Conference Schedule

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Friday | October 1, 2021

• Unity Consortium Meeting | 5 pm

Saturday | October 2, 2021

• • 8:30 am - 9:30 am | Breakfast/pre-plenary socializing

• 9:50 am | Word of Welcome

  • 10:00 am - 10:40 am | Plenary I- Dr. Edmondson

  • 11:00 am- 12:30 pm | Concurrent Sessions I

  • 12:30 pm -1:15 pm | Lunch

  • 1:30 pm- 2:10 pm | Plenary II- Dr. Weichbrodt

  • 2:15 pm- 3:45 pm | Concurrent Sessions II

  • 4:00 pm-4:40 pm | Plenary III Dr. Ince

  • 4:50 pm | Closing

• Praise service 7 pm (Christ the Redeemer/Grace Mosaic)

  • Live Streaming available (YouTube)

*Plenary Descriptions

• • Plenary I- Dr. Edmondson

Costs of Clarity: Speaking Clearly as a Witness in Times of Division

From Polarization to propaganda, we stand at a critical moment with discerning, valuing, and articulating truth and reality. We will explore the costs of clarity from the pulpit to the pews. We will also explore the temptations of ambiguity and easy answers and how Christ’s Holy Spirit empowered cultural humility is the way forward.

• • Plenary II- Dr. Weichbrodt

A Healing Wound: Lessons From Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth

This talk introduces the artist Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth as a model for engaging with cultural or personal dissonance. Shibboleth was a purposeful crack in the museum floor and visitors' responses suggest two different ways of dealing with the unknown: we can see it as a threat to our safety, or we can choose to explore it and seek to understand. I argue that, as Christians, our approach should be the latter. Art like Salcedo's can equip us to see rupture as an invitation to self-reflection rather than an unbreachable barrier.

• • Plenary III- Dr. Ince

Hope Is Not a Hustle: Gospel Hope for Pursuing Beautiful Community

The content of this plenary will focus on answering the primary questions Dr. Ince has received in response to his book, The Beautiful Community: Unity, Diversity, and the Church at Its Best. Dr. Ince has observed that most of these questions center the issue of hope.

*In person & livestreamed, links forthcoming

*Concurrent Session 1

• 11:00 am | Listening through the Noise | Jarrett | Workshop | Collins Room & Online

• 11:00 am | Racial Reconciliation: Everyone has a role to play. What's yours? | Experiential | Melissa | Barat Room & Online

• 11:00 am | The Gospel in a Polarized Society | Rick | Presentation | Hyacinth Room & Online

• 11:00 am | Cultivating Our Roots | Kayti | Experiential | in person only, location TBD

• 11:45 am | Welcoming immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers | Presentation | Josh | Barat Room & Online

• 11:45 am | Theology of Pilgrimage | Keith | Presentation | Hyacinth Room & Online

• 11:50 am | Denominational & cultural history within European descended church bodies | Presentation | Alexei | Online only

*Subject to change

*Concurrent Session II

• 2:15 pm | My Culture, Your Culture, Church Culture | Craig | Workshop | Collins Room & Online

• 2:15 pm | Reparations and Church Leadership | Workshop | Lowell | Barat Room & Online

• 2:15 pm | Principles for Calling Racism Out and Receiving Course Correction | Marlysa | Workshop | Online only

• 3:00 pm | The Power of Story: Autobiography, History, and the Journey from Racism to Equity | Presentation | Bobby | Hyacinth & Online

*Subject to change

Conference Format

• Hybrid

  • in-person in Washington, DC & online depending on registration

• Plenary

  • conceptually-rich 20 minute oral presentation followed by 20 minute Q&A moderated by ICCM staff

    • in-person & live-streamed, platform TBA

• Workshop

  • interactive session ranging between 45-90 minutes with small group discussion and practical applications

    • in-person & on Zoom unless otherwise specified

• Presentation

  • conceptually-rich 20 minute oral presentation followed by 20 minute Q&A

    • in-person & on Zoom

• Experiential

  • like a workshop but focused less on learning objectives and more on spiritual formation

    • in-person only

*Concurrent Sessions Descriptions

Concurrent Sessions I

• 11:00 am | Listening through the Noise | Jarrett | Workshop | Collins Room & Online | 90 min

United by Christ but barely holding together, our churches are wearing thin amidst the strain of a polarizing society, the effects of our own sin, and the assaults of the devil. This workshop will connect core doctrines of the Christian faith to the practice of hearing each other through this noise. Participants will use this framework to engage in discussion and reflection and be equipped to lead a similar experience in their local congregation.

• 11:00 am | Racial Reconciliation: Everyone has a role to play. What's yours? | Experiential | Melissa | Barat Room & Online | 40 min

This session will invite participants to consider narratives, experiences, and/or other influences that hinder involvement in the necessary work of racial reconciliation through the gospel of Jesus Christ. During this session, Melissa will share her perspective and what she has learned through urban church planting in Boston, particularly mistakes and failings, which helped provide clarity on her journey toward seeking to live out the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission through the local church amidst a backdrop of systemic racism, inequality and injustice. Participants will define and process terms, for the purpose of honest self assessment.

• 11:00 am | Cultivating Our Roots | Kayti | Experiential | In person only, outside at venue | 60 min

We all have roots. Every individual, institution, the Church, NGO's, government, country, culture and community all have roots. When we begin to understand what our roots are, how to cultivate them, we can better understand the formation, history and culture, and how to move forward in being a healthier and impactful self or entity with our unique attributes and gifts. Join us in an experiential session that will deepen your perspective in cultivating your roots of your/organization’s identity. All materials will be provided, please come with an open mind and heart.

• 11:00 am | The Gospel in a Polarized Society | Rick | Presentation | Hyacinth Room & Online | 40 min

Center for Christian Civics Executive Director Rick Barry brings a condensed presentation meant to connect Biblical principles to our divided cultural context with Q&A.

• 11:45 am | Theology of Pilgrimage | Keith | Presentation | Hyacinth Room & Online | 40 min

In this session, participants will engage a practical and theologically rich framework of Christian pilgrimage for personal and communal spiritual formation and transformation in your city, town or village. Dr. Daniel will share and reflect with participants from over a decade of pilgrimage experiences as a participant, pastor, facilitator and collaborative design leader with Duke faculty, staff, students and community leaders.

• 11:45 am | Welcoming immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers | Presentation | Josh | Online only | 40 min

Many of the communities we call home are also the homes of growing numbers of immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. This offers the church a unique and beautiful cross-cultural opportunity to extend the welcome, mercy, and justice of Jesus. In this session we will explore what it might look like for your community to grow in open-eyed awareness, meaningful relationship, and loving action with immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers.

• 11:50 am | Denominational & cultural history within European descended church bodies | Presentation | Alexei | Online only | 40 min

This presentation is designed to assist participants to work through the role of denominational and cultural history within European descended church bodies and their relative role in owning a specific faith history around cultural harm/cultural barriers.

Concurrent Sessions II

• 2:15 pm | Reparations and Church Leadership | Workshop | Lowell | Barat Room & Online | 60 min

We will discuss the theory of reparations as understood by Kwon and Thompson in their book Reparations, how we have practiced reparations in our community, and how folks can practice reparations in their communities.

• 2:15 pm | Principles for Calling Racism Out and Receiving Course Correction | Marlysa | Workshop | Online only | 90 min

This 90 min session will give participants a chance to learn principles for how to call racism out when it is taking place using a set of principles that Marlysa D. Gamblin, founder and CEO of GamblinConsults and anti-racist and racial equity expert developed. These principles are rooted in aspects of the character of Jesus. Participants will also have an opportunity to learn how to respond when they are called into healthy accountability and course correction after doing or saying something that maintains or exacerbates racism and therefore hurts the Kingdom of God.

• 2:15 pm | My Culture, Your Culture, Church Culture | Craig | Workshop | Collins Room & Online | 90 min

To navigate cross-culturally, we must understand culture. In this workshop, we learn the basic building blocks of culture, explore how to recognize our own culture and that of others, and discern Christ-like ways for navigating cultural pitfalls, especially in the Church.

• 3:00 pm | The Power of Story: Autobiography, History, and the Journey from Racism to Equity | Presentation | Bobby | Hyacinth & Online | 40 min

This presentation will provide a narrative account of the speaker’s journey from racist to embracing racial equity with an emphasis on the dual roles of personal relationship and the study of history. How does one reconcile a personal, regrettable past with their completely different present? Dr. Griffith will cover the power of story, and why it is important to embrace an honest history in order to pursue hope.

*Zoom links forthcoming