Join us on December 6th for the Wisconsin Council of Churches Annual Meeting. Registration costs $49 and includes access to the keynote speaker and the business session held on the morning of Tuesday, December 6th, and access to workshops held throughout the week. Most sessions will be recorded and registration will include access to these recordings.
Timing for the Meeting
9:00 Morning Prayer
9:15 Technical Orientation for Delegates
9:30 Annual Business Meeting (agenda on following page)
10:45 Break
11:00 Rethinking Rest: Keynote by Dr. Irie Lynne Session, Q&A period to follow
Business Session
The Business Meeting of the WCC will also take place on Tuesday morning. Based on previous experience, we anticipate this lasting approximately an hour. This year’s agenda should include program reports, review of financials, voting on new bylaws, voting on new associate members, and elections. Business booklets should be sent out to delegates approximately a week before the meeting. All delegates should plan to attend this session. Visitors are welcome to attend.
Keynote Presentation by Dr. Irie Lynne Session entitled “Rethinking Rest”.
Raised in the South Bronx and the New York City Housing Projects, Dr. Irie Lynne Session is a Spiritual Entrepreneur, TEDx Presenter, Award Winning Minister, Amazon Best-Selling Author, Pastor, Womanist Preacher and Church Planter with over 30 years in Social Work and ministry who has helped hundreds of women from all walks of life to live their dreams by doing what they’re wired to do. Her ministry interests and social justice commitments are situated at the intersection of Black women’s flourishing, womanist preaching, and dismantling white supremacist capitalist patriarchy.
Dr. Irie holds an undergraduate degree in Social Work from Oklahoma Christian University; a Master of Divinity with Certificate in Black Church Studies from Brite Divinity School; and a Doctor of Ministry in Transformative Leadership and Prophetic Preaching from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, in Rochester,New York. Dr. Irie is Co-Pastor of The Gathering, A Womanist Church of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Dallas, Texas. She’s been an ordained pastor with the Disciples of Christ for 17 years.
Dr. Irie is also CEO of DreamBIG Coaching & Consulting where she strategizes with women in ministry and the marketplace to discern and eliminate barriers to flourishing. She guides women in identifying and implementing creative strategies for leveraging their professional expertise, innate abilities, latent creativity, and innovative capacities to live their dreams, make a difference in the world, and achieve economic agency. Dr. Irie is also the Resident Reverend for DDT (Dancin Doug Travel), a Black owned travel company serving over 500 travelers where she preaches an annual Sermon on the Beach. She has preached on beaches in St. Maarten, Aruba, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Costa Rica. She’s also been a Professor for the Course of Study School (COSS) at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University and an Adjunct Professor at Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University.
Dr. Irie is a recipient of a $50,000 Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant (2022- 2023) from Christian Theological Seminary and a 2019 recipient of a $15,000 Pastoral Study Project Grant from the Louisville Institute. Her Pastoral Study Project research was titled, Womanist Ecclesiologies: Black Women Resisting White Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy. Also, in 2019 Dr. Irie was inducted into the 2020 Board of Preachers in the Martin Luther King Jr. International College of Ministers and Laity at Morehouse College.
Before going into full-time ministry Dr. Irie dedicated over 30 years providing social work services and ministry to thousands of women, men, and children who were marginalized by society due to histories of incarceration, substance addiction, commercial sexual exploitation, prostitution, and HIV/AIDS. Her vocational experiences include employment with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice as a Parole Officer, Child Protective Services as an Investigator, Adolescent Services Director for Bryan’s House – a Dallas non-profit serving children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS, and Director of Spiritual Support and Training for New Friends New Life, a faith-based non-profit providing serves to women seeking a way out of prostitution and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation.
Dr. Irie is co-author of The Gathering, A Womanist Church: Origins, Stories, Sermons, & Litanies. She is also author of Badass Women of the Bible and, Murdered Souls, Resurrected Lives. Her latest Journal article with Luther Seminary’s Word & World is titled, “Sawubona in a Pandemic: Black Women, Embodied Ecclesiology, and Sacred Spaces in Cyberspace.” Dr. Irie is the single mother to one daughter, 28-year-old India Liana. Motto: When Black Women Flourish So Can Everyone Else. Social Media Handles: Facebook: @revdririe IG: Revdririe / SheRev_Style Twitter: @revdririe
Workshops Throughout the Week
| Tuesday, December 6th sessions |
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| 1:00 pm | Afghan Refugee Response: The Past Year and the Future | with Rev. Peder Johanson |
| Rev. Johanson is WCC’s Volunteer Coordinator for Afghan Relief and Resettlement and is a minister of word and sacrament, rostered in the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin (ELCA). As the Volunteer Coordinator for Afghan Relief and Resettlement, his role includes helping volunteers connect with opportunities at Fort McCoy, assisting congregations in supporting resettlement agencies around the state, and working with our partners to help educate congregations and communities on matters of immigration, refugee resettlement, and welcoming our new Afghani neighbors in love and support as the body of Christ. He has an M.Div from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Columbus, OH, and recently served as pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Brodhead, WI. He lives in Brodhead with his family and enjoys creating music, building and paddling wooden canoes, and exploring the outdoors. | ||
| 2:00 pm | Mutual Aid | with Rachel Peller and Shannon Fauwkes |
| Shannon Faukes was raised Catholic and is currently a Catholic Worker at Casa Maria Hospitality House in Milwaukee, which offers housing to women and children. Their paid work is with the Milwaukee Freedom Fund, where they help develop impact surveys and co-create political education materials and sessions. They have a history of organizing, running a queer youth group in Ohio for 8 years, lobbying with Equality Ohio for 6, and joining the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in 2017. During my time in IWW, they organized with IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee (IWOC) and the Equity Caucus, which focused on accountability processes and training.
Rachel Peller is all about cooperation, curiosity, community, and consent. Her paid work is with Wisconsin Partners, a coalition of statewide associations and regional-based groups committed to collaboration across sectors, perspectives, and geographies. Her unpaid work includes bolstering housing co-ops and intentional communities, supporting timebanking and free stores, and engaging in mutual aid efforts. She was a Core Team member of Madison’s mutual aid effort during the peak of the pandemic and strongly believes that “we all do better when we all do better.” |
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| 3:00 pm | Restoration for Brothertown Nation | Phyllis O. Tousey, Chair, Brothertown Indian Nation
The Brothertown came together in the 1700’s under the leadership of Samson Occom, as a means of continuing its common culture and identity. The Tribe descends from Christian Indians of the Mohegan, Pequot, Niantic, Narragansett, Montaukett, and Tunxis tribes from seven separate Indian villages in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island, coming together in Brothertown (Eeyamquittoowauconnuck). Under pressure from the United States government, the Brothertown Indians, together with the Stockbridge-Munsee and some Oneida, removed to Wisconsin in the 1830s. In 1839 they were the first tribe of Native Americans in the United States to accept United States citizenship and allotment of their communal land to individual households, in order to prevent another removal further west. Today, the Brothertown Indian Nation is one of 12 tribal nations and Indian Communities in Wisconsin with its own government. They are currently seeking restoration of federal recognition, which requires an Act of Congress. |
| Wednesday, December 7th | ||
| 10:00am | Building Resilience Together | Rev. Libby Howe |
| Pastor Libby Howe was ordained in the ELCA in 2002. After serving two congregations in De Soto and Ferryville, WI for six and a half years she worked as the Director for Evangelical Mission and Assistant to the Bishop in the La Crosse Area Synod for over 12 years. Her work focused on congregational transitions, congregation vitality, conflict management, stewardship, and pastoral care for leaders. She has always been passionate about working for peace and justice, especially with regard to poverty, racism, and inclusion for LGBTQIA+ people in the church. In her new position as the Congregational Support Coordinator for Peace and Justice Ministries, Pastor Howe will work specifically in congregations and with leaders to expand our capacity for becoming love-focused communities unapologetically working for justice and peace in our local communities and world. She enjoys reading, writing, praying, walking with her old dog, Marley, food and fun with friends and family, and exploring quiet natural spaces. Even after living nearly 20 years in the Badger State, as a native of Ohio, she is a ridiculously zealous Ohio State football fan. She lives in La Crosse, WI on the banks of the beautiful Mississippi River. | ||
| Wednesday AND Thursday, December 7-8th | ||
| 2:00-4:30pm | Resetting the Table Workshop please register separately for this workshop using the free registration on the linked page so we can adequately plan. (note it runs 2 days)
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Differences surrounding moral and social issues have created frictions and challenges for many faith communities and leaders.
Resetting the Table’s sought-after workshop equips religious leaders with tools to support faith communities to listen and speak across differences with honesty, dignity, and grace. The program provides participants with road-tested exercises they can bring back to their own institutions as well as a chance to experience and model rich dialogue across differences among participating faith leaders. Objectives: · Learn and practice two skills for constructive communication across differences with customized coaching
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All of these are included in your Annual Meeting registration.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens at WCC’s Annual Meeting?
The Annual Meeting includes our business meeting (hear updates on the Council’s operations, vote for new members, etc), our plenary speaker, and workshops. This year, material typically covered in workshops will be spread throughout the week to allow for more participation – and so nobody has to spend an entire day with their eyes glued to the screen! Most events will be recorded so if you aren’t able to attend them live, you can still listen and learn at a time better suited to you.
Where will the Annual Meeting be held this year?
We will once again hold our Annual Meeting on Zoom, so you can access it from your home or office. A unique link will be sent for each session.
Who is invited to WCC’s Annual Meeting?
Everyone is invited and there are two ways to attend.
Each WCC member organization has official delegates who are able to vote and participate in the business meeting and all the events. If you are interested in serving as a delegate, reach out to your judicatory/organizational leaders about joining your delegation.
If you are not serving as a delegation member, you are still welcome and encouraged to join us! Anyone can attend. You will have access to all the events, but for the business meeting, you will only be able to observe. Only delegates have voice and vote for the business session.
