Preconvention Institute Sessions are held on Thursday, November 5th, 2020.
There are two sessions – one whole day, or one half-day session – from which to choose.
Thursday, November 5th 2020: Option #1 Full Day Session
9am-12:15 pm and 1:00pm-4:15pm
(6.0 CEs for this session)
Rev. Dr. Harold Dean Trulear and Dr. Charles E. Lewis Jr.
Rethinking the Role of the Church in Post-Pandemic America
Abstract:
This workshop will address how Churches have had to adapt to social distancing regulations during the months since the coronavirus was declared a pandemic. Rituals such as baptism, communion, weddings and funerals have had to be rethought. Virtual events have been substituted for public gatherings. As a result, pastors and parishioners have had to rethink their roles and the church’s place in the lives of people and community.
Harold Dean Trulear is an ordained American Baptist minister and serves as Associate Professor of Applied Theology at Howard University, where he is also immediate past president of the Gamma DC chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. He is also Director of the Healing Communities Prison Ministry and Prisoner Reentry Project of the Philadelphia Leadership Foundation. He has taught religion, public policy and community studies in several institutions including Yale University, USC, Hartford Seminary, Eastern University and Vanderbilt University. A graduate of Morehouse College (BA) and Drew University (PhD), Dr. Trulear has authored over seventy published monographs, articles, essays, sermons and reviews. He co-edited Ministry with Prisoners and Their Families: The Way Forward, with W. Wilson Goode and Charles E. Lewis.
Charles E. Lewis Jr., a political social worker, is the founder and director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP), a nonprofit organization that works to engage social workers with the U.S. Congress. He is lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work and a member of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Leadership Board. Dr. Lewis was Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for former Congressman Ed Towns and a member of the faculty of Howard University School of Social Work. He earned his MSW degree in clinical counseling from Clark Atlanta University and PhD in policy, planning and policy analysis from Columbia University.
HALF-DAY Option #2 Preconvention Institute (via Live/Remote) 
Thursday, November 5th, 2020
1:00 pm- 4:15pm
(3.0 CEs)
Lawrence Ressler
Truth, Mercy, Justice, Peace: Introductory Skills for Implementing a Multidimensional Framework for Reconciliation
Abstract:
This workshop will provide a fourfold model of reconciliation for mediation and transforming conflict that involving Truth, Mercy, Justice, and Peace. Based on Psalm 85:10, the workshop will introduce skills needed to help individuals, families, groups, and communities move toward reconciliation including speaking and listening, forgiveness, making amends, and re-framing.
Lawrence Ressler, PhD is Professor of Social Work at Cairn University. He has a BSW from Eastern Mennonite University, a master’s degree from Temple University, and a PhD from Case Western Reserve University. In addition to teaching social work and serving in administration, he has done direct practice as an individual and family counselor and is a trained mediator. Among his publications related to conflict transformation is a book entitled “Making Peace with Conflict: Practical Skills for Conflict Transformation” which he co-edited with Carolyn Schrock-Shenk (Herald Press, 1999).