Intersectional Justice

Justice is at the core of our faith. Our congregation is called to make a positive difference in our wider communities. The way we have chosen to do our justice work is as follows.

Engagement Groups and Guiding Principles

Some members of our Intersectional Justice Core Groups are invited to participate in our Engagement Groups.  These groups are charged with identifying potential partners in the larger community. The Engagement Groups are guided by both their deepened understanding, gained through participation in our Core Groups, and by our aggregated Guiding Principles. The Guiding Principles seek to assure ongoing attention to our learning by expressing particular qualities we seek in our partners. Importantly, our partners are the ones who both name the injustice and define our work by providing opportunities to be accomplices in their work.

Members of our 2017-18 and 2018-19 Core Groups identified these Guiding Principles:

We seek partners who:

• share our historical understanding of, our analysis of, and our focus on solutions to systemic injustice
• are led by those most affected by the injustice (recognize that those directly impacted have more authority on this issue)
• are open to our spiritual focus (recognize that these are moral issues)
• understand the importance of intersectionality
• understand collective liberation* (*Collective Liberation: “I understand that my liberation is tied to yours.”)
• have transformation as their ultimate goal by offering something other than charity
• are supported by and have a high level of participation from the community they serve
• challenge existing institutions
• offer the potential to develop a long-term, trusting relationship with sustained congregational engagement
• allow us to do work that aligns with our principles, our vision, and our mission
• allow us to focus on working in solidarity*, opportunities to be more than just allies (*Solidarity: “an act of bonding with people struggling for their liberation. The solidarity is with resistance fighters, those who are carrying out the resistance struggle. The resisters initiate the struggle.  We respond with our solidarity.”)
• reflect demonstrated effectiveness and a local focus/impact with the opportunity for our involvement to make a difference
• offer multiple levels of participation

Information about opportunities for Justice Work can be found in our Currents Newsletter.