Opening Plenary

Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm (Central Time) (1.0 CE)

Mario Paul Flores- “What Does It Really Mean to Love Someone?”

Abstract: Followers of Jesus are to be marked by love. How do we faithfully love people right where they are? This talk will give you an impactful and practical framework to use for the rest of your life. Secondly, it will help you identify what is stopping you from accomplishing this high task of Christlike love.

Learning Objectives:

Articulate a compelling vision for what it really means to love and lead people.
Learn the two nuanced and dynamic things necessary to love and lead people like Jesus.
Identify what kind of barriers and obstacles to serving clients and accomplishing one’s stated goals.

Mario is a “people person” through and through. He has been married to Makenzie since 2017. They have two biological children, a 5-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter. Mario and Makenzie also foster through Safe Families for Children and have hosted two international students. They are both ordained in the Church of the Nazarene. In 2017 they planted Community Cup Church of the Nazarene in Kankakee, Illinois. Mario is the Senior Police Chaplain for multiple police departments in his county. Mario previously worked as a Crisis Responder for youth ages 11-17. They recently founded Liberating Leadership LLC. This leadership business has been another form of ministry that helps people become liberated and become liberators for others. His Leadership Voice is a Nurturer-Connector-Creative, he’s an Enneagram 1 and is also an above-average geek when it comes to DC, Marvel, Star Wars, and the Lord of the Rings.

References:

Your Brain is Always Listening: Tame the Hidden Dragons That Control Your Happiness, Habits, and Hang Ups,by Dr. Daniel Amen. 2021.

Love Anyway: An Invitation Beyond a World That’s Scary as Hell, by Jeremy Courtney 2019.

Practicing the Way: Be With Jesus, Become Like Him, Do as He Did, by John Mark Comer. 2024

Summum Bonum (The Highest Good) from the Point of View of Kant and Schleiermacher. By Alireza Hassanpour. 2024

The 100X Leader: How to Become Someone Worth Following by Jeremie Kubichek and Steve Cockram. 2019.

Switch On Your Brain: The Key to Peak Happiness, Thinking, and Health, by Dr. Caroline Leaf. 2013

This Here Flesh: Spirituality, Liberation, and the Stories That Make Us by Cole Arthur Riley. 2022

All Our Griefs to Bear: Responding With Resilience After Collective Trauma. By Joni Sancken. 2022.

Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World. By Rich Villodas. 2022

Living Fearless: Exchanging the Lies of the World for the Liberating Truth of God. By Jamie Winship. 2022

Alan Keith-Lucas Lecture:

Friday, October 11, 2024 at 11:30 am (CT)(1.0 CE)

Dr. Cynthia Franklin- “A Preferred Future: A Journey to Make a Difference”

Dr. Cynthia Franklin is being honored as our annual Alan Keith-Lucas Speaker. She has a long career in social work, influencing thousands and integrating her faith into practice (she lives it out in all she does).

Biography

Cynthia Franklin, PhD, LCSW-S, LMFT, is the Stiernberg/Spencer Family Professor in Mental Health and the at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Franklin has a courtesy appointment in the Department of Psychiatry and at the Dell Medical School. She holds a faculty fellowship at the Humanities Institute. Dr. Franklin is an author, teacher, clinician, and researcher. She has devoted her career to advancing the practice and research on Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) with the aim of developing an intervention that is effective with children and adolescent mental health and in the context of K-12 schools

See website if you need any other descriptions. https://socialwork.utexas.edu/directory/cynthia-g-s-franklin/

Abstract

In this lecture, I discuss my journey as a clinician, intervention researcher, and therapy developer from a faith-based lens. From humble beginnings to the successes achieved. The equipping power of hope, purpose and mission, and a preferred future are sustaining anchors in the journey.

Outline

Introduction 5

Calling 15

Journey 15

Key Spiritual Points 10

Publications

More publications on my curriculum vitae. See website if you would like others. https://socialwork.utexas.edu/directory/cynthia-g-s-franklin/

Franklin, C., Ding, X., Kim, J., Zhang, A., Hai, A. H., Jones, K., … & O’Connor, A. (2023). Solution-Focused Brief Therapy in Community-Based Services: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Studies. Research on Social Work Practice, 10497315231162611.

Franklin, C., Guz, S., Zhang, A., Kim, J., Zheng, H., Hai, A. H., … & Shen, L. (2020). Solution-focused brief therapy for students in schools: A comparative meta-analysis of the English and Chinese literature. Journal of the Society of Social Work Research, 13 (2), https://doi.org/10.1086/712169

Franklin, C., Zhang, A. Bolton, K., & Yates, H.T. (2023). Solution focused couples therapy. In D. Snyder, J. Lebow, & A. Gurman (Eds.)., Clinical handbook of couples therapy (6th ed., pp. 250-266). Guilford Press.

Franklin, C., Harris, M. B., & Allen-Meares, P.A. (2024). The school services sourcebook (3^rd ed.). Oxford University Press

Franklin C. & Kim, J.S. (in press). Solution focused brief therapy with families. A training manual. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.

Zhang, A., DuVall, A. S., Franklin, C., & Kim, J. S. (2023). Tailoring solution-focused brief therapy for adolescents and young adults with cancer: A qualitative investigation. Clinical Social Work Journal. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-023-00883-1

Banquet Speaker:

Saturday, October 12, 2024 at 7 pm (CT) (1.0 CE)

Rev. John Garland, San Antonio Mennonite Church– “We Are All Going Home Together”

Biography:

John Garland has been an Anabaptist pastor for the last two decades, beginning in the Colonias of the Rio Grande Valley, and now leading the San Antonio Mennonite Church. He has pastored undocumented immigrants on the border and led a hospitality house and ranch for asylum seekers in San Antonio. His wife Abigail has taught and led public high schools, and they have two teenage daughters. John is currently pursuing his Doctor of Ministry from Truett Seminary where he is focusing on the use of the Psalms in communal response to anguish and trauma. Both John and Abigail graduated from Baylor University in 2003.

John is the son of Dr. Diana Garland, who died in 2015. His father, Dr. David Garland is a recently retired New Testament scholar. His older sister, Sarah, is an editor at the New York Times and lives with her family in Brooklyn.

Abstract:

Understanding how the spectrum of immigration experiences enlightens the helping professions who interact with all vulnerable populations:

We will describe a simple lens of understanding that informs effective response to the plight of immigrants, and then look at how that lens can benefit all interactions with anxious and suffering populations.

Beginning with the concept of “Home,” understood as the experience where both safety and love unite, we will parse out the implications of the challenging but predictable forces that inhibit and destroy this experience, the differing angles at which they attack individuals within family groups, and the most meaningful response in overwhelmingly anxious systems.

In the social work tradition of Dr. Diana R. Garland, her son John will speak from his 20 years of pastoral ministry on the southern Texas border and in downtown San Antonio, his perspective of his mother’s legacy, and from the wisdom gleaned from Asylum Seekers who are now leaders in his church.

Objectives:

Participants will be able to articulate a simple paradigm for understanding the complex forces that shape the immigrant experience
Participants will be able to describe how this paradigm can be useful in effectively responding to all vulnerable and anxious populations.
Participants will have a clear understanding of the most effective response to suffering populations living in anxious systems.

Basic outline:

Home: the experience of both safety and love
When ‘home’ becomes the mouth of a shark”: introducing the forces that demand immigration [using the the poem “Home” by Warsan Shire]
Describing the spectrum of experiences that mark the immigrant experience
Understanding the universality of this experiential spectrum in all vulnerable, anxious populations
Defining the most effective response

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Panel Presentation Information

Topic: “Beyond Borders: A Panel on Immigration, Social Work, and Faith”

Moderator: Dr. Jon Singletary

Speakers on the Panel: John Garland, Anyra Cano, Tiffany Vidana

Three outcomes for the time:

Increased understanding of complex issues surrounding immigration
Encourage and understand collaborative efforts
Discuss the ethical considerations involved

Brief description of the topic:

This panel explores the complex intersection of immigration, social work, and faith-based perspectives. Through a multidisciplinary lens, panelists will discuss the challenges and opportunities faced by immigrant communities, the role of social workers in providing essential services, and the significance of faith-based organizations in supporting immigrant populations. By examining the unique perspectives and experiences of individuals involved in these fields, the panel aims to foster a deeper understanding of the complex issues surrounding immigration and to promote collaborative efforts to address the needs of immigrant communities.

Speakers

Jon Singletary, Baylor University , Dean
John Garland, San Antonio Mennonite Church, Pastor
Tiffany Vidana, Baylor University, Social Worker
Anyra Cano, Fellowship Southwest, Ministry