Salt of the Earth: JustFaith joins Catholic Charities

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April 2001

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JustFaith joins the Catholic Charities family
Looking to stir up some social justice activism in your parish and make a difference in the world? A new partnership between Catholic Charities USA and JustFaith, an education program on Catholic justice, might just give you the knowledge and support you'll need.

The groups officially formed their partnership in November, but the relationship is still in its "infancy stage" says Kristi Schulenberg, Catholic Charities' director of parish social ministry. "Often JustFaith is like a conversion experience for people and afterward they want to know, 'What can I do now?'" Schulenberg says. "We're here to follow up with support." Catholic Charities will help JustFaith expand and publicize its program plus guide participants to social justice opportunities.

JustFaith began in 1989 as an intensive look at the Catholic traditions of peace and justice. Jack Jezreel, the program's creator, started JustFaith while he was the minister of social responsibility at the Church of the Epiphany in Lousiville, Kentucky. Parish participants met every week for nine months to discuss a set of assigned readings (two to four hours' worth a week), listen to speakers, and pray. They also got involved in local activist efforts and attended a series of retreats. They were different people by the end of the effort.

"It has changed a lot of people's lives," Jezreel says. "And this, in turn, has made some parish's efforts in social ministry really come alive." The Church of the Epiphany continued the program and soon other parishes turned to Jezreel for advice on initiating their own JustFaith efforts.

When he became a farmer, Jezreel realized he couldn't keep up with the demand for JustFaith expertise. "For the last four years I've been farming full-time and trying to be helpful to those who wanted me to do this [social justice] work, but I had a sense that the work I was doing with social justice and JustFaith was unique in me," Jezreel explains. "I felt a responsibility to help others more than I could while I was farming full-time." So he turned to Catholic Charities.

"Jack and I had a conversation about a year ago in which he said he was interested in working on JustFaith full-time," Schulenberg says. She suggested a partnership between the two groups that would give Jezreel the opportunity to expand his program and make it accessible to parishes across the country.

"Catholic Charities is taking the possibilities of JustFaith very seriously," Jezreel says. The two organizations are busy creating a detailed, adaptable syllabus for JustFaith's 15- to 30-session schedule. The guidelines will be geared toward "absolute beginners," Jezreel explains. "This resource will be a welcome tool for people who may have been intimidated by the JustFaith program."

A web site is also in the works. According to Jezreel it will offer updated program materials, parish testimonials, and the opportunity to network with other JustFaith groups.

Once a group has completed the JustFaith program, individuals wondering what to do with their experience will also have somewhere to turn. "If a parish has 15 to 30 people fired up and ready to go, you ask, 'Is the parish well-equipped to be a place that can nurture them?'" Jezreel says. "Catholic Charities can help parishes do the actual work."

To tap into the JustFaith-Catholic Charities partnership, individuals become Catholic Charities members. They can then access all the program's tools and training and Catholic Charities' post-JustFaith service opportunities.

Jezreel estimates there are currently 100 to 125 parishes offering JustFaith. With Catholic Charities support, he thinks that number could triple over the next few years. "In the past it's really been working in spite of itself," Jezreel says. Now he thinks the program could really take off.—Anne Graber

More info:
Contact the JustFaith office at (502) 429-0865 or justfaith@email.msn.com
Salt of the Earth's "How to turn a Lukewarm Parish Into a Hotbed of Social Justice," by Jack Jezreel
Catholic Charities USA

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