The church is an organizing body. No matter how big or small the membership roll, no matter a rural or urban location, churches around the world and across generations organize people:
- to educate in Sunday school or at public lectures
- to feed at potluck luncheons and soup kitchens
- to comfort through funerals, visitation, and refugee resettlement
- to uplift with worship, public witness, and policy advocacy
There's not a congregation that doesn't organize!
But how to organize - effectively and justly for the transformation of the world - remains a frequently asked question. Audre Lorde wrote, "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house," therefore community-organizing tools from diverse and marginalized groups are essential for the work of liberation.
Congregations will be invaluably equipped through the stories, practical wisdom, and diverse perspectives of Building Up a New World, with chapters such as:
Organizing Congregations for Impact
Building a Just Economy
Resisting White Nationalism
From Potluck to Policy Reform
and many more.
Contents
Foreword
Rev. Dr. Velda Love
Section I – Organizing Foundations
1 White Supremacy and the Structure of Oppression Anne Dunlap
2 Organizing Congregations for Impact Marilyn Pagán
3 Power Analysis for Powerful Congregations Ayanna Johnson Watkins and Lucy Waechter Webb
4 It’s Time to Set It Off: Direct Action for Congregations Erica Williams
Section II – Crucial Building Practices
5 Come as You Are: Possibilities for Dreaming Disability Justice in Congregational Contexts Jade Perry
6 Dismantling Christianity for Indigenous Self-Determination Sky Roosevelt Morris
7 Building a Just Economy Sekinah Hamlin
8 Healing Sustains Our Organizing Teresa Mateus and Vahisha Hasan
9 From Potluck to Policy Reform: Creating Intergenerational Spaces Sandra Summers
Section III – Building Up: Putting It All Together
10 Resistance, Resilience and Renewal: Cultural Organizing for Congregations Tracy Howe
11 Rural Organizing for Rural CongregationsChris Davies
12 Community Safety: An Incarnational Practice of Vulnerability Nichola Torbett and Logan Rimel
13 Joining the Sanctuary Movement Noel Anderson
14 Living into New Solidarities: Mutual Aid as Gospel Practice Margaret Ernst and Cathy Carrillo
15 Resisting White Nationalism: Antifascism in the Way of Jesus Brittany Caine-Conley
List of Organizations
Contributiors
"If we really want to build a new world, this book is a map through which we will ... journey toward transformational justice for the new world we must embrace.” —Patricia E. de Jong, Chair, Board of Directors, Church World Service
“Invitation, instigation, and inspiration are beautifully woven together … to engage congregations in a movement that will settle for nothing less than a radically transformed world.” —Joshua Baird, Team Leader for Global H.O.P.E.
“Building Up a New World offers the best thinking of proven movement builders who have forged new tools to build without the crucible of pain.” —Traci Blackmon, Associate General Minister, United Church of Christ
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