When the Spirit of Justice Calls continued

Activism was part of why I enrolled in seminary. I chose and requested and pushed against what was the norm at the time to have a pastoral internship solely in a church. I wanted my internship to be in public faith-based community organizations here in the region because I saw such power in strategies called “Actions,” where neighborhoods and communities of people joined with faith-based interreligious leaders. We would come together to share our lived experiences. We would gather in fellowship. We would hold public figures accountable. We would have them listen to what was going on in the community, in the neighborhoods that needed matters to be addressed. And for me, it was, such an aha moment to see that this can really be a place to create a groundswell of public witnesses with justice voices.

It is still something that I think more communities of faith, if they’re authentically wanting to be about transformative justice, can actively participate in to leverage ourselves. Yes, one might be in a small congregation, but 50 or 60 other congregations can become several hundred or thousands getting on busses to go to the Capitol, getting on busses to speak to the mayor or the city council, or to be available to walk through our neighborhoods to see what’s really going on. That’s civic justice.

GTU: Can you speak more to how you see community organizing as sacred?

VMT: Community organizing as a sacred task is very, very important and urgent to me. I like to think of community organizing as a sacred task because it requires thinking and reflecting on our faith and on the connection between discipleship and social reform. We have examples in our interreligious traditions, in our sacred texts, of being compassionate with the people. Community organizing calls us to become part of our communities, to listen deeply to hear what they have to say, and to encourage them to join their voices to the effort of organizing so that we as people of faith, as academicians, as pastors, are not speaking for them. We are in solidarity to raise voice for equality and justice together.