Sponsored by Antler River Watershed, Horseshoe Falls and Western Ontario Waterways Regional Councils.
February 7, 2023 10:00 am - 11:30 am ET
March 7, 2023 10:00 am - 11:30 am ET
click the dates to see the start times in each of Canada's time zones
This workshop is open to anyone who is ready to engage in honest conversation about racism in The United Church of Canada.
Part 1: Antiracism Workshop with Selam Debs
Tuesday, February 7, 2023, 10:00-11:30 am
- Antiracism language & the framework in building an antiracist lens
- Rooting your awareness in understanding 'Canada’s' colonial history
- The impacts of unconscious bias, systemic racism & White supremacy
- The first steps in developing an antiracist workplace or congregation
Part 2: Antiracism, You and The UCC with Rev. Alcris Limongi
Tuesday, March 7, 2023, 10:00-11:30 am
- A questionnaire will be sent out after Part 1, to help focus your learnings from the workshop with Selam
- In Part 2, Alcris will invite you to integrate what you learned from Part 1, and apply it in your personal journey and in your United Church context.
Leadership
Selam Debs is a Black Ethiopian queer Anti-Racism Coach, Consultant & Trainer specializing in anti-Black racism, equity, inclusion and implicit bias awareness. Selam’s Antiracism work is rooted in the understanding that we must acknowledge and identify the insidiousness of white supremacy before we can dismantle colonial belief systems. The process of undoing, unlearning and re-educating is necessary for white communities to embark on, to support the healing journey for our racialized communities.
Selam is also a board member of Project UP, Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region (SASCW) and Women's Entrepreneur Centre of Laurier University.
Alcris Limongi is part of the Center for Christian Studies in Winnipeg team as Program Staff/Educator. In the past she has been the Racial Justice, Gender Justice and Sexual Minorities Program Coordinator at the General Council Office, and she has served in congregational ministry.
Her own identity as a racialized woman in Canada, her life experience between marginality and privilege in different ways, combined with a sound theological education, and personal and theological commitment to justice, have helped her develop a particular lens, what she calls “the gift of her brown eyes” to the Church. Her passion is to encourage racial majority and minorities to engage together identifying, naming, interrogating, interrupting and dismantling racism. She is a teacher/preacher/facilitator with creativity, flexibility, and openness to respectfully listen and learn from cultural differences. She adds “English is not my native language, which is both strength and weakness. It is a strength because with language I also bring different perspectives of defining and understanding reality.”
For more information on this program, please contact Thérèse Samuel, tsamuel@united-church.ca
Mandatory Racial Justice Training
Please note that this course will NOT fulfill the requirement for United Church Ministry Personnel to complete Mandatory Training in Racial Justice. This optional course is open to anyone, but ministers who take it will still need to complete the Mandatory Training course, if they have not already done so.
The curriculum for the Mandatory Racial Justice Training is currently being revised. This process is well underway, and will take advantage of some of the new features available to us in the CHURCHx platform. We’re excited about what’s coming … but it won’t be delivered until just after Easter 2023. We expect registration to open for the next sessions of these programs by mid-March 2023.
If you have an urgent reason to complete the credential before then, please contact Stephen Fetter of United-in-Learning.
Class Structure
Zoom Meetings: 3 hours
Individual Study: 1 hour
