Cost: $65 (lunch included with a light afternoon snack)
Thursday night dinner: On your own
PRE-REGISTER for Anti-Racism and Diversity Training and Conversation – (Thursday night accommodations should be made when you register for Annual Meeting)
If you have questions, please contact See Chang (comadmin@uccmn.org) or Kelly Gallagher (kellyg@uccmn.org).
Every two years, authorized ministers of the Minnesota Conference are required to take a workshop on Anti-Racism and Diversity. We are offering a training prior to the Annual Meeting and hope that those who are planning to come to the Annual Meeting can combine these opportunities.
We are pleased this to welcome Rev. Jia Starr Brown as our training leader, who will lead us through a conversation exploring the depths of racism in our society, where we are today with racial justice and racism, and how we talk and teach about these things. We will then move into how we can begin to engage authentic conversation now.
About the facilitator
Rev. Jia Starr Brown’s experience in community education, engagement, and outreach encompasses more than 25 years. She has served as a diversity trainer and community educator, continuing to be a fierce advocate for underrepresented and marginalized communities. Living out loud as an African American lesbian pastor, Pastor Jia is a truth teller, known for her activism and advocacy, and her innovation of interfaith learning platforms that permeate the fringed boundaries of faith, race, and access. Rev. Brown is the Project Designer and Coordinator of the ACTION Project, a three-year immersive journey toward intercultural competence, now offered to congregations throughout the state in partnership with Minnesota Council of Churches’ Truth and Reparations Initiative.
Pastor Jia holds a Master of Divinity from Luther Seminary, and is completing her Doctorate of Ministry in Social Transformation at United Theological Seminary this Spring, 2023. She is also completing her Spiritual Direction certification (Still Harbor) this June. Pastor Jia is married to her wife, Jennifer, and is the mother of five inspiring children ranging in age from teenagers to young adults…and the grandmother of one “cupcake” adorable grandson! Her life philosophy: “I give what I need.”