Hi everyone!
I have an exciting update to share with you! We are now officially beginning the brainstorming process for the social justice work we will be doing together as a church! I'm hoping that everybody, and I do mean every single person, will participate in this process. It's easy, and it means a lot to us to have everyone's input.
For the seminary program that I am in, the second (school year) year of the internship is dedicated to a "Leadership Initiative." In my case, I will be working to help revitalize social justice work at Broadway. Broadway has a history of being a strong advocate for the rights of people, and we are still doing this work through our "Mission Minute" donations as well as by being a church that is welcoming to people of all sorts of identities. However, we can do more! There are a lot of issues out in the world that need addressing, and Broadway can be a part of the efforts to make the world a better place for all. Jesus teaches us to love our neighbors, and social justice work is a powerful way to show that love.
It is very important that this is not "my" project! This work needs to belong to you, and as such, the brainstorming process is open to all. The next two Sunday mornings, 10/16 and 10/23, there will be flip charts and markers in the sanctuary where you can write down issues that you'd like us to consider working on. For folks who prefer online participation, there is a padlet here that anyone with the link can contribute to. To add a suggestion, just click the "plus" sign on the bottom right hand corner, and type your idea. No idea is too small or too large! Please take some time and write down issues in the world that are on your heart or mind, so that this conversation can be all of us, and the project can really belong to the church and hopefully will live on for a long term, long after my internship has ended.
Later on, we will have an event where people can come together to discern which among all the possible topics is the one topic we'd like to address. From there, we will research that issue further, determining which is the best way to plug in to doing this work. A committee will form, dedicated to organizing our work and to keeping the congregation informed of what's going on. All of this will be open invitation, and we will share widely the dates and times so that anyone who would like to attend, can attend.
