Faith and Justice Ministry
Zion’s Faith & Justice ministry creates a space to learn, pray, read, discuss, and reflect on all issues of social injustice that we believe we are called to confront as Christ’s disciples. Our prayer and study of Scripture informs and inspires the work we undertake as we strive to live out Christ’s commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Our Guiding Principles
The Faith & Justice ministry is committed to striving for justice and peace among all people by respecting the dignity of every human being. We seek tangible, theologically-based inspiration into ways we can be more faithful witnesses and deepen our resolve to pursue justice, mercy and reconciliation.
The ministry acknowledges that injustice encompasses many areas including race, gender, sexual orientation, immigrant status, refugee status, disability, age status and the poor. The ministry chose to focus on the issue of racism at this time because as Bishop Curry puts it, “this is the house that is on fire.”
Our Journey
So far, we have discussed the following books, articles, and films:
Sacred Ground, a curriculum produced by the Episcopal Church built around a powerful online curriculum of documentary films and readings that focus on Indigenous, Black, Latino, and Asian/Pacific American histories as they intersect with European American histories.
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Video: “Spirituality and Racial Justice with Presiding Bishop Michael Curry
TED Talk: “We Need to Talk about An Injustice” with Bryan Stevenson
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
TED Talk: “The Future of Race in America” with Michelle Alexander
13th directed by Ava DuVernay
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
America’s Original Sin by Jim Wallis
Our Mission
Through our Faith & Justice ministries, we strive to become:
- faithful witnesses who will learn the truth of a divided society through discernment and share the new narrative
- Christ’s ambassadors who will seek reconciliation in our local and larger community by working to change unjust systems and structures that continue to divide us.
