The Desert Southwest Conference is partnering with Alyssa Edmondson and her company Dialogos Creative to explore new ways to integrate artistic practices that uproot norms, plant ideas, and grow community. The Annual Conference planning team consists of laity and clergy within the Conference and is lead by Katherine Ziegler-Tang, Beth Rambikur, and Alyssa Edmondson. The planning team began meeting in March and since then has devised an 8-hour facilitated workshop. This is an immersive workshop that starts with identifying how we naturally listen and turning those assets into creative tools that challenge us to share stories before opinions in order to create empathetic dialogue. We then name our values, ask why we are United Methodists, meditate on our questions, and finally, we began to look to the future by imagining if…
In order to facilitate 600 people, Alyssa will train 40 laity and clergy facilitators to assist in the four corners of the room. The 40 facilitators will rotate throughout the conference so that they can also participate. The creative leaders of the conference will be 15 young people (ages 16+) that together will devise a performance that weaves together discoveries and experience. In order to do this work, we are looking for facilitators and creative leaders that have diverse backgrounds, are creative activists, and gracious listeners. The facilitators and creative leaders will be sent training videos to watch before June 12th when we will all meet for an hour an a half training session. We will also do a 30-minute check-in before the conference begins on Thursday. We hope to find as many people as possible who are passionate about making this conference a courageous and creative space.
If you have any questions or are interested reach out to Alyssa Edmondson and copy Katherine and Beth.
Alyssa Edmondson alyssa@dialogoscreative.co
Katherine Ziegler-Tang katherine.z.tang@gmail.com
Beth Rambikur brambikur@dscumc.org
