Annual Meeting Keynote: Common Grace Church / Eastmorland Community Center Leaders
Common Grace is a church in Madison that exemplifies what a church as a center of justice and community care can look like. In 2021, Zion Faith Community (ELCA) sold its building and federated with Lakeview Moravian Community Church to form Common Grace "to create space for life-giving community work and to build relationships that positively impact our neighborhood through love and service." This small congregation has participated in Awaken Dane, hosted Safe Surrender events with Guns to Gardens, runs a backpack food program and a monthly pop-up food pantry, and houses a Fair Trade store, arts center, and parent coaching/spiritual development organization within its building, all while growing its connections to become a neighborhood hub. They have rebranded their building as the Eastmorland Community Center and are in the process of redeveloping it into both housing and community center space. Come hear leaders from Common Grace and learn from their work of seeking "to provide physically, emotionally, and spiritually safe space for people to learn, gather, worship, and create community together."
Location
New Heights Church at The Grove: Regional Community Center, 314 Anne St., Mazomanie, WI 53560
Schedule
8:30 Registration Opens / Refreshments Available
9:30 Welcome & Morning Worship
10:00 Business Meeting
11:30 Keynote
12:30 lunch
1:30 Workshops
2:30 Break
2:45 Workshops
3:45 Adjourn
Workshops (more information coming soon)
Building Renewal Panel This panel will create space for in-depth interaction with our keynote presenters (Common Grace/Eastmorland Neighborhood) and other congregations transforming their buildings as community centers.
WISE Congregations/Organizations Join the mission to be Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive and Engaged (WISE) in the Mental Health of the community and the wider world. Come learn more about how/why to take these steps. Facilitated by Rev. Kristal Klemme.
What Now? Religious Equity, Social Justice, and an Unknown Future Rev. Dr. J. Cody Nielsen, Executive Director of Convergence Strategies, an international nonprofit focusing on issues of religious and spiritual culture, ideology, and inclusion will lead a conversation about where the post-2024 election may cause us to recognize about ourselves, our world, and the work that lay ahead. Join this conversation as we consider the role of the Church as a voice for justice in our communities in this time.
Embrace Discomfort + Transform Conflict Join Kirstie Yu, the Equity & Workforce Specialist at the Wisconsin Primary Health Care Association and Rachel Peller, Director of Wisconsin Partners, a coalition of community-based groups and statewide associations collaborating across perspectives and communities for a better Wisconsin for this workshop. For change and healing to happen, we need to connect across divides. The comfortable need to embrace discomfort in order to grow; the uncomfortable need space to heal. This workshop will explore theories around people's relationship with discomfort, build capacity for change, and allow for practice in the early stages of conflict transformation.
Open Time for Networking/Connecting
Where should I stay?
There are national chain hotels located in Sauk City (15 minutes from host site) and Middleton/West Side of Madison (25 minutes from host site). Please make sure to plan travel time.