Workshops  

Additional workshop information coming soon, subject to change

Beyond Land Acknowledgments: Using Communication for Racial Equity
Level: Beginner

In this workshop, we'll go beyond just land acknowledgments and dive into how communication can make a difference in promoting racial equity. You'll learn how mobilization, visibility, and accountability tools can help tackle important issues like Indigenous rights and community advocacy. The aim is to raise awareness for marginalized groups and give you practical ways to drive real change in your work and communities.

Presenters: GJ Gordy, Communications Director for the Episcopal Church in Navajoland (ECN) and Alan Yarborough, Associate Director, Office of Government Relations, Episcopal Church

GJ Gordy is a proud Navajo woman from Coal Mine, New Mexico. Her clans are One Who Walks Around, born into the Salt People, with her maternal grandparents being the Edge Water People and her paternal grandparents the Mud People. Clanship is a vital part of her Navajo identity, and she uses it to greet, introduce herself, and foster kinship within her community.

Alan Yarborough is his second term on the Episcopal Communicators board where he has served as chair for the two years and previously as vice chair. He has seven years of advocacy experience in his role with The Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations in Washington, D.C. In that role, he oversees policy portfolios on Haiti, voting rights, and racial justice issues, develops resources for advocacy, and conducts weekly trainings and workshops on effective advocacy strategy and civil discourse across the U.S. He continues to coach groups of volunteers within The Episcopal Church focused on voter engagement and community advocacy and also chairs the Haiti Advocacy Working Group.

Prior to this, Alan lived in Haiti for three years, where his work focused primarily on economic development and intercultural community relations between Haitians and Americans. He holds a BS in Economics from Clemson University in South Carolina and an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.

Creating Content using AI
Level: All

Join Katie Allred for a transformative workshop on leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance your church's content creation. Through hands-on exploration, you'll discover how AI tools can amplify your ministry's message across writing, design, images, and video. This practical session will equip you with strategies to create engaging content more efficiently while maintaining authentic connections with your community. Whether you're new to AI or already experimenting with it, you'll leave with actionable insights to streamline your communications workflow and expand your creative possibilities.

Presenter: Katie Allred, Founder Church Communications

Katie Allred founded Church Communications, a thriving community of over 35,000 church leaders navigating digital ministry and AI innovation. Through speaking and consulting, she helps churches effectively share their message by embracing emerging technologies and digital strategies. Her passion is empowering ministries to build meaningful connections through strategic communications that bridge tradition with technological advancement.

Cybersecurity and Data Integrity
Level: All Levels

While cybersecurity and data recovery are two independent disciplines, they are closely linked when it comes to protecting your organization from malicious digital attack. It affects everyone, up to and including your faith organizations. The workshop will present a roadmap for churches and faith organizations to prepare for and respond to potential cybersecurity and data recovery issues that may arise for themselves and their organizations.

Presenter: Kerry Allman, Former Internet Strategist, Diocese of Olympia

Former Internet Strategist for the Diocese of Olympia and Episcopal Communicator member since 2010. Work includes the overall internet strategy for the diocese, monitoring and supplying resources to congregations in order that they might have a meaningful presence in cyberspace, cybersecurity training and awareness, and acting as a technical advisor and creative partner in maintaining and improving diocesan communications.

Maintaining Balance: Mental Health Strategies Panel for Church Communicators
Level: All

This panel, featuring two mental health professionals and led by experienced Episcopal Communicators, will explore the unique pressures faced by church communicators. The session will provide valuable insights into managing stress, fostering resilience, and finding balance in a demanding role. Attendees will walk away with practical strategies and resources to better navigate the challenges of communication in a church environment.

Presenters: Sarah-Emily Steinhardt, Communications Minister, St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral, Oklahoma City, OK and Lori Blewett, Director of Communications, St. David's Episcopal Church, Austin, TX

Sarah-Emily (SE) Steinhardt is currently serving as the Communications Minister at St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral in Oklahoma City. She has been involved in Episcopal Church communications since 2018.

Lori Blewett is the Director of Communications at St. David’s Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, where she has also served since 2018. Lori is a valued board member of Episcopal Communicators. Both SE and Lori are also mothers of sons and dedicated professionals committed to healthy workplaces!

Mastering Meta: How to grow your social media reach and engagement
Level: All

Social media is both an art and a science. With a particular focus on Facebook and Instagram, this workshop looks at strategies to expand your following, increase engagement, understand followers’ behavior and preferences, and keep up to date with the latest changes to social media algorithms. It will also look at how to harness Meta Business Suite as a platform to gain insights and grow your audience, optimize paid advertising, and even get to a point where Meta pays you for your content.

Presenter: Nicky Burridge, Senior Vice President for Communications and Institutional Advancement, Virginia Theological Seminary

Nicky Burridge is Senior Vice President for Communications and Institutional Advancement at Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary. She has 25 years’ experience working as a journalist, public relations specialist and strategic communications consultant. She started her career as a newswire journalist in the UK. Prior to joining VTS and GTS, she spent 12 years working in Hong Kong, including running communications for Ming Hua Theological College.

S.E.Oh No! Improving your Website Visibility
Level: Beginner/Intermediate

Have an incredible website but no one can find it? Then you need SEO! This workshop will explain search engine optimization and offer ways to increase your website's visibility on Google, Bing, and more. We will also dive into Google Analytics and popular SEO tools to make your website the talk of the (online) town!

Presenter: Laurel Way, Director of Communications, Episcopal Diocese of Arizona

Laurel Way is the Director of Communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. Before that, she worked as the Marketing Manager for an addiction resource center. She led a team of writers, SEO specialists, and web designers to create dozens of websites to help those struggling with addiction. Laurel received a certification in Digital Marketing from Arizona State University in 2022 and has built websites for non-profits and small businesses. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and pets.

Stewardship Campaign Communications
Level: Intermediate

Communicators play a critical role in any stewardship campaign. By targeting the right audience, crafting a compelling message, and using effective tools, communicators can partner with stewardship colleagues to lead a campaign to success. Dan will use two recent examples – an annual operating campaign and a significant capital campaign – to look at the communicator’s role and offer tips on how to effectively spread your message to reach your goals.

Presenter: Dan Murphy, Director of Communications, Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta GA

Dan Murphy is Director of Communications at the Cathedral of St. Philip in Atlanta, where he has served the past 17 years. In this role, Dan oversees all communications and IT functions of the Cathedral parish, including digital and print media, marketing and press relations, audio-visual services, database management, and network services.

Visual Storytelling: Editing for Every Channel
Level: 

Raise your hand if you jumped to Facebook or Instagram to check your news or story updates and lost 20 minutes (haha... or more) of your life to doom-scrolling videos. You are not alone. The average person on TikTok spends 45 minutes a day scrolling short-form videos. How can we take all of the beautiful content we are creating on any given Sunday and translate it into a visual narrative that engages the faith-seeking swipe-up generation of today? For this workshop participants should bring long-form videos they have already shot and be prepared to learn how to edit them into short-form stories ideal for Reels and TikTok. 

Presenter: Lindsey Nickel, Director of Communications for the Diocese of Southwest Florida

Lindsey Nickel is the Director of Communications for the Diocese of Southwest Florida. Celebrating 20 years in communications. she is grateful for the incredible opportunities God has shared with her through her work. Her communications roles have allowed her to manage creative teams for some of the nation's biggest brands, and oversee a variety of disciplines variety of disciplines including advertising, branding, multi-media production, digital content, and public relations.