This workshop seeks to provide a historical overview, basic tools for engagement, a shared common language, and information on the current reality of the situation on the ground in Israel/Palestine –  the land and people of the Christian, Muslim and Jewish faiths.

The goals of the Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the PCUSA are to:
1) Encourage involvement of individuals, congregations, presbyteries, task groups and other entities in the search for a just peace in Israel/Palestine.
2) Educate the church about the facts on the ground.
3) Find constructive avenues to change conditions that erode humanity of both Israelis and Palestinians, especially those living under colonial occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza.

Bring your questions, curiosity, and an open heart and mind. Leave with a toolkit for ways to move out of this space in prophetic action.

This workshop offers biblical and theological foundation and practical help in ensuring the church’s full welcome and embrace of LGBTQIA+ people. We’ll acknowledge the different ways our churches have addressed issues of sexual orientation and gender identity and how views have changed. We’ll consider particular acts of hospitality we can take with our words and deeds to strengthen our congregations and our common life for all people. The workshop includes a basic overview of terminology, deeper theological reflection, and practical help. Participants will share ideas and shape the content through their own interests, experiences and needs.

The world doesn’t look like us, exclusively. God has shown us what is good. God calls for actions that are impartial, love for compassion, and walking respectfully with God. Native American Presbyterians continue to be some of the most overlooked constituencies in Christianity. Often only considered when a “mission trip” is on a church’s agenda or during Christmas when considering doing something “nice” for the least among us. Toward a Just, Compassionate and Respectful Pathway with Native Americans is not a history lesson but a real-world example of that journey of understanding with God and our neighbors. It presents cultural awareness between the Native American cultures of this country and those who came after them. The workshop uses five-hundred years of documented information to reveal what most have never heard concerning the lack of honesty, grace and respect toward Native Americans and shows the pathway Micah describes for all God’s children. God emphasizes value in moral and spiritual obedience more than ritual and ceremony. Micah 6:8 isn’t just referring to humility; Micah is inviting us to give, sacrifice and empty ourselves into our world. This leads to restoring God’s image not only in us but inspires us to be instruments of change to everyone, not just family and friends, not just to those who look like us.
This workshop should be our first step on a journey, “El Camino”, of understanding —with God and with our neighbors. The actions Micah is sharing are a heavenly roadmap for living honestly, showing grace, and walking respectfully in our faith journey.

Noted as one of the nation’s premier heritage and cultural museums, the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, is steadfast in its mission to share the culture and lessons from the American Civil Rights Movement and explore how this significant era continues to shape equality and freedom globally. Established in 1991, the National Civil Rights Museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968.  You will have a 90-minute private tour through the exhibits to learn more about a tumultuous and inspiring period of change.
The museum underwent a $27.5 million renovation in 2013 and 2014, adding more than 40 new films, oral histories and interactive media to the already robust galleries. The result is a one-of-a-kind experience that has been featured on the History Channel and CNN, in USA Today and as the focus for the Academy Award-nominated documentary The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306.  Additionally, the museum is among the top 5% of institutions to be accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is a founding member of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, which brings together historic sites, museums and memory initiatives from all around the globe that connect past struggles to today’s movements for human rights and social justice.
Fee: $37

Tour this once deserted “disaster” of 1.5 million-square-foot building that now anchors a thriving neighborhood in Memphis. Built between the World Wars to be a Sears store and shipment center, Crosstown Concourse has been readapted as a “vertical village.” The building houses a YMCA with a pool, a health clinic for the working poor, a high school, condos and apartments, offices, restaurants, bars, shops, a theater and a contemporary art center. We will explore the building and hear about the years-long redevelopment of this property from one of the developers, art history professor and MDiv, Todd Richardson. During the visit, there will be an opportunity to visit a stall or two on your own for shopping, coffee, or a snack.
Fee: $40