Join the Collaborative for Catholic Organizing catholicorganizing.org FOR Catholic Organizing

In February 2023, IPJC, Jesuits West, and the University of San Francisco gathered folks from across the United States for “Prophetic Communities: Organizing as an Expression of Catholic Social Thought.” The conference was attended by academics, community organizers, social ministry directors, and others committed to growing the practice of community organizing in Catholic contexts. One of the gathering’s outgrowths was the Collaborative for Catholic Organizing, which IPJC will co-coordinate in partnership with NETWORK and Jesuits West. We hope that you will consider joining this shared project and community by learning more below.

PURPOSE: The Collaborative for Catholic Organizing exists to foster community, nourish spiritual development, and build power among organizers, theologians, and people of faith committed to community organizing within the Catholic context.

OBJECTIVES:

In the first semester, interns participate in weekly workshops led by local and national community organizers and focused on the following topics: identity, power and privilege, storytelling, listening skills, communication, and outreach. After developing their own leadership styles and honoring their unique organizing gifts, the group participates in a listening campaign with the broader Seattle community aimed at gathering research about community joys and challenges. Then students utilize their research to engage in a communal discernment process about the social injustice they desire to address for the remainder of the year. The second semester focuses upon building a social movement to address the issue.

The 2022–23 interns built the Catholic School Student Coalition for Social Action, which will allow Catholic high schoolers to participate in social action without committing to a yearlong internship.

—“Justice in the World,” World Synod of Catholic Bishops, 1971

1. Align: Deepen the connections among Catholic social teaching, liberation theology, and community organizing through resource development, sharing, and collaboration.

2. Build community: Foster deep relationships that build communities of resiliency and trust among organizers, major stakeholders, and justice builders working in Catholic spaces.

3. Strategize: Intentionally collaborate and build power for social change through shared power analysis, movement alignment, and coordinated efforts to situate organizing within Catholic social teaching.

4. Grow: Nurture people in both their organizing skills and spiritual depth in the work of organizing, especially in helping participants connect their work to the Catholic faith. Increase capacity to work in Catholic contexts and deepen spiritual sustainability.

Ways

TO PARTICIPATE:

1. Attend quarterly community-wide meetings focused on deepening relationships, professional development, and capacity building.

2. Attend individual events exploring issues related to community organizing in Catholic contexts.

3. Participate in a working group: a. Ministerial, theological, and academic formation b. Synodal distillation group (Synodal process from “Prophetic Communities”) c. Power and network building

4. Contribute to and utilize the growing resource library on the Collaborative’s website: catholicorganizing.org .

5. Click Ask to Join group at the top the Collaborative’s website.