Social Justice Commission
Have you been participating in our Social Justice Sunday prayers, the Trinity Institute Next Steps group, or the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN)? Are you feeling called to transforming the world, your community, or your own heart? Do you find yourself ministering to suffering people, and wondering how to address the roots of social injustice?
At the very beginning of his public ministry, as recorded in Luke 4:16-19, Jesus went to his hometown synagogue and read aloud Isaiah 61:1: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release the prisoners." Throughout his ministry, Jesus personally cared for the people he met. He comforted the grieving, fed the hungry, and offered healing to people who were suffering. But he didn't only work with individuals. Later, in Luke 11:37-53, he takes local leaders to task for failing to work for justice in their communities. When we look at Christ's work in the world, we see that he realized the importance of not just ministering to individual people living in the margins of society, such as the poor, the enslaved, and imprisoned. Jesus called human beings to the work of transforming institutions that caused oppression and injustice.
Maybe you've been moved by the words of our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry: "Now is our time to go ... into the world to share the good news of God and Jesus Christ... [t]o help to be agents and instruments of God’s reconciliation... This is the Jesus Movement." Perhaps you've been inspired by the image of the world Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. described when he said, “The end is reconciliation; the end is redemption; the end is the creation of the Beloved Community... It is this love which will bring about miracles in the hearts of men.”
If you would like to do more, or learn more about how you can work toward justice in our community, please join us for the organizing meeting of St. Paul's Social Justice Commission. Come join us for discussion and refreshments in the conference room on Sunday April 24 at 12:30, and share your experiences and passions for justice.
Please feel free to contact Rev. Michelle (Michelle@stpaulspgh.org) or Vestry member Erin Morey with any questions. My Change.
