Long into the night, the chant bounced up hundreds of feet of glass and steel. Tears of rage, despair and grief mingled with the sweat of marching, block after block, mile after mile along the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina.
The cry roared on: "No justice? No peace!"
The crowds kept coming for more than a week in late September. They gathered to protest the killing of Keith Scott by a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer. They demanded justice for this particular situation, but also for the long history of race-based oppression in our culture.
Clergy -- such as myself -- showed up as well. We represented many institutions and congregations, from storefront gatherings to some of the most prominent steeples in town.
Yet most of us clergy at some point found ourselves feeling a bit lost and useless, and more than a bit confused. In the midst of such an outpouring -- an act of resistance -- what was our role?
What should people responsible for, and to, our institutions do when people marginalized by institutions say "Enough!" and take to the streets?
During that period in September, we were trying to learn and reflect on this as we were doing it. Action and reflection were taking place in the same step, even in the same breath.
The first week of protest was dominated by meetings and organizing during the day and marches and rallies at night. At the meetings, leaders from the communities on the front lines offered strong critique and imaginative ideas about how to address the wrongs.
In those gatherings, we were able to ask them directly, "How do you see the role of clergy in this movement? What should we do to help?"
We got multiple answers, but they echoed one central idea: "Stay in your lane."
Read more from Greg Jarrell » |
| IDEAS THAT IMPACT: JUSTICE MINISTRIES
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If our churches are not forming, not even trying to form, compassionate human beings, real life saints, prophets, heroines/heroes and martyrs in Christ's name, why not? And what needs to change?
Read more from Jack Jezreel » |
There was no single leader in Ferguson, Missouri, writes a seminary professor, activist and author of the book "Ferguson and Faith." Instead, there were many leaders, who inspire hope for the future.
Read more from Leah Gunning Frances » |
A Christian activist who has worked on behalf of the world's poor confesses that he, too, struggles with how to be a responsible American consumer.
Read more from Christopher Heuertz » |
Projects that Matter: Successful Planning & Evaluation in Religious Organizations by Kathleen A. Cahalan
Projects That Matter introduces project leaders and teams to the five basic elements of project design and describes in detail a six-step process for designing and implementing a project evaluation and disseminating evaluation findings.
Written for the nonexpert, leaders in religious settings will find Cahalan's guidance clear and invaluable. Presenting evaluation as a form of collaborative inquiry, Cahalan show how leaders can use evaluation design to develop effective project plans and prepare case statements for donors or grant proposals for foundations. She introduces project planning and evaluation as mission-related practices and invites leaders to consider how their tradition's particular mission and beliefs influence the way they plan and evaluate. Cahalan concludes the book by making explicit her own theological presuppositions -- that the virtues of discernment, stewardship, and prudence -- are essential for good project planning and evaluation.
Learn more and order the book » |
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