wise words
Brian Sauder on
Faith-Based Grassroots Change by Sandra Yeyati
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ith degrees in natural resource management, environmental science, religion and business administration, Mennonite Reverend Brian Sauder is an adjunct professor at two Illinois seminary schools, as well as president and executive director of Faith in Place, a Midwest nonprofit headquartered in Chicago that helps diverse faith-based groups become community leaders in a shared quest for environmental, social and racial justice.
If you look at the history of the U.S. environmental justice movement, from Warren County, North Carolina, where black church women laid their bodies on the road to stop toxic waste dump trucks in their community, to Dr. Benjamin Chavis’ coining of the phrase “environmental racism” through the United Church of Christ, there’s a legacy of people of faith and diverse spiritualities calling out environmental racism and organizing the community to take action. We view ourselves in that historical lineage, with a mission to provide the tools, resources and programming for our faith partners to continue to advance these valuable pursuits.
How does Faith in Place work?
It’s very grassroots. We believe in a Green Team model, which is a core group of people within a faith community, anywhere from three to 30 individuals, depending on the size of the community. Through coaching, we help teams evaluate the community’s needs and assets, set goals for the year, and create a strategic plan to address needs through programming, advocacy and a network of nonprofit partners.
Why are Green Teams effective in bringing about change?
The messenger matters. When you work with a community, it’s the people in that community that are going to understand the culture, the theology, the context, the history, the politics of the local body; so they understand how to meet people where they’re at and how to talk about these issues in a way that’s effective and attainable. 26
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How are places of faith uniquely positioned to address environmental and racial justice?
