Every church, social justice organization, and not-for-profit needs a way to share its knowledge. While we are getting better at putting our knowledge on the internet, most systems available are shaped not by community patterns and needs, but by the profit potential of big data sales, micro-targeted advertising, paid premium placements, and tiers of access. What would it look like, instead, for our education technology to match our visions for a better world? If you are a blogger, podcaster, online-sermon-publisher, religious educator, or activist, the ethics of HOW you communicate is just as important as WHAT you communicate. In this session, we will be asking the important questions: Where are community creators and teachers located and how can they be supported and served? What sources do you trust and how can that trust be spread equitably? In a world where 80 percent of humanity earns less than ten dollars a day, how should community knowledge be paid for, organized and stacked for maximum access for all?

These are questions that presenters Rachel McGuire and Katie Jo Suddaby have been wrestling with at The Community Learning Lab. We are excited to offer our discoveries and to generate a vibrant conversation about designing the best community learning tools for people who are transforming the world.

How was the Divine Feminine, the Feminine Face of God, expressed and experienced in the first century Middle East? How might Jesus have known her and expressed her Presence through his life and ministry. And what relevance does that have for us today? This will be a presentation (with a bit of chant thrown in) and discussion on the power and presence of the Great Mother throughout all of time. She gives birth to all, since the beginning of time (check out Proverbs for an alternative creation story with Hokhmah present for the entire scene).

Using the Godly Play method as a foundation, we’ll sing, share stories from Scripture (told BIG with objects), wonder together about what they mean for us, and have a time of free art response. While each session is self-contained, the stories do speak to each other. This year, we are focusing on what binds us as children of God, what we owe one another, and how we might reach across our differences. This is an opportunity for kids to build community with other kids, teens and adults at the Goose while creating and discovering meaning together.

How high is your comfort level for conversations about sex? For many it is a topic that can be tricky to navigate- even with people close to us. Carissa is going to lead participants through a series of questions that will seek to expand our understanding of why this challenge might exist and possible approaches to work towards changing that. She’ll be prompting answers from herself and participants to questions like, “In your childhood, how was the topic of sex and sexuality approached by the adults is your life?” “What was their attitude towards this topic?” “Was it a topic that was open for discussion in your family?” “What type of vocabulary is available to us today for having discussions about sex?” “Who or what in your life offers an example of a healthy approach to sexuality?” Participants will be invited (but not expected) to join the conversation. It is Carissa’s hope that participants walk away from this session with a higher level of comfort in talking about sex and sexuality in general and perhaps even a higher level of comfort with their own sexuality.

Justice work.
Revitalizing and/or planting churches.
Community Engagement.
Dealing with our own families.
Each of these settings often involves deep changes that inevitably trigger resistance, even sabotage. Systems theory offers an approach to anticipate, understand, and counteract the anxiety stirred by change, so that new practices can be adopted and fully integrated into a healthy, life-giving whole. Best of all, this systems approach helps leaders not just survive sabotage, but thrive in the challenging, fertile work of deep change.
This workshop will apply the basics of family system theory to the complexities of adaptive change, providing specific leadership practices and skills. This systems approach doesn’t require fancy tools; instead, it untangles stuck situations and offers directions forward that are consistent, engaging, and cost effective.
Complementary personal coaching at another time can be arranged after the workshop.