Congregational Resource Day: "Be Peace Together: Equipping one another to be peacemakers" 

 REGISTRATION IS NOW CLOSED.  

Walk-ins are welcome, but please be aware that some workshops may be closed due to space constraints.  Please bring your own lunch or plan to get lunch  nearby. 

Bishop Shaw and Bishop Harris invite every congregation to be a bearer of peace in our communities.  Join us for a congregational resource day focusing on the tools and support we need to Be Peace Together.  The event begins with a plenary featuring the Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd of Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, Connecticut.  There are eight workshops that are offered twice, and each participant will choose two to attend.  The day concludes with a wonderfully interactive session from Urban Improv.

This event is FREE, but registration is requested.  You may choose a boxed lunch for $10, or bring your own lunch, or get lunch from one of the nearby eateries. 

There is a YOUTH TRACK for middle and high school students.  Youth will enjoy workshops planned and led by youth representatives from the diocese, pizza, and Urban Improv!  Please register the names of youth online or email Sam Gould at sgould@diomass.org with numbers of youth and/or questions.

Free PARKING is available at the college, and the college is right across the street from the Roxbury Crossing T-stop on the orange line. 

SCHEDULE 
9:00 -- 9:30  Check-in registration and continental breakfast (Theater building)
9:30 -- 10:30  Welcome and Plenary by the Rev. Kathleen Adams-Shepherd of Newtown, CT
10:45 --12:00  Morning Workshop. Choose one. *
12:00 -- 1:00  Lunch (either on your own or in the cafeteria). Boxed lunches are available for $10 and must be pre-ordered.
1:00 -- 2:15  Afternoon Workshop.  Choose one. *
2:30 -- 3:15  Urban Improv interactive performance
3:15 -- 3:40  Wrap-up, next steps and closing litany

Workshops:

There are a variety of workshops offered once in the morning and once in the afternoon (except for Curbing Urban Youth Violence, which is only in the morning).  

Please note that some workshops are now CLOSED to walk-in registrants, due to space constraints.

WORKSHOPS (Offered twice. Participants may choose two)

(Just Added!) B-PEACE for Jorge: Crafting an Effective Plan for Community Engagement -- This workshop helps participants craft an effective plan for community engagement around your group's goals.  Why are you called to B-PEACE and whom do you need to invite to join you?  Reflect on the values that are motivating you to be part of the campaign and learn how to let these values strategically guide your invitation to others to join you.

Til Love Create a Place: Community Trauma and Liturgical Response -- How can our liturgies offer welcome, solace and hope in the wake of violent tragedy? Join Thomas Brown (Parish of the Epiphany, Winchester) and Patrick Ward (Trinity, Boston) as they share lessons learned from serving in two very different communities that have each responded liturgically to violence in creative ways. We’ll explore new prayer forms; adapting liturgical space for lament and healing; broadening Prayer Book worship to welcome other faiths; inviting active participation from worshipers through liturgical action; and music.

Where do crime guns come from?  Engaging citizens in the fight against gun trafficking– Through interactive exercises and multi-media pieces, Traffick Jam Community Workshops led by Citizens for Safety raise awareness of the “Iron Pipeline” that supplies guns used in crime. Workshop participants learn how police track crime guns, where they come from, how loopholes in the law aid traffickers, and steps citizens can take to reduce gun trafficking and make their neighborhoods safer. 

Getting Engaged in Government:  Shaping Public Policy -- Join Massachusetts State Representatives Byron Rushing (Boston) and Tom Conroy (Wayland) to discuss how you can make a difference, have influence, and shape legislation on Beacon Hill.  We’ll discuss issues you care about:  guns, the environment, education, poverty, and other topics.  You will learn about effective ways to connect with your elected officials, persuade them to champion a cause, or support your position. 

A Stranger in a Strange Land: Helping Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence -- Often survivors find themselves struggling with their identities as people of faith – when the very person that they love also happens to be the person who threatens and hurts them the most. Survivors turn to their communities, their congregations, their families and their peers and often receive misinformation as well as a sense of judgment or shame. This workshop explores the intersections between faith/spirituality and healing following violence and abuse and shares a restorative and transformative model that communities can use.  Presented by Susan Chorley of Renewal House shelter for women.

Mentoring Through Church-School Partnerships – Lallie Lloyd and other leaders of existing church-school partnerships will lead this interactive workshop exploring the What, How and Why of church-school partnerships as a way of addressing the root causes of violence. Sharing challenges and successes, leaders will discuss how engaging their communities through the schools has been good for their congregation. You will take away concrete tools for getting started.  DURING THE MORNING WORKSHOP ONLY: We will have a separate breakout group for existing partnerships. 

How Shall We Work Together? Youth Ministers, Families and Youth Addressing the Impact of Violence in Our Communities -- This workshop is designed for congregations, youth ministers and young people interested in developing their ministries to more intentionally address the impact of violence in our communities, especially as it affects youth and families.  This workshop will leave you with fresh ideas and encouragement as well as actionable plans for networking with others in the diocese who feel called to serve together with youth and families to address violence.  Presented by the BPEACE Youth and Family Supports Committee.

AVAILABLE ONLY IN THE MORNING! Curbing Urban Youth Violence:  How to Hire a Youth at Your Business in 5 Easy Steps --  The B-Peace for Jorge Campaign recognizes that root causes of "youth violence" in particular are linked to a lack of employment opportunities, lack of a living wage, educational failures, financial pressures and historical trauma. All these things contribute to the issues prevalent among those caught in the cycle of violence.  Come learn about how youth job creation is a part of a larger strategy to create more peaceful communities and learn five easy steps to hiring a youth at your business. Led by the BPEACE Youth Jobs Team.