Come One, Come All to the
2024 Pre-Synod Assembly Event:
Approaching Racial Dynamics
in an Ever-Changing Church
Before every stated Synod Assembly meeting there is a pre-assembly event – a time when people come together for education, exploration, and fellowship. It is an opportunity for us to learn, get to know each other better, and explore a subject more deeply than we typically would during other meetings.
The Center for Jubilee Practice Co-Directors, Ashley De Tar Birt and Rick Ufford Chase will be our guides during this October 24-25 day and a half workshop. This event is open to everyone in the Synod and will be held at the Hilton Albany in downtown Albany. Parking is free. The registration fee is the actual cost of meals and a hotel room if required with no additional mark up. We look forward to many of you attending this event. The following description will give you an idea of the flow of the days.
We use “non-dominant culture” as a shorthand for referring to:
People who are not able to assume cultural privilege based on their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, etc.
Cultural space that is intentionally created to allow those unable to assume cultural privilege to shape the experience and agenda of the group, organization, church or community.
We aspire to foster the development of vibrant, thriving churches and Mid Councils. These communities are characterized by:
Churches/Mid Councils that value and begin the conversation by helping their members to share their own experiences that have shaped their perceptions of race and culture.
Churches/Mid Councils whose members value the intentional work it takes to create genuinely welcoming space in which all people feel “seen” – which is to say that anyone who comes into the community can experience space in which their own cultural experiences are valued and employed for the enrichment of the full community.
Churches/Mid Councils whose white members are self-aware about the assumptions of privilege that come with whiteness and are intentionally learning the skills to appropriately enter into spaces that are created and led by those who have not experienced that privilege.
Components of the Pre-Assembly Event:
Session 1: Race, Culture, and Me
This session is designed to help participants uncover and examine their own experiences and awareness of racial differences.
Session 2: Racial Identity Exploration
In this session, participants will be asked to divide into two groups. One will be a group of those who identify primarily as White to be led by Rick Ufford-Chase, and another of those who identify as Black, Latinx, Native American, Asian/Pacific Islander, multiracial or “other than white” to be led by Ashley De Tar Birt.
● Rick’s group will seek to create Brave Space* for participants to share experiences, ask questions, and offer ideas about how to become more aware of racial dynamics and more intentional about confronting them in their communities.
● Ashley’s group will seek to create Brave Space* to share their experiences of working in white-culture dominant presbyteries and/or congregations.
*From the Center for Jubilee Practice website: By “brave space”, we mean an intentional space created so that participants may feel free to be their honest, vulnerable selves. In our context, spaces will be for both groups traditionally marginalized by the greater Church and for those needing to have challenging conversations in order to grow.
Session 3: Assessing our Synod (and Lessons for Our Presbyteries)
In this session, participants will practice the tools Center for Jubilee Practice (CJP) recommends for use by Churches/Mid Councils as they seek to determine the readiness of their communities for creating and implementing concrete acts of healing and repair in response to racial/cultural harm.
Session 4: Partnerships for Direct Action to Create a Pro-Equity Environment
In this session, Ashley and Rick will share best practices for entering into cultural spaces that are not one’s own with an emphasis on cultural humility which involves having conversations about how to be good partners and how to seek good partners.
Session 5: Possibilities/Next Steps: Where do we go from here?
In this session Rick and Ashley will guide the participants in creating a “next steps” plan for how to carry this work back to their own Presbyteries. The Pre-Assembly will end with worship together that is created “in the moment” with guidance from the CJP staff.
Pre-Assembly Schedule
Thursday, October 24, 2024
10:30am Opening Worship – dialog sermon with Ashley and Rick on what we have learned in our work as a team (focus on bringing all of our identities into the space)
11:00am Introductory Session – Race, Culture and Me
12:30pm Lunch (possibly with small group prompts)
2:00pm Racial Identity Exploration (Group splits up into White/POC small groups)
3:30pm Break
4:30pm Assessing Our Synod
6:00pm Dinner
7:30pm Sharing Culture through Music (optional) – DJ Ashe Bee will lead an informal time of sharing our favorite music with one another
Friday, October 25, 2024
8:30am Partnerships for Direct Action to Create a Pro-Equity Environment
9:45am Break
10:00am Next steps – Where do we go from here?
10:30am Worship – focused on small group sharing moment
11:00am Session Ends