About 150 people gathered at Christ Church in Needham on March 7 for the annual diocesan Spring Learning Event, this year on "Mobilizing the Church: From Dreaming to Doing." Episcopal City Mission and the Diocese of Massachusetts offered the program together. Tracy J. Sukraw
The day was an occasion for learning about faith-based community organizing movements and using community organizing skills and practices to build relationships, develop leadership and work with others for social justice. Tracy J. Sukraw
Bishop Alan M. Gates, in his opening reflection, recalled the Gospel mandate to not only feed the hungry and clothe the poor but also use authority and power in ways that are just. How to find a voice for social justice--how to get started--is a vexing question for individuals and for congregations, he said. For his former congregation at St. Paul's Church in Cleveland Heights, he said, it started simply: Relationships built through book studies and potluck suppers with Olivet Institutional Ba... Tracy J. Sukraw
Bishop Gayle E. Harris talked about her Christian formation as a teenager at Chatham United Presbyterian Church and its activism to help end segregation in Chicago's public schools, and, later, her involvement as a parish rector in Rochester, N.Y., in organizing efforts to secure alternative housing for indigent people being removed from the downtown converted hotel where they had been living. "Community organizing itself is a good thing, but for us who are Christians it has got to be a biblical... Tracy J. Sukraw
Mary Beth Mills-Curran from Episcopal City Mission got the group going in a cafe-style conversation on Micah 6:6-8. "What is our equivalent of a burnt offering?" she asked. "What does it mean to do justice in this day and age?" Tracy J. Sukraw
Doodling was encouraged to get everyone's ideas on the table. Tracy J. Sukraw
People paired up during the cafe session and worked together on "questions worth asking." Tracy J. Sukraw
The distinction between charity and justice was one thing people wanted to know more about. Tracy J. Sukraw
Dr. Mark R. Warren, an associate professor in the department of public policy and public affairs in the McCormack Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Boston, talked about faith-based community organizing movements as an ongoing story of "engagement of faith traditions with contemporary realities in our country and our world." At its heart, he said, community organizing is about building power through relationships to make change. Faith-based iterations of it are the most diverse ... Tracy J. Sukraw
Alexie Torres-Fleming, the executive director of Access Strategies Fund, shared personal experiences as a young community activist in the South Bronx and some lessons learned. The kingdom of God, she said, is "not going to fall out of the sky one day"; it "lives inside of us and we make it manifest here on earth." "Where are we as a church, both as an institution but also as a people of faith, in terms of providing the necessary supports and infrastructure for social justice and movement in thi... Tracy J. Sukraw
Steven Lang from Massachusetts Interfaith Worker Justice, Fran Early from Greater Boston Interfaith Organization and Ella Auchincloss from the Leadership Development Initiative were panelists and talked about their motivations and experiences with different organizing models. Also on the panel were Paul Drake from Mass. Interfaith Worker Justice and moderator Nicholas Hayes. Tracy J. Sukraw
Alexie Torres-Fleming hears from a young participant. Tracy J. Sukraw
Afternoon workshops gave everyone a chance to learn some organizing skills and connect with others who have a passion for justice work. Tracy J. Sukraw
