SC2ER Facilitator Application

CALL for Sacred Conversations to End Racism Facilitator Applications 

SC2ER is a guided resource based on cultural immersion and cultural perspectives.  If you are interested in becoming a trained SC2ER facilitator, please visit the SC2ER webpage to view the introductory videos and table of contents.  Upon completing the application you will receive a confirmation email. 

The application process for the 2021 SC2ER Facilitator Training Cohort will begin Monday, August 31, 2020. For more information contact Rev. Dr. Velda Love Lovev@ucc.org (216) 736-3719

To become a SC2ER Facilitator in 2021:

  1. Fill out the online Facilitator Application and Request for facilitator training. 
  2. After applications have been received and approved, a follow-up email will include:

    a. Training schedules
    b. Resources and required training materials
    c. Facilitator study guide
    d. Bibliography

Guided trainings are 90 minute sessions available via Zoom video conference bi-monthly.

You are invited to begin a restorative justice journey with Sacred Conversations to End Racism (SC2ER). SC2ER facilitator trainings run quarterly:

  • Module One February – April
  • Module Two April – June
  • Module Three September – November
  • Facilitator Vetting Process and awarding of SC2ER Facilitator Certificates – December

A Restorative Justice Journey: Facilitators Guide  

“Race is not Real.  Race does not exist biologically nor anthropologically, neither is there any reference to race in the 66 canonized books of the Bible. Race is neither scientific nor sacred. Race is an artificial social construct, and it serves a social function..  

Racism is Real. Racism originates from the unholy belief that there are human groups with particular social and physical characteristics that make them superior or inferior to another human group. – Rev. Traci Blackmon, Executive Minister, Justice and Local Church Ministries, United Church of Christ

Where are we today regarding race relations within the Christian Church and Society?

The United Church of Christ remains committed to being an anti-racist church. However, we are facing a resurgence of tactics and behaviors that call for a deeper commitment to eradicate the ongoing practices of oppression, hate speech, individual bigotry, and overt violence against communities of color.

Sacred Conversations to End Racism (SC2ER) is a restorative justice journey moving people beyond anti-racism conversations to active engagement. SC2ER provides new language, strategies, and realities that engage all the intersections of our lives to unmask, dismantle, and eradicate racism in America. 

SC2ER seeks to restore humanity, eliminate myths and stereotypes, and engage in deep truth telling about the construction of whiteness and white supremacy. SC2ER enables participants to work toward:

  • Understanding the divisive nature of race categorizations & the creation of racism
  • Teach others what you have learned
  • Recognize overt racist behaviors and racial microagressions towards people of color
  • Recognize internalized racism and oppression as a person of color
  • Invite others on the journey
  • Invite the leadership of your church to participate in all four phases of SC2ER

The Facilitator  Study Guide has been developed to assist facilitators guide participants through SC2ER Journey Modules. Facilitators are available each week to engage participants more deeply in the material and journey. Interactive weekly sessions allows the group and individuals to feel and experience the sessions as they unfold through music, artwork, and videos embedded within the UCC SC2ER website. Facilitators are encouraged to purchase and review the following resources throughout the year. Facilitators-in-training are not required to purchase and view all of the resources prior to the January 2020 training session. 

Required Videos – DVD and Blu-Ray are available for purchase from Amazon. If you are an Amazon Prime subscriber some videos are free. If not you’re not a subscriber, viewing the DVD/Blu-Ray videos may be possible through a local library by request.  

  1. Africa’s Great Civilizations narrated by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  2. Reconstruction: America After the Civil War narrated by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
  3. When They See Us based on the Central Park Five – Available on Netflix, Central Park Five Streaming on PBS https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-central-park-five
  4. RACE: The Power of an Illusion is also available on the UCC website. The links to each episode is available on Vimeo. Full access will be given to SC2ER facilitators-in-training. The DVD may also be available for viewing through a local library. The series can be purchased through the PBS website https://www.racepowerofanillusion.org/

    • Episode 1 The Difference Between Us
    • Episode 2 The Story We Tell
    • Episode 3 The House We Live In

  5. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism by Dr. Robin DiAngelo
    • YouTube Video: https://www.c-span.org/video/?447421-2/white-fragility
  6. Cracking the Codes: The System of Racial Inequality. Segments of the DVD can be found on the webpage https://crackingthecodes.org/ 

Cultural Resources for SC2ER Training

  1. DiAngelo, Robin, What Does It Mean To Be White? Developing White Racial Literacy, (Peter Lang Publishing, 2012).
    ________ White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People to Talk About Racism, (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2018).
  2. Brown Douglas, Kelly, Stand Your Ground: Black Bodies and the Justice of God, Books, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2015).
  3. Resmaa, Menakem, My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies, (Central Recovery Press: Las Vegas, NV, 2017).
  4. Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States. (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2014).
  5. Ortiz, Paul. An African American and Latinx History of the United States, (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2018).
  6. Cerrotti, Dennis Lyle, Hidden Genocide, Hidden People, (Wellesley, MA: Sea Venture Press, 2014)
  7. Morrison, Toni, The Origin of Others, (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017).
  8. Ji-Sun Kim, Grace, and Graham Hill, Healing Our Broken Humanity: Practices for Revitalizing the Church and Renewing the World, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018).
  9. Chou, Rosalind S. and Joe R. Feagin, The Myth of the Model Minority: Asian Americans Facing Racism, (New York, NY: Routledge, 2016).

Biblical and Ministry Resources for SC2ER Facilitator Training

Page, Jr., Huge R., The Africana Bible: Reading Israel’s Scriptures from Africa and the
                     African Diaspora, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010).

Robinson, Elaine A., Race and Theology, Horizons in Theology, (Nashville, TN:
                     Abingdon Press, 2012).

De La Torre, Miguel, A., Reading the Bible from the Margins, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2002).
                      ________ Burying White Privilege Resurrecting A Badass Christianity, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing, 2019).

The People’s Companion to the Bible, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010).

Sanders, Cody, J. and Angela Yarber, Microaggressions in Ministry: Confronting the Hidden Violence
               of Everyday Church, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 2015).

Byron, Gay and Vanessa Lovelace, Womanist Interpretations of the Bible: Expanding the Discourse,  
              (Atlanta, GA: SBL Press, 2016).

Isasi-Diaz, Ada Maria, Mujerista Theology, (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1996).

Brown, Adrienne Marie, Emergent Church Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, (Chico, CA: AK Press, 2017).

For more information contact Rev. Dr. Velda Love Lovev@ucc.org (216) 736-3719