Registrations are now open for three Called to Transformation Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) facilitator formation workshops in 2018.

The workshops will be held:

• Monday to Thursday, August 13 – 16 at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, VA
• Monday to Thursday, October 8 – 11 at St. Columba Center in Memphis, TN
• and two parallel tracks in Spanish and English on Monday to Thursday, October 22 -25 at Mater Dolorosa Center in Los Angeles, CA.

The workshops are designed to train leaders in methods and tools to enhance local ministry and mission.

Participants need to attend only one of the workshops.

“The Episcopal Church Office of Latino/Hispanic Ministry is excited to be partnering in this first offering of ABCD training in Spanish which will serve the Latino population in the United States as well as our churches in Province IX in Latin America,” said the Rev. Canon Anthony Guillén, Episcopal Church Director for Ethnic Ministries and Missioner for Latino/Hispanic Ministries.

Called to Transformation is a partnership between the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development.

Asset-Based Community Development

The Asset-Based Community Development workshops and online toolkit were developed to train facilitators in leading a faith community in understanding the ABCD process, explained the Rev. Melanie Mullen, Episcopal Church Director of Reconciliation, Justice, and Creation Care. “Equipping people to use Asset-Based Community Development skills empowers church leaders and the communities we touch, to get out of toxic charity-based mindsets, and really do faith in action,” she said.

Through the trainings, participants will learn about the theory and the practice of ABCD work, and then begin the process of creating a working plan to implement an Asset-Based Community Development project in their own ministry community.

Asset-Based Community Development engages communities at a grassroots level to recognize local assets – such as people, buildings, relationships and even faith – and creatively envision how to use that abundance to achieve goals and imagine new forms of ministry.

Sean McConnell, Episcopal Relief & Development’s Senior Director of Engagement said, “ABCD focuses on the gifts and strengths of individuals, congregations and organizations, and helps community members dream new possibilities leveraging the gifts they have. By recognizing their own gifts, people are empowered to more deeply invest in achieving the shared goals of the community.”

Registration

Registration and more information are here.

Registration  is $175 per person per workshop, which includes room, all meals, handouts, etc. Transportation to the training is not included. Deadline for registration for is four weeks prior to the event. Space is limited; early register is encouraged.

The Called to Transformation Asset-Based Community Development online toolkit and facilitator formation process were developed by the Episcopal Church and Episcopal Relief & Development with assistance from the Beecken Center of the School of Theology at the University of the South.  

For more information contact Mullen, The Rev. Melanie Mullen, or McConnell, smcconnell@episcopalrelief.org