This past weekend, three members of the Luke 10 Congregations Team traveled to Baltimore, MD to participate in a retreat that welcomed seven congregations to the Luke 10 program and celebrated the graduating cohort of seven congregations. The program leaders from the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice (Kairos) and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) led participants through a packed schedule that integrated education, history, faith, song, culture, and meeting the group’s material needs. Here are some highlights:
Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis led the group through a keynote conversation about the Bible and the ways White Christian Nationalism (WCN) manifests in our politics, churches, and communities.
The group walked through the Theory of Change that grounds the Luke 10 Program, emphasizing the need for congregations to move from having the right ideas about justice to taking actions that contest the WCN rationale for suffering and injustice and invest in communities where God’s abundance is celebrated and everyone’s material, spiritual, and political needs are met.
The group used a Spectogram to move around the room to indicate whether they agreed or disagreed with statements about WCN and our political moment. The group practiced sharing why they chose the side they chose and listening to the opinions of others.
The group looked at the history of the United States and considered how our personal stories have been shaped by the history of WCN, racism, poverty, and social movements.
The group heard from panelists about the ways that communities are organizing to resist WCN.
The group connected in a song circle, learning new songs and singing old songs in new ways.
Reflecting on hopes for a world free from racism, poverty, and WCN, the group participated in an interactive visioning exercise.
During worship the graduating cohort was commissioned to go out and continue the work they began one year ago. The incoming cohort was blessed as they step into the Luke 10 Program.
The weekend was a great kick-off for BCOC’s Luke 10 Team as they prepare to learn and lead alongside BCOC in the months ahead. Each Luke 10 Team member has committed to monthly:
“Learn as We Lead” large group gatherings: a 2-hour Zoom session with Luke 10 facilitators, 2 coaches, and all 7 congregational Luke 10 teams. This training session sets the stage for further discussion in the cohorts and with coaches.
Cohort gatherings: a 2-hour Zoom session with 3 other churches (from Williamsburg, VA; Burlington, VT; and Bedford, MA). This session gives the teams a chance to learn from and support one another as they lead their congregations through the program.
Coaching session: a monthly working session for the BCOC team to help discuss and implement particular strategies that they learn in the other monthly sessions.
In addition to the regularly scheduled meetings, team members will be carrying out different tasks that move the congregation through the program sequence below: assessing community conditions and community mapping, internal congregational interviews, external conversations with community members and leaders, and the development of a strategic action plan and proposal.
This program truly is “learn as we lead,” which means that the team doesn’t have all the details about the program - they will share with the congregation as they learn. And the team doesn’t know what the outcome of this program looks like. What they do know is this:
Clarity (and probably more questions) will come as the process unfolds.
As a team of 5 people, they cannot do this work alone. The team will need the assistance of the wider congregation in carrying out this work that is meant to be a new stage in BCOC’s understanding of ourselves and our engagement with our community.
We are on the same side, but we will not be in perfect agreement on everything. The practice of listening and learning together as we chart a course forward will help us grow.
Through this work we will deepen our understanding of each other, our community, the Bible, and how to move from advocacy on behalf of the poor and oppressed to organizing alongside the poor and oppressed.
