This article was originally published by The Mennonite

Pink Menno to host first-ever symposium at KC2015

Pink Menno will convene its first-ever symposium during the Kansas City 2015 convention.

Focused on intersectionality, “On the Way: Dis-Covering Diversity,” will be held in Pink Menno’s hospitality space in Room 2504B of the Kansas City Convention Center.

The symposium will be built on four pillars—one per day: queer liberation, trauma healing and resilience, structural power within MC USA, and resistance to white supremacy.

The program flows out of collaborative work with Inclusive Pastors, the Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests (BMC) and Our Stories Untold. It  includes a number of sessions that were rejected as seminar proposals by Mennonite Church USA for the official program.

The first day, July 1, is titled “On the Way to Queer Liberation.”

It will start with a hands-on workshop, using role plays to build practical skills for liberating nonviolence, led by Tim Nafziger, a reservist with Christian Peacemaker Teams. The second morning session, on Gender 101, will be led by Jennifer Yoder, communications and engagement director for CPT, and Pink Menno leader Christian Parks. They will offer an introduction to what gender identity is. In the afternoon, “Engendering Complexity: a Panel on Gender, Identity and Empowerment” will focus on the many ways gender impacts our lived realities. The final two sessions will look specifically at what it means to queer our image of God and our understanding of Christianity through a panel discussion and a presentation entitled “Queer Theology 101” with Kathy Evans.

The second day, July 2, is titled “On the Way to Trauma Healing and Resilience.”

Two sessions will be led by Our Stories Untold bloggers and editors Barbra Graber, Rachel Halder, Stephanie Krehbiel and Hilary Scarsella, and Pink Menno leader Jennifer Yoder. The morning session will be “Exploring the Misunderstandings: Sexualized Violence 101.” The afternoon includes a panel discussion on “What’s to be done about John Howard Yoder?: How the church perpetuates sexualized violence.”

Also starting on Thursday, confidential self-help support groups will be held off-site for survivors of sexualized violence and their loved ones. These groups will be sponsored by OSU and facilitated by leaders from The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. They are specifically for people who have had a sexualized encounter that left them feeling shocked, shamed or disempowered by anyone inside or outside the church. All genders are welcome.

The third day, July 3, is titled “On the Way to Address Structural Power.”

It will begin in the morning with a presentation on “Race, Sex and the Politics of Belonging in the Mennonite Church” with Mennonite scholars Stephanie Krehbiel, Tobin Miller Shearer and Felipe Hinojosa. In the afternoon, a panel discussion on “Who’s got power?” will feature Wendi O’Neal, a cultural worker and racial justice organizer from New Orleans.

The final day, July 4, is titled “Standing in Resistance Against White Supremacy.”

The day will start with a presentation on “Displacing Whiteness” with Jennifer Yoder and Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, interdisciplinary queer scholar of theology and ethics. Following that, Jordan Luther and Malcolm Aquinini will lead an hour-long “Racism 101,” offering an introductory level presentation. In the afternoon, writer and speaker Drew Hart will present on “How Anabaptism failed the Black Church.” Rachel Halder will lead a closing ceremony for the symposium entitled “From Loss to Transformation.”

Along with the symposium, Pink Menno will lead open hymn sings throughout the convention center and co-convene a worship service with the Inclusive Pastors and the BMC. This worship service, focused around the theme “Bound Together, Together Free,” will be held on June 30, at 5 p.m. and located at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, across the street from the Convention Center.

The symposium is free, though donations welcome. Registration for the MC USA convention is required to access the Pink Menno hospitality room.

The symposium hosted by Pink Mennos is not an official program of Mennonite Church USA KC2015.

Photo: Pink Menno participants during a delegate session at Phoenix 2013. Photo provided by Pink Menno. 

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