Justice Initiatives
Organizing and Political AdvocacyIn addition to the work of Outreach and the North Lawndale Kinship Initiative, the Social Justice in Action team works to further Old St. Patrick’s mission and the Gospel vision of peace, justice, and human flourishing. Our Catholic faith calls us to follow Jesus who challenged the oppressive forces in his day and who built a following among people who were marginalized and made poor. Today, we recognize the structures and cultures that operate in our own society to create inequality and leave members of our human family in poverty, homelessness, sickness, hunger, and isolation. The Social Justice in Action team is here to help our faith community embrace the challenges that come with confronting racism, sexism, systemic poverty, and other toxic social sins. Since August 2014, Old St. Pat’s has been a part of Community Renewal Society, a coalition of Christian congregations in Chicago working together to organize and build relational power. We fight for policies that support dignity of all life, especially for people most vulnerable in our communities. This collective activism and advocacy holds our leaders accountable to the communities they are supposed to serve and honor. Our faith says we belong to each other and to God, and our work with CRS helps us put this faith into action.
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Members of our Social Justice in Action team met with legislators in Springfield as a part of Community Renewal Society’s Day of Faith at the Capitol.
January 2015: Over 1000 people of faith gathered on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to pray and advocate for education funding reform, expanding economic opportunities to people with records, and community development on the west side.
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We are moving forward together in faith, hope, and love under the guidance of God’s amazing power and spirit. Our Social Justice in Action team currently has four ways for you to plug into our work and contribute your gifts and strengths. If you have new ideas and thoughts to share, we’d love to listen! Please contact Kayla Jackson to have coffee and share your story: kaylaj@oldstpats.org or 312.798.2399.
All are welcome to join our Social Justice in Action team, and we hope to see you soon around Old St. Patrick’s Church. Peace and justice to one and all!
All are welcome to join our Social Justice in Action team, and we hope to see you soon around Old St. Patrick’s Church. Peace and justice to one and all!
ORGANIZING AND LEADERSHIP BUILDINGIn the coming months, our team is planning to use community organizing skills to build relational power in our church. By listening to the members of Old St. Pat’s, we can better understand the amazing gifts we have around us and build leaders in our congregation for justice ministries and all ministries of our community. With a unified church that is in relationship and dialogue, we can then take collective action to advocate for policies and hold officials accountable on a variety of issues, including economic and environmental justice, racial equity, housing, and labor rights.
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SEASON OF SOCIAL JUSTICESystems of oppression are complex and multifaceted. Grasping the nature of how systems interact and build off of one another takes time and energy. Our team continually explores the intersectionality of justice issues as we work to see the reality of poverty around us. We also see the importance of education on what we can do individually and collectively to make positive changes in our daily lives and in our larger community.
Each year, Old St. Patrick’s celebrates a Season of Social Justice for a specific month with subsequent events and actions throughout the year. We host speakers, share articles, run workshops, and create transformative experiences around a particular aspect of justice or Catholic Social Teaching, including everything from solidarity to human rights to peace and nonviolence. |
JUSTFAITHTo have a more ongoing personal formation around social justice issues and our faith, we facilitate the national JustFaith program at Old St. Patrick’s. JustFaith empowers participants to develop a passion and thirst for a compassionate commitment to their church, community, and world. It prepares them for and energizes them in the work of social ministry through books, articles, films, and immersion experiences within local non-profit agencies. In a group of 14-18 people, JustFaith members go through several months of weekly sessions engaging in dialogue and faith-sharing about Catholic Social Teaching to discern how they can live a life of challenge and fulfillment. Sessions usually start in January and continue through October each year.
IMMIGRANT & REFUGEE MINISTRY
FAIR TRADE AND
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RACIAL EQUITY AND JUSTICE INITIATIVE
The call of the Old St Patrick’s Vision presents us with both the challenge and opportunity to be leaders in a movement of change in the church. We strive to see the world through the eyes of Christ, stand against injustice, and serve a broken world. For the past year, our church and our country have been challenged to reckon with both the coronavirus pandemic and the other deadly virus which grips the nation: racism.
The murder of George Floyd was both a tragic and watershed moment for our country. In response, many marched, began educating themselves, read books, engaged in courageous conversations, and sought truth and reconciliation. The work of racial equity continues. Guided by the Gospel, we commit to being active agents of equality, justice, and change in big and small ways. Old St. Pat’s Racial Equity & Justice Initiative will offer frequent reflections, questions, prayers, and actions to invite all of us to use this sacred time to unpack the ways in which racism separates us from our neighbor and God. Trusting in the Spirit, we will navigate this wilderness and be formed and prepared leaders of change in our church and our communities. OSP GREEN TEAM
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