Figures of Speech: The Art of Radical Inclusivity

Description:

This expressive arts workshop was designed to assist clergy and laity at Emmanuel United Methodist Church with developing more cultural humility towards their LGBTQ+ siblings. Participants will be provided with an overview of the basic principles of cultural humility and through the incorporation of psychoeducation, art-making, and creative writing, they will work to assess their motivation for change, reconcile internal tensions, and identify internal resources that can guide their ongoing cultural humility work. Topics related to gender identity, sexual orientation, empathy, intersectionality, and trauma-informed pastoral care will be discussed. Best practices for how to integrate cultural humility principles into one’s spiritual practice and ministry settings will also be explored.

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to articulate how their words, silence, action, and inaction can be either helpful or harmful to the faith development and overall health and well-being of their LGBTQ+ siblings.

• Participants will use the expressive arts to assess their motivation for change, work to reconcile internal tensions, and identify internal resources that can assist with guiding their ongoing cultural humility work.

• Participants will explore best practices for responsibly integrating cultural humility principles into their spiritual practice and ministry settings as they strive to embody ministries that more fully communicate liberation and reconciliation for all.

Target Audience:

Registration will be limited to 12 (3 clergy/9 laity) participants from Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Laurel, Maryland.

Informed Consent:

This workshop will be used to satisfy the qualitative research requirements for the facilitator's doctoral project through Wesley Theological Seminary. The informed consent issues in this project involve questionnaires, group interviews, artifacts, narratives, and field notes. The facilitator will anonymize the data by not collecting names on questionnaires. Additionally, for data collected during the group interviews, and throughout the artmaking process, such as the artifacts, narratives, and field notes, participants will be identified with an alphanumeric code. Participants will be required to fill out the confidentiality covenant and the informed consent form at the start of the workshop.

Continuing Education Units:

This workshop has been approved by the Baltimore-Washington Conference's Board of Ordained Ministry and all clergy participants will receive 1 CEU upon completion the workshop. Participation includes the in-person instruction and the pre/post surveys and/or interviews.

Hospitality:

A continental breakfast and boxed lunch will be served. Water, hot coffee, and snacks will also be available to participants for the duration of the event.

Facilitator Bio:

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rev. Martina E. Efodzi is a Board-Certified Art Therapist, Licensed Clinical Professional Art Therapist and Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Washington, DC, and Maryland. Deeply committed to social justice concerns, she earned a B.A. in political science and a M.Div. in religious studies from Howard University in 2002 and 2007 respectively, before receiving a M.A. in art therapy from George Washington University in 2011. As an ordained Deacon in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, she serves in an appointment beyond the local church as a psychotherapist in private practice and an adjunct professor of art therapy at George Washington University. For over ten years, prior to that, she served at a community health center where she specialized in providing culturally sensitive care to marginalized groups, specifically those living with HIV/AIDS and members of the LGBTQ+ community. In addition to her clinical work, Martina has facilitated a countless number of expressive arts workshops with a variety of schools, universities, government agencies, community and faith-based organizations and churches for individuals of all ages and abilities, along the East Coast. She is currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry in Soul Care from Wesley Theological Seminary.