Social Justice Activist Roundtable

USJ invites those who are actively engaged in Social Justice making — social justice chairs, lay-leaders, ministry coordinators, volunteers in key roles, and others — to join together to share information, ideas, concerns, and successful practices.
Meet your fellow Social Justice lay-leaders: discuss areas of concern and what is succeeding in other congregations. In-depth discussions, questions, and answers of a wide variety of Social Justice issues.
We are asking you to come prepared to share. When registering you will be asked which of the discussion topics you would like to attend (1st & 2nd choice), a little about yourself (including your role in social justice work), info about your congregation, and information about the program. By answering these questions we will all be better able to network, share programs, and be inspired in our work.

I Can’t Be The Change On My Own

Rev. Dr. Pippin Whitaker

Today we face mountains of trouble in the world, from voter suppression, to a global pandemic, to humanitarian crises, to environmental devastation, and more. You may wonder how to build more engagement with your issue, or how to sustain efforts, amid so many competing cries for justice. Yet, even if the mountain of crises weren’t as high, we still would not bring justice on our own. Many realize that coalition-building is central to promoting any justice agenda. However, connecting with new partners, developing funding, and growing and sustaining engagement among volunteers present perpetual challenges to justice work. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “to face the mountain, we must face and overcome the pebbles in our way.” Our pebbles are embedded in the way we imagine justice work. To overcome them, we can draw on the science of social movements and reorient ourselves to the journey for justice. We can harness the power of framing, which shapes how we view a situation and communicate an issue. We can develop skills to build transformative relationships that drive change. We can learn to notice the opportunities that arise through such relationships. In this way, together, we become the change that overgrows the mountain.

Register Here

2021 Social Justice Activist Roundtable

Saturday, November 20, 2021

1pm ET | 12noon CT | 11am MT | 10am PT

                                                       Tentative Schedule
1:00 pm Welcome by Pablo DeJesus, Exec. Director
1:15 pm Keynote address by Rev. Dr. Pipping Whitaker
2:00 pm Social Justice Program Breakout Sessions

  • Focus of breakouts is on sharing programmatic successes and challenges, and to include lessons learned during development and execution of social justice initiatives.
  • Maximum of 5 persons per breakout room; ensure people from same congregation are in different rooms
  • Each breakout group will select someone to act as timekeeper.
  • Individual presentations limited to four minutes followed by up to two minutes for questions/discussion (leaves ~5 minutes to get in the room, get settled, and select timekeeper)
3:10 pm Break (10 minutes)
3:20 pm Guided Discussion Sessions on Social Justice topics

Topics such as:

  • Congregational Engagement and Accountability in Social Justice
  • Congregational Social Justice Outreach and Relationships
  • Sustainability for Social Justice Activities

Each facilitated session will include presentation (10 minutes), discussion (25 minutes), and capture of key points for report out (10 minutes) during plenary session
4:05 pm Plenary Session for all Meeting Participants (55 minutes)

 

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Guided Discussion – SAMPLE QUESTIONS – To Stimulate Thinking And Preparations:

  • Congregational Engagement and Accountability in Social Justice:
  1. How do you invite and engage members of your congregation to engage in social justice?
  2. How does your congregation determine its social justice priorities?
  3. How does your congregation participate in loving accountability–such as sharing successes and challenges, noticing and sharing opportunities for growth?
  4. Who provides feedback to (or within) your congregation so that social justice efforts may grow and evolve in relationship with those experiencing injustice?
  • Congregational Social Justice Outreach and Relationships:
  1. How does your congregation conduct social justice outreach and develop relational partnerships, and with what groups/communities?
  2. How does your congregation nurture relationships with outside groups that permit open constructive dialogue and mutuality?
  3. Who (what groups/organizations) does your social justice mission impact?
  4. What is the nature of your congregation’s relationship to impacted groups (could be: mutual, one-way, negative, fraught, joyful, unknown….you name it!) What and how do external groups impact your ability to accomplish your mission?
  • Sustainability for Social Justice Activities:
  1. How does your congregation raise and allocate funding support for social justice?
  2. Are you adequately funded to accomplish your priorities?
  3. What is the congregation’s sense of ownership for social justice activities (as a whole or specifically)?
  4. How do you communicate the mutuality of benefit from social justice activities to the congregation and the wider community?
  5. What are your social justice leadership succession and co-leadership strategies?
  6. How flexible are your social justice structures and policies to adapt to rapid change?