Crossing Lines, Sharing Stories: Migration Immersion Lab

As communicators, we often tell stories that shape how others see the world. But sometimes, the most powerful stories are the ones we first need to witness for ourselves. In this immersive pre-conference lab, you’ll cross the border into Tijuana with Robert Vivar, Migration Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, and step into the lived realities of migrants and the ministries that walk alongside them.

You’ll visit Friendship Park, where families divided by an international line reach across steel fencing to embrace. You’ll spend time in migration shelters, including Comunidad de Luz, EDSD’s shelter for women and children, and hear directly from those who serve on the frontlines of welcome. Over lunch near la playa, you’ll listen to local leaders share how their programs are helping real people build new lives in an unfamiliar city.

Instructor: Robert Vivar

Robert Vivar is the Migration Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego, Co-Director of the Unified U.S. Deported Veterans Resource Center in Tijuana, and a staff member with Via International. His life and ministry are rooted in his own experience of deportation, which gave him a firsthand understanding of the struggles faced by migrants and deported veterans.

In Tijuana, Robert co-founded organizations that provided critical support for deported individuals—helping them access healthcare, reconnect with families, and navigate complex legal and immigration systems. His leadership at the Unified U.S. Deported Veterans Resource Center has brought comprehensive services to veterans living in exile, including assistance with VA benefits, housing, and advocacy for their right to return to the United States. With Via International, Robert works alongside local leaders to create sustainable change through programs in microfinance, cultural arts, food security, and community development on both sides of the border.

In 2021, following a landmark case before the California Supreme Court, Robert’s own deportation order was overturned, and his legal permanent residency was restored. Now based in San Diego, he continues to walk with migrants, deported parents, and veterans, embodying a ministry of justice, accompaniment, and hope at the U.S.–Mexico border.

Stress to Stillness: Tools for Daily Renewal

Before the rush of workshops, networking, and note-taking begins, take a deep breath. This pre-conference lab is designed specifically for communicators who give so much of themselves every day and rarely take the time to renew themselves. Heatherlyn will gently guide us through practices that restore body, mind, and spirit—offering practical tools you can carry back into your daily rhythm of work.

You’ll experience things like chair yoga made for the office-bound communicator, creative expression that helps release stress and spark joy, and even a mindful one-mile walk to the Pacific Ocean, where the rhythm of the waves reminds us what it feels like to truly rest. Heatherlyn will also weave her gifts as a musician throughout the day, offering live music to ground us and moments of shared song to lift our spirits and reconnect us with joy.

This is your chance to step away from deadlines, silence the notifications, and remember what it feels like to breathe deeply. Come, rest before the work begins—you deserve it.

Instructor: Heatherlyn River

Heatherlyn is a gifted musician, poet-philosopher, and mindfulness guide whose work blends music, presence practices, and a deep commitment to justice and compassion. With a voice often described as healing and soulful, Heatherlyn creates spaces where people can breathe deeply, release stress, and reconnect with their own humanity. Through original music and creative expression, she invites audiences to experience joy, renewal, and belonging. As a queer, non-binary artist dedicated to hope and collective liberation, Heatherlyn brings authenticity, courage, and song to every gathering—reminding us that we are made of love and called to live with wholehearted purpose.

The Systems Lab: Streamlining Church Communications

This full-day lab is a deep dive into the tools, habits, and systems that make church communications more effective — and far less overwhelming.

In the morning, participants will explore best practices for managing communications workflows, prioritizing projects, and leveraging tools that boost clarity and consistency. The afternoon will feature breakout tracks for Parish Communicators and Diocesan Communicators, each offering practical guidance tailored to your unique context.

You’ll leave with a toolkit of strategies to simplify your work, strengthen your impact, and support your ministry with greater confidence and capacity.

Instructors: Natalie VanDeVeire & Laurel Way

Natalie VanDeVeire serves as Director of Communications and Digital Ministry at Saint Matthew ’s Episcopal Church in Chandler, Arizona, a vibrant Episcopal parish in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area and part of the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, with an average Sunday attendance of 299 and three distinctive Sunday worship services. Since February 2021, Natalie has led church communications, including social media, website workflow, and worship service live streaming. Her role has expanded to include oversight of office administration, parish records, volunteer coordination, and facility management. She holds a B.S. in Public Relations from Northern Arizona University and brings experience from the marketing agency world, pairing strategic vision with practical execution.

Her expertise includes building sustainable communications workflows; graphic design; website management and implementation in Squarespace; executing effective email campaigns through Constant Contact; and creating systems that reduce overwhelm while increasing clarity and impact. Natalie is especially passionate about helping ministry teams move from reactive communication to organized, mission-driven systems that strengthen both staff capacity and community connection. When Natalie isn't wrangling her three elementary-aged boys or weaving a spiritual tapestry, she enjoys singing karaoke and drinking coffee. 

Laurel Way is currently the Director of Communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. Previously, she worked as the Marketing Manager for an addiction recovery resource center and has been a web content writer and designer for over 11 years. She graduated with a Digital Marketing Certification from Arizona State University, where she learned campaign and project management. Laurel discovered her passion for communications while she worked as a freelance screenwriter for film and television. This background enabled her to apply her creativity and strategic planning to church communications.  

Tools of the Storyteller

This full-day intensive equips communicators with essential skills for telling meaningful, effective stories in both words and images.

The morning session, led by professional photographer Chris Martin, explores the craft of visual storytelling — composition, emotion, and technique — culminating in a hands-on photography exercise.

In the afternoon, acclaimed author and Episcopal priest The Rev. Lauren Winner, PhD guides participants through the art of written storytelling, offering tools and frameworks for capturing the sacred in everyday life.

You’ll leave with sharpened skills, fresh insight, and new ways to proclaim the Good News.

Instructors: Chris Martin & The Rev. Lauren Winner, PhD

is a photographer, visual storyteller, and creative educator based in North Carolina, originally from Los Angeles. As the founder of Chris James Media, he works at the intersection of light, lens, and narrative; helping organizations, churches, and brands translate mission into imagery that moves people.

With more than a decade of professional experience behind the camera, Chris has photographed everything from destination weddings and nonprofit campaigns to live events and community stories. His work is marked by emotional clarity, strong composition, and a documentary instinct for moments that matter. Whether he ’s capturing a quiet pastoral interaction or a high-energy gathering, his approach remains the same: find the story, shape it with light, and deliver images that resonate.

Chris studied photography at the nationally recognized program at Santa Monica College Photography Department before earning degrees in Global Studies and Film from the University of California, Los Angeles. His academic background sharpened his understanding of culture, narrative, and global perspective, which is an insight that continues to inform his visual work.

Today, Chris combines technical precision with creative intuition, equipping creators not just to take better photos, but to see more intentionally. His workshops emphasize practical technique, storytelling theory, and hands-on applications that empower creatives and communicators alike, to document ministry with authenticity and visual impact.

For Chris, photography is more than imagery. It is ministry, memory, and mission framed with purpose.

The Rev. Lauren F. Winner, PhD is the author of numerous books, including Wearing God,
and a volume of sermons forthcoming this fall from Brazos Press.

She is Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality at Duke Divinity School and the vicar of St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Durham, North Carolina.