Peace interns and the Pandemic: Serving the wider Church in the time of COVID-19

#LegendaryPeaceInternsOf2020 Raphael Guillen, Jennifer Williams, Wendy Davidson

This has been a summer unlike any other. That is particularly true for this summer’s DPF Peace Interns. In a typical year Disciples Peace Fellowship sends three young adults to church camps all over the United States and Canada to serve as ambassadors for peace and justice. With the COVID-19 Pandemic, that simply wasn’t possible. Instead, 2020 DPF Peace Interns Wendy Davidson, Raphael Guillen, and Jennifer Williams have spent the summer working remotely, partnering with Disciple Justice Ministry groups, and connecting with online camps and conference.

Below you will find their reflections on a summer unlike any other. In these excerpts taken from the online, intergenerational, peacemakers training event they recently led you’ll get to hear first hand from Raphael, Jennifer, and Wendy on what it was like to be a Peace Intern during the pandemic, the projects they have been working on all summer, and the places where they see hope.

Summer 2020

Looking back on your experiences this summer, what projects have you worked on and what was it like to be a part of online church camps?

Jennifer: I had the opportunity to make an interactive, video keynote speech for the Ohio Region with Wendy, and then be a part of the online camp experiences in the Florida Region plus the Northern California/Nevada Region. It was a humbling experience to do this and be part of someone’s world, because they don’t have to let you in! Yet those camps treated me like family. I got that sense even in these virtual spaces. All in all, doing these online camps has inspired within me a passion for teaching, and that was a really big calling for me this summer. 

Wendy: Living in Texas immigration is one of those things that is important to me. I’ve had the chance to work with Refugee & Immigration Ministries. We are currently working on the #40for40 campaign — sharing 40 stories over 40 days of congregations that have engaged in resettlement ministries. One of the other groups I’ve been working with this summer is Green Chalice. That culminated in an online, intergenerational eco-camp. I had the opportunity to craft a video keynote on making shalom in small spaces. I’ve been in apartments and dorms for the last seven years of my life, so figuring out how to grow things and care for creation can be a challenge but it is worth it!

Raphael: We’ve all been writing stories for the Disciples News Service for the #DOCjustsummer campaign. I’m also working with AllianceQ on educational resources for transgender and gender diverse folks. Plus, Wendy and I led our PRIDE workshop for CAMPDD in Virginia. It was very fun! They had all of these camp games that really worked online! There was one where you picked a card with a word on it and then you had to sing a song that included that word. It was totally amazing! Camp can happen on Zoom. The youth still have it in them and it can work out beautifully.

Disappointments

DPF had to scrap all of our plans for the summer and reimagine the Peace Intern Program on the fly. Given that reality: What were you hoping to get to do this summer that didn’t happen?

Jennifer: My biggest disappointment was postponing the 2020 Experience (the first ever joint meeting of National Convocation, Obra Hispana, and NAPAD that was scheduled for July 2020 at TCU). I was SO looking forward to it when I heard about it at General Assembly in Des Moines, but I never thought I’d be able to go. Then DPF said “We’re sending you to the 2020 Experience!” but then it had to be postponed due to COVID. I was so excited to gather in a meeting with more Disciples, but then it couldn’t happen.

Wendy: It is disappointing not being able to be in person at camps and sit in a small group with excited youth who are passionate about making the world a better and brighter place. Not being able to have the conversations about justice with them that come after a week of bonding in a holy place like a church camp. Not being able to have those difficult conversations either — it is just harder to have the most difficult conversations when you are not in the same room together, and you can’t look into each others eyes because you’re separated by computer screens.

Raphael: For me, honestly, my disappointments are missing everything that could have been done in person. I wish I could have gone to in person summer camps. The Poor People’s Moral Assembly and March on Washington was something I was really looking forward to. Coming to the end of the summer I wonder, “How would this have been different if the Peace Interns all saw each other and met in person?” Because we still haven’t! It is amazing that we’ve done all of this work together and yet we’ve never met each other in a traditional sense of the word.

Hope

While writing Disciples News Service feature articles for the #DOCjustsummer you spoke with a number of Disciples Justice Ministries partners. You ended each of those interviews by asking “Where do you see hope right now?” It only seems fair that you get to answer that question too! So, where do you see hope right now?

Wendy: The people, the people, the people. I see hope in my fellow Peace Interns and the passion they have for justice and peace. I see hope in all of the people that we’ve had the chance to work with, and all of the people that were faced with this COVID-19 pandemic. I think of all the ways that people are making sure that refugees and immigrants are still being cared for in the midst of a pandemic. To make sure that LGBTQIA+ youth are still being cared for an heard and have resources to find each other and find support, even as in person gatherings are so severely limited.

Raphael: I agree with Wendy. For me, I see a lot of hope in the younger generation because they have a lot of good things that they are striving for. The younger generation has a good idea of what they want to work towards, so I think that we should keep empowering them in their work for the good of the world. I think we should keep amping them up! I have a lot of hope for the younger generation; they are where the hope lies for me.

Jennifer: Two things. Number one: The grace that we are giving each other, especially during this time. There is a lot we can achieve when we do it together. It has been amazing to work together this summer with my fellow Peace Interns. I know that doesn’t usually happen in a typical summer. Number Two: Being introduced to new and different things. At the Northern California/Nevada Region Camp I learned about Christian TikTok. That is just so amazing that this younger generation is taking on the issues of this world and are not afraid to say “Hey, look I am a follower of God!” and “I can still have fun and bring laughter and peace and joy into this world!” That is where I see hope right now.

LINKS

Watch the complete conversation with the 2020 DPF Peace Interns from “Passing the Peace!” an online, intergenerational peacemakers training event.

Subscribe to DPF’s YouTube Channel, where you can find all of the videos reference in this article plus additional video resources.

Join DPF on Thursday 8/27 for a Facebook Live Event that will highlight their work.

Learn more about the DPF Peace Intern Program by visiting the “What is a Peace Intern?” page on their website.

Sign-up for DPF’s quarterly newsletter “News Notes”.

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#DOCjustsummer: DJAN and DCPW

“Speak out for those who cannot speak,
for the rights of all the destitute.
Speak out, judge righteously,
defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

— Proverbs 31:8-9 (NIV)

I’ve always found it strange the way that one word can have two very different meanings, especially when the meanings seem almost antithetical. For example, I can dust a shelf to remove dust or dust a cake with sugar to add it; I can impose sanctions to penalize another or sanction an action to signal our approval; I can run fast to move quickly or hold fast to stand still. They’re called auto-antonyms, among other things. Similarly, I can bear witness by actively observing, and I can bear witness by speaking up. The Disciples Center for Public Witness and the Disciples Justice Action Network embody the dual nature of the word “witness.”

The Disciples Justice Action Network (DJAN) is a collaboration of Disciples who witness primarily in the first sense. DJAN witnesses to the way the Disciples of Christ operate as a whole, and to speak out on the ways justice is overlooked or ignored by the denomination at large. In more recent years, as the denomination has grown more justice oriented, DJAN has been able to participate in bringing to life the denomination’s justice goals.

Where DJAN speaks mainly to the church, the Disciples Center for Public Witness (DC4PW) speaks mainly to the state, advocating in the public realm, especially in the area of public policy. The DC4PW board consists primarily of the leaders of a diverse set of African-American and multi-racial congregations, and witnesses primarily in the second sense of the word, speaking up and speaking out on behalf of the oppressed, advocating for racial and economic justice, and working to enact policy changes that support this effort.

As the country grows more and more polarized, the witness of these organizations grows more and more complicated. Where once, politicians would speak to you, whether or not they agreed with you, now, many politicians refuse to open their door to you if they know that you disagree. This lack of communication both results from our growing polarization and contributes to our growing polarization.

However, while this is cause for lament, there is hope. The Poor People’s Campaign: A national call for moral revival calls us to address the sins of racism, poverty, militarism, and the degradation of our environment. The Black Lives Matter movement is growing in support not only from those involved in the movement but also from allies. Churches and communities of faith are showing up to marches and protests to be involved in the change that so desperately needs to happen. Finally, the many and varied Disciples justice organizations (that have been highlighted throughout this summer!) are working together, collaborating as the Disciples Justice Ministries to better communicate and facilitate positive change. There is good work being done, and good work left to do. Will you join us?

How Can I Be a Part of This Work?

• STAY INFORMED! Email info@disciplesjustice.net with a request to get on DJAN’s newsletter or email justice@disciplescenter.org to hear from DC4PW. These organizations will often include alerts to inform you of justice concerns to be praying for and acting on.

• GET INVOLVED where you are most passionate – locally, regionally, or at the general level! Email info@disciplesjustice.net, and the folks at DJAN will help you figure out where your interests and passions can fit into the good work that yet needs to be done.

• CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES and other public officials to share your concerns. They keep track of how many people call to express concerns around each issue. Our voices coming together can help to bring about meaningful change.

• DONATE – go to http://www.centersupport.org/ to give to DC4PW or http://www.djan.net/support.htm to give to DJAN, today!

#DOCjustsummer: Disciples Justice for Children & Disciples Palestine-Israel Network

“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ”

— Matthew 18:2-4 ESV

The author of Matthew makes a good point here when speaking about how we treat children. We were all children once before, and we minimize them so much. In the ministries of Disciples Justice for Children, as well as Disciples Palestine-Israel Network, they make an emphasis on justice for families and children all over the world as well as awareness.

Rev. Kate Epperly and a friend

Disciples Justice for Children is a ministry focused on advocacy and justice around family and children. Rev. Kate Epperly, who teams with other ministries, focuses on many issues affecting families and their safety and well-being, such as gun control, domestic violence, and children being separated from their families at the border. Because there are so many issues that families face, particularly now with COVID-19, it is more pertinent more than ever to think about how families are being affected by the pandemic and by the everyday issues this broken world creates. Rev. Epperly has a passion for these and more issues surrounding families and children.

While the Disciples Palestine-Israel Network (DPIN) does not focus specifically on children, they are still at the forefront of advocating for children overseas. DPIN seeks to bring awareness to Disciples about the conflict between Palestine and Israel. Revs. Marla Schrader and Jeff Wright co-coordinate DPIN. The primary goal is to influence policy makers to end Israel’s occupation. DPIN also seeks to move Disciples from our complacency to advocate for a just peace agreement to end the conflict. Because Israeli authorities detain and prosecute around 700 children each year, DPIN seeks to stop US dollars from supporting the these incarcerations illegal under international law.

What can you do to aid each ministry?

• Disciples Justice for Children

  • Contact and network with Rev. Epperly about specific projects or passions you have about families and/or children

  • Do the Equity Challenge! Take note of who’s in your community (or church, TV, locality) and who’s not and ask why?

  • A resource for families as a partership with The Poor People’s Campaign will be finalized by September 1st.

  • Send in Christmas Cards for children at the detention centers at the border: Contact Rev. Epperly for more information.

• Disciples Palestine-Israel Network

  • Begin to see how interconnected are all the rising cries for justice–Black Lives Matter, Indigenous Peoples Movement, LGBTQ+, Poor Peoples Campaign, and other global movements such as the Palestinians plea for an end to Israel’s occupation

  • Read a book that counters the triumphal religious narrative we hold of ourselves as Americans, such as An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States

  • Participate in the Cry for Hope’s signature campaign: www.cryforhope.org

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For more information on Disciples Justice for Children: https://www.discipleshomemissions.org/missions-advocacy/disciples-justice-for-children/

Follow them of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisciplesJustice4Children/

For more information on Disciples Palestine-Israel Network: https://www.disciplespin.org/

Follow them on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DisciplesPIN/

#DOCjustsummer: Center for Indigenous Ministries & Disciples Public Presence

“And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.”

— Leviticus 19:10 ESV

The law maker in Leviticus states guidelines for caretaking to vineyards and farming throughout the text, but within those rules is the rules of caretaking of one another. Center for Indigenous Ministries and Disciples Public Presence are two seemingly separate ministries, though their missions are just as aligned as the agricultural laws in Leviticus.

Center for Indigenous Ministries (CIM) is a ministry set to bring greater awareness to Disciples about indigenous history, justice, and truthtelling in the US, Canada, and beyond. The center’s goal is to have Disciples understand their own history with indigenous peoples, understand the Christian Doctrine of Discovery, and how settler colonialism influenced Disciple theology. Important to this work is to engender denominational structural change in favor of indigenous justice in Disciple congregations, regions, general ministries, and institutions of higher learning.

Disciples Public Presence (DPP) is a Facebook group where Disciples from across the US and Canada can share their justice work and activities. DPP started in 2017, and since then has gained traction in creating a network to showcase justice work as well as learn about justice issues and opportunities to participate in actions and events. The group (clergy and laity) now has over 1,400 members.

If you want to be involved in either ministry, you can do so by:

• Center for Indigenous Ministries

  • Contacting CIM and doing intentional work on indigenous history in the US and Canada.

  • Congregations can develop a land acknowledgement of ancient indigenous peoples for use in each worship service.

  • Seminaries, colleges, regions, and congregations can contact CIM to develop indigenous lenses for their institutions.

• Disciples Public Presence

  • Join the Facebook group here

  • Post the justice work that you or your congregation is doing on the page.

  • See and join in discussion on what’s going on around the country and the world.

#DOCjustsummer: Reconciliation Ministry

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

— 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NIV)

All have a prophetic call to justice.

We must uphold the dignity of other humans, other children of God and this means we cannot, must not and will not sit on the sidelines and stay silent. The definition of reconcile is “to restore friendly relations between.” Something is happening in the world that is not friendly. As minister of reconciliation for Reconciliation Ministry, Rev. April Johnson stated, “There needs to be a heart and mind shift in order to do this work.”

A History

The birth of Reconciliation Ministry happened at the 1968 International Convention of the Christian Churches with Resolution 29 in which the denomination decided that churches should persistently pursue ways to address the sin of racism through resolutions and direct action. Christian Churches responded to the civil unrest at the time by raising over $1 million in six months.

The initial focus of Reconciliation was to ensure programs be motivated by “a conscientious Christian concern for our brethren who before God are equal with us; and be directed . . .to the radical removal of basic underlying causes.” In 1969, the General Assembly adopted a resolution that called for the church to work for legislative change, to change the plight of the poor, “many of whom are minority persons.” The assumption at that time was that poverty was the root cause racism. By 1997, an emerging understanding of systematic racism came to the fore.

Reconciliation Ministry Today

Reconciliation Ministry has offered an anti-racism training that equips churches to understand and confront systematic racism at the local level, to do the work we are faithfully called to do. Online trainings are more accessible during COVID-19. Johnson advises that in discomfort, transformation can happen. None of us can be the same after transformation.

And a new effort led by long-time trainer Rev. Yvonne Gilmore, begins July 30. Every two weeks into November a “Love is an Action Word” event will be online discussing different aspects of racism not only relating to African Americans but also other people of color.

While Johnson is quick to celebrate the recent awareness and acknowledgement of churches, she said that justice ministries in the church setting are the least financially supported. She also commented on the churches ability to develop leadership among all people. Understanding hearts and minds need changing, Johnson praised young activists that are using the education of the issues, doing something about it, and being part of the movement. She finished by saying “We all need to follow their lead.”

The church is all about dignity and extending it to all people.

The table is set. All are welcome. All are worthy.

Now is the time to move into action.

• Join Reconciliation Ministry on Thursday, July 30, 2020 on their Facebook page at 1pm EDT for the release of a new interactive activity focusing on privilege and oppression awareness.

• Request a trainer visit

• Stay informed by subscribing to Reconciliation Ministry’s email newsletter

• Give online  and promote the Reconciliation Ministry offering September 27and October 4, 2020

• Study up with this Anti-Racism Resource List

Shalom in Small Spaces: A Video Keynote from Christmount's ECO-JUSTICE CAMP

How to cultivate plants - for the food or for the fulfillment - when your space is small (e.g. apartment, dorm). Just some beginner tips and tricks. Come along with me as I plant my own kitchen herb garden - potting affordably and sustainably in the process!

#DOCjustsummer: Disciples Peace Fellowship

“Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the LORD your God is giving you.”

— Deuteronomy 16:20 (NIV)

When you have the title of oldest existing peace fellowship of any denomination in the United States, you best believe God has placed a hand on the justice work you are doing.  Disciples Peace Fellowship has engaged with the work of peace and justice through equipping, connecting, and advocating. These key actions of DPF’s mission statement drive DPF to work alongside other justice centered organizations in the denomination.

With a parent organization like Fellowship of Reconciliation, DPF continues to hold itself to a high caliber of institutional values and morals in a movement for wholeness in a fragmented world.

So, it just makes sense that DPF would batten down the hatches on the aforementioned values and enjoy “hanging out” with other denominational justice partners during the time of COVID-19. In this power move of intersectionality, DPF strives to provide a faithful response to the intertwined injustices happening right now. As Disciple Peace Fellowship Director, Rev. Brian Fredrick-Gray said, “We knew in theory but, COVID allows us to pin point the connectivity.”

This summer all three DPF interns are working alongside the Disciples News Service to write articles on DOC justice organizations and the work that they are doing. Interns are also working within some of these organizations like AllianceQ, Reconciliation Ministry, and Green Chalice. The interns are also partnering with virtual summer camps in many regions to speak to middle and high school students about social justice. The youth are the embodiment of the church today. When asked where he sees hope, Fredrick-Gray quickly pointed out the peace intern program and how “the passion and enthusiasm for justice and peace” has connected the interns to the community. There are “so many places peace interns are not welcome due to race and gender identification,” the director noted while subtly mentioning the militarism that comes when a world that is at war with itself especially over the racial injustice of today.

That is why Disciples Peace Fellowship is excited about this summer’s Intergenerational Peacemakers Conference. While the date is to be determined, interested parties (that’s you) can sign up for updates and attend at https://www.disciplespeace.org/passingthepeace. If you want to quench your thirst sooner, you can join the Facebook Live event on Thursday, July 16 at 1:00 pm EST.

Of course, now you want to know how you can get involved and support the work of Disciples Peace Fellowship. There are plenty of ways to engage with this ministry.

• Financial support enabled by online giving at https://www.disciplespeace.org/give.

• You can sign up to be a Peace Intern Pen Pal (and I love receiving letters) at https://www.disciplespeace.org/penpals. (Did you get this far in reading before realizing I am a Peace Intern?)

• Description of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (our parent organization): https://forusa.org/who-we-are/history/

• Check out DPF Resources for Camps: https://www.disciplespeace.org/campresources

• Sign up for the Intergenerational Peacemakers Conference Later this Summer: https://www.disciplespeace.org/passingthepeace

Projects and Resources

The 2020 Peace Interns have been working on all sorts of amazing projects!

Head over to disciplespeace.org/campresources to check out a few of them!

#DOCjustsummer: Global Ministries

In the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the protests against police brutality across the United States, the Global Ministries office has been flooded with messages of solidarity and support from partners around the world – from Palestine and Lebanon to Cuba and Puerto Rico, from Germany to South Africa to Angola to Bangladesh – expressing “unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement and everyone working for racial justice in the USA, the demands of which have resonated in communities around the world” (a quote from the letter from Kairos Palestine). This bulwark of support from global partners emphasizes the mutuality of the partnerships that Global Ministries cultivates with global partners.

Global Ministries emphasizes the ministry of partnership, coming alongside global partners around the world, in order to address local issues in local ways. Even mission coworkers, one of the cornerstones of the work of Global Ministries, serve with global partners only at the request of those partners. Global Ministries’ relationships with global partners, partnerships in which mutuality runs deep, are lasting relationships. The lifespan of many partner relationships must be measured in decades, rather than weeks or months or even years. These long-term sustained relationships, characterized by the coming-alongside in the work of the local community to do justice and peace, have persisted, even as Global Ministries itself has grown and evolved over the last century of its existence through a variety of name changes and guiding principles.

This deep partnership continues to flourish even as COVID-19 makes so many relationships more difficult. While Global Ministries cannot travel to visit partners right now, partners continue to be in communication and conversation online. Even as we cannot be physically present with one another, the relationships between Global Ministries and partners continue to deepen. While Global Ministries cannot host physical mission pilgrimages at this time (not only for the safety of the pilgrims, but also for the safety of our global neighbors, where there is often not the infrastructure in place to respond to the crisis of this pandemic), Global Ministries has developed a virtual pilgrimage, enabling many who might not have been able to afford international travel the opportunity to participate in global partnership.

With everything that is going on right now in our world, in our country, and perhaps even in our own communities, it can be altogether too easy to shift all of our focus inward, to our own problems in our own communities. However, there are still so many meaningful ways to connect with the work of global partners. There are still a lot of really good and important things happening around the world that deserve our attention and care. May we take this opportunity to engage in the work of Global Ministries, and engage our communities, our country, and our world.

So how can I do that?

• Connect with the Southern Asia Initiative!

• Participate in the Cuba virtual pilgrimage!

• Bring these conversations to your time of worship! Inviting a mission coworker to come and speak (invite them to offer a sermon or maybe a moment of mission), show videos from global partners, use Global Ministries curriculum for children, youth, and adults (perhaps consider using the virtual pilgrimage as your Sunday School curriculum for a season!)

• Contact Global Ministries directly to find the right fit to get involved – there are so many different global partners in so many different places doing so many different things. Whatever the passion of you, your congregation, or your ministry, Global Ministries likely has a partner that you can connect with.

• Sign up for the mailing list! This will allow for more targeted communications, so that you can get information on advocacy opportunities or information about the ministries of partners for those regions or concerns that you’re already most invested in.

#DOCjustsummer: Green Chalice

““The earth is the LORD’s and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it” ”

— Psalm 24:1

When I was little, my mom gave me a stuffed animal – a unicorn – that she carried with her from her own childhood. I cared for this unicorn deeply, but it was only as I grew older that I realized that my mother’s love for her childhood friend did not diminish when she entrusted the plush unicorn to me. The unicorn was mine to play with; however she was also mine to care for, just as my mother had cared for her, for as long as the unicorn was under my care.

So, too, it is with the earth. The creation account in Genesis recounts that as God creates each facet of the universe, God affirms over and over that “it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). Finally, God entrusts this good and beautiful world that God still loves to our care. How shall we treat the earth knowing how deeply God loves it and everything in it?

Green Chalice began as the grassroots ministry of a handful of folks in Kentucky, dedicated to answering that question: how do we connect our faith to caring for the earth?

Today, Green Chalice is dedicated to empowering Disciples of Christ congregations to, in the words of Green Chalice Minister Carol Devine, “walk more gently on the earth.” Green Chalice offers a certification program that invites congregations to investigate every area of church life (buildings and grounds, outreach, education, worship, office, admin) and ask the question: how can we, in this area, be more sustainable, kinder, and more healing to the earth? (Disciples can also access services through Disciples Church Extension Fund to help manage buildings responsibly.)

Unfortunately, engaging with questions of how we can better care for the earth is becoming more and more urgent. As regions around the world suffer varying effects of changing climate, from droughts in California causing wildfires, to storm systems settling atop the midwest leading to major flooding, to the Rubbertown of Louisville, KY, where factories pollute the air, the soil, and the water, we have begun to see some of the negative effects of our collective disregard for the earth. The clock is ticking, and many climate scientists suggest that we may only have ten years left to make meaningful and necessary changes.

However, there is still cause for hope. We have witnessed over the last few months the resilience of creation, as it takes a deep breath and begins to recover, even as we must sequester ourselves in our homes. We celebrate young people, like Greta Thunberg, who are stepping up around the world to advocate for meaningful change.

There is hope, but we cannot leave this good and important work to our young people alone. We must stand with them and work towards implementing the changes that so many of our youth are already committing to. In 2017, the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) passed a resolution to reduce our carbon output as a denomination with our goal to become carbon neutral by the year 2030.

So what can we do to help?

As a congregation:

Become a Green Chalice congregation or ministry! It involves three simple steps.

1. Create a creation care team

2. Sign the Green Chalice covenant

3. Make at least 3 changes – and they can be ANY three changes! (community gardens, butterfly gardens, water gardens, go solar, use real dishes instead of styrofoam, recycle, celebrate creation in worship/life/food, compost, set up charging stations for electric cars, encourage biking to church)

Reduce your carbon footprint and offset what’s left to help the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) reach our goal of going carbon neutral by 2030! https://www.coolcongregations.org/calculators/

As an individual:

1. Sign the Green Chalice covenant!

2. Give financially to Green Chalice – donate to this ministry and become a part of this good work!

3. Vote! – vote for policy makers that align with your creation care values (both in primaries and in the upcoming election)

#DOCjustsummer: AllianceQ

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

— Mark 12:30-31 ESV

Jesus gives us the commandment to love and honor God, and to love ourselves and one another. While sometimes in the modern day it can be hard for people to see others adhering to the latter than the former, there is still hope for the church and the wider world. Especially for the LGBTQ+ community, this love has been absent from the community’s life for a time, but it is never too late to rectify that.

The mission of AllianceQ is to build a network of ministries and people that work towards the inclusion of all people of gender expression and sexual identities.The history of AllianceQ dates back 40 years with its beginning as GLAD: Gay, Lesbian and Affirming Disciples. The organization continues to expand and is renewing its commitment to intersectional justice to include and address the lived experiences of other minority groups

Celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to protect LGBTQ+ individuals’ employment rights on June 15 was a huge victory not only for AllianceQ but for the LGBTQ+ community as a whole. And during these unprecedented times of COVID-19, AllianceQ has found that queer people have been drawn more to the church now more than ever. Because of the virtualization of church, queer people are feeling more comfortable attending a service from their screens. They are hosting a Pride service on June 28th titled Riot. Information can be found on the website here, and AllianceQ hopes that through this event more voices will continue to come together for LGBTQ+ and racial justice.

If you would like to join in on the work for a more inclusive church, please visit and learn about:

• http://disciplesallianceq.org/

• To become a member and contribute financially or time-wise, http://disciplesallianceq.org/main/contribute/

• To join their mailing list, http://disciplesallianceq.org/mailing-list/

• Also, Like them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AllianceQ/

• Learn about the Equality Act

• Widen the table through conversation, trainings with AllianceQ, and incorporation of resources (see conversation opportunity below!)

• And to start conversations in your own personal circles and churches.

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“From the tables in our churches to the Supreme Court benches,” Thursday, June 25, at 12 p.m. CDT

As part of the #DOCjustsummer series, AllianceQ hosts this Facebook Live event to share info about its 40 years of ministry alongside the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and how individuals can join in the work of setting a place at the table for persons of all gender expressions and sexual identities. As Disciples, we share a radically wide table. We know we’re in different places. Join us as we explore the table’s wide welcome. A question-and-answer period will be facilitated by Rev. Brian Frederick-Gray (Disciples Peace Fellowship) and DPF interns. Bring your lunch (or a mid-morning snack if you’re on the west coast); after all, the focus of the conversation is the table. Join the live event at this link.

#DOCjustsummer: Poor People's Campaign

““Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing homeless children.””

— Isaiah 10:1-2

As I scroll down my Facebook news feed, an ad comes up for the Mass Poor People’s Assembly and Moral March on Washington Digital Gathering. This event is taking place on Saturday, June 20, 2020 but there is much to do in anticipation of a world-wide event, much to learn and much to know. 

The Poor People’s Campaign is leading the charge with their 12 core principles rooted in justice and moral analysis based on deep religious and constitutional values. Last fall a “Souls of Poor Folk” study was released that shows the ways race, economics and other factors impact people. The aim of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival is to shift the moral narrative that blames poor people for their poverty, the oppressed for their weariness, the marginalized for their persecution and pits us against each other rather than uniting us to promote desired peace, justice, love, harmony, and fullness. This organization aims to build the power and unity of people from the ground up or (maybe more appropriately for the times) the screen forward.

Included in the campaign are labor unions; denominational, ecumenical and interfaith organizations; fraternal groups; LGBTQI rights groups; women’s organizations; groups protecting children; and anti-poverty organizations as well. There is hope in the way these many concerns have coalesced into a movement. The 2017 General Assembly adopted a resolution to support the effort.

And speaking of a time to be in: Amidst a global pandemic, the work of this organization has not gotten any easier. With the coronavirus disproportionally affecting poorer, minority communities, the pressure and urgency for change has increased. To tackle the issues, many nonviolent civil disobedience events have and are taking place led by co-chairs Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis and Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. Today’s Poor People’s Campaign is founded on inspiration from the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign of Rev. Dr. King and others, but “it also sees its roots in the Poor People’s Campaign that Jesus led in ancient Israel 2,000 years ago” as stated in a sermon by Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis. Repairers of the Breach and the Kairos Center are key partners in connecting the many strands of activism.

This is a prime example of an organization continuing the Lord’s work into modern day society. They are bringing justice and sight into a blinded world. Issues that have recently been tackled include confronting the interlocking evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism. It takes powerful people to give power. The powerful members of the Poor People’s Campaign are broadening their efforts, combining together and not staying silent, speaking WITH the poor and lifting up the voices of those impacted. That requires movement of spirit, of mind, and of body (well, maybe fingers).

You can learn more about this digital gathering and how to join the movement at https://www.june2020.org/ . You can also find out more about the situation in your United States context with fact sheets available on each state.

Now is the time to rise and campaign for justice. This is our charge. Jesus came to bring good news to the labored, the marginalized, the tired and weary and, as we know well, the poor. 

Will we?