing guidelines for conversations that seek to promote diversity and racial justice activities.

Conversation Guide for Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequity by Shakti Butler, PhD. This conversation guide and glossary is designed to support organizations that are using this film to introduce the concept of systemic inequity to a diverse audience and deepened the conversation on race.

Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/17/books/review/ta-nehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me.html?_r=0

The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration, by Ta-Nehisi Coates http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/the-black-family-in-the-age-of-mass-incarceration/403246/

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, by Michelle Alexander. http://newjimcrow.com/

The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege, by Robert Jensen. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5539692

The Strange Career of Jim Crow, by C. Vann Woodward. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/97484.The_Strange_Career_of_Jim_Crow

White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son. Using stories from his own life, Tim Wise demonstrates the ways in which racism not only burdens people of color, but also benefits, in relative terms, those who are “white like him.” Wise explores the ways in which whites can challenge their unjust privileges, and explains in clear and convincing language why it is in the best interest of whites themselves to do so.

The movie, White Like Me, shown at the October MFSA meeting, is available to use with your Sunday School class or other group. It is very informative about how white privilege is embedded in our institutions and systems. Contact Anne Mund at ennadnum@hotmail.com if you are interested in borrowing the movie.

SEPTEMBER 12, 19, 26
TIME: 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
LOCATION: St. John’s Episcopal Church, 11201 Parkfield Drive, Austin
(Open to Public) – No Cost to Attend, Registration Required

Three workshops focused on race reconciliation using materials from the PBS Series: Race: A Power of An Illusion. Materials have been updated and modified. If you are looking for a safe and friendly environment to start on continue a conversation about race reconciliation, this may be the ideal solution for you.

We recommend you attend at least the first workshop. Attendance to all workshops is not required, but recommended. To learn more about this movement, visit: www.OneHumanRace.info

Sponsored by: The Myra McDaniel Chapter, which is an affiliate of the national organization, the Union of Black Episcopalians. The Chapter advocates for and encourages greater involvement and participation of members of the African Diaspora in all levels of the Episcopal Church.