Come One, Come All to the
2024 Pre-Synod Assembly Event:
Exploring Culture, Identity, and Faith
to Confront Racism
“Racism is the opposite of what God intends for humanity.” (GA222, 2016, Facing Racism)
Want a place to start? We are here for you. Want a place to realign? We are here to help. Want to be in community with others to struggle against racism? Join us.
The facilitators will take participants through a series of interactive activities that will allow you to explore the PCUSA Policy Facing Racism from a very personal place.
The workshops will provide frameworks and tools for you to understand how culture and identity impact how racism permeates your community whether you perceive it or not. Fundamental to our approach is that everyone will thrive when all are liberated.
We will examine the interrelatedness of individual, interpersonal, institutional and systemic racism. The tools will help you assess how power, privilege, and microaggressions operate so that every participant is empowered to take action within your sphere of influence. We will specifically address white racial consciousness in predominantly white institutions as a way to build stronger cross-racial relationships in service of a healthy multiracial future.
Sessions will take place:
Session #1: Thursday 10:30 am-12:00 pm
Session #2: Thursday 1:00-5:30 pm
Session #3: Friday 8:30-10:30 am
Facilitators
The Rev. Molly Casteel facilitates conversations/training across the Presbyterian Church USA and beyond in her anti-oppression practice as staff and as a consultant. She was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and grew up navigating and contesting historical and contemporary harms as they are wielded across cultures and with inequitable power. An ordained Presbyterian minister and Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI) and the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory (ICS), she is an alum/fellow of the Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI) and Finding Freedom. Molly practices coaching approaches to social justice, advocacy, and abolition solidarity. She is a conflict transformation facilitator with Resetting The Table, which leans into differences and grows empathy and connection moving through conflicts. She has over 30 years of advocacy, community development, and cultural shift work in organizations and groups - secular and religious. Rev. Casteel volunteers with Restorative Actions — an economic equity initiative born from the intersection of theology, justice, and economics. She lives with her partner in Louisville, Kentucky, and is a member of Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery.
Christine Saxman is the co-author of Being White Today: A Roadmap for a Positive Antiracist Life with Shelly Tochluk and the Western State Center’s Toolkit “Confronting Conspiracy Theories and Organized Bigotry at Home: A Guide for Parents and Caregivers” with Shelly Tochluk and Joanna Schroeder. Her racial justice work has been featured on NPR’s Life Kit and other shows.
A seasoned racial equity facilitator, coach, and consultant with twenty years of experience, she guides White people to transform into healthy antiracist change agents. She also co-facilitates interracially to help organizations to build cross-racial equity transformation into leadership. She brings particular skill to helping individuals and organizations achieve sustainable change that is both racially conscious and culturally relevant.
While leading Saxman Consulting, she stays true to her interracial commitments through partnerships with the National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), the Race Institute for K-12 Educators, and the Interracial Transformation Collective, Ismalis Nuñez, Krischanna Roberson, and Nicole Shimizu who cultivate the power of identity in cross-racial relationships.
She came to racial and social justice work through the classroom, earning recognition as an Illinois Golden Apple Finalist and Teacher of Distinction. She holds a M.A. in English and a M.S. in Education from Northwestern University.