team selection & preparation
HOW ARE THEY SELECTED?
Team members are selected based on a number of criteria.Great care is taken to ensure that the Team reflects the great diversity found in this city in terms of race, gender, age, skills, economic status/class, geography and lay/clergy.
Additionally, applicants are asked to answer a series of questions designed to discern:
- the applicant’s interest/ motivation for doing this work;
- what relevant gifts, skills and experiences the applicant would bring to the Team;
- the applicant’s aptitude for antiracism work;
- the applicant’s insights and concerns for the transformation of our synod into an antiracist movement for peace and justice;
- the applicant’s affinity for the definition and analysis of racism along with the approach and strategies being employed by the Team.
The ultimate goal in our selection process is to build a cohesive team that will work in unison towards the goal of building an antiracist church.
TRAINING
Antiracism team members undergo a rigorous training process designed to facilitate the formation, development and equipping of the Team for the difficult work ahead. The entire training process lasts approximately 18 months. Upon completion of this initial training, team members are prepared to use their skills and strategies to lead their institution toward long-term structural and programmatic transformation.
Training includes some specific objectives:
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Development of a team analysis of systemic racism and;
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Research and data gathering regarding racism in the synodical institution, based on a common analysis of racism and;
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Building of team coherence and unity;
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Ensuring that there is a clarity of team purpose and objectives, based on a common analysis of racism.
Once these objectives are met, the Team develops short-term and long-term strategies for action. Concrete plans for action are developed for the next five years of this ministry along with a long-term vision for the team’s work during the next 20 to 30 years.
Specific skills developed within the team during this phase include:
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Teaching skills - team members are enabled with the capacity to do introductory educational events on the nature of systemic racism, as well as on the specific needs for change within their institution;
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Organizing skills - team members are equipped with the skills to strategize, organize and implement plans for structural change;
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Research and evaluation - team members develop tools and strategies that affect ongoing evaluation and assessment of transformative work within the institution.
Upon completion of initial team training all team members undergo continual training for the express purpose of furthering their knowledge of the history of racism and the continual development of the skills and tools necessary for the effective dismantling of systemic racism.
