Questions? Email Rev. Shada Sullivan at revshada@gmail.com.
We all want to help our neighbor and help make the world a better place through useful action. But sometimes it is hard to know how to have a meaningful impact. Ours is a tradition that encourages people of faith to be active and conscientious citizens. We will explore this aspect of the Swedenborgian tradition as well as concrete ways to be civically engaged in an upcoming five-part series. We have been grateful to make a connection with the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a non-partisan Quaker organization, that provides guidance and training for people wishing to engage with their civic process on a variety of issues. Each event will happen online from 7:30-9:00 pm Eastern Time (4:30-6:00 Pacific). The dates will be Jan 31, Feb 28, Mar 28, April 25, and May 23. This is a non-partisan event series, designed to support civic action generally, without preference to specific issues.
Session One: Swedenborg’s Civic Engagement Retrospectively Considered
Monday January 31st, 7:30-9pm EST on Zoom
Join us for a lecture on Zoom with Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence on Swedenborg’s own practices of civic engagement during his life, and how the notion of civic engagement relates to Swedenborgian theology. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A.
View a recording of the event on our YouTube channel.
Register here for session two, three, four, and five in order to get the Zoom link to the event.
Session Two: Interfaith Advocacy 101 (led by the Friends Committee on National Legislation)
Monday February 28th, 7:30-9pm EST on Zoom
- What does interfaith advocacy look like in Washington DC?
- Who is FCNL, what does FCNL do?
- How do members of Congress react to faith-based advocacy?
- Why is faith based advocacy important?
View a recording of the event on our YouTube channel.
Monday March 28th, 7:30-9pm EST on Zoom
- Standard lobby training, how to engage your member of Congress
- A short briefing on a bipartisan piece of legislation, as an example
Session Four: How do I raise my voice? Where do I go from here? (led by the FCNL)
Monday April 25th, 7:30-9pm EST on Zoom
- What does success look like?
- How to build meaningful partnerships for advocacy in my community
- How to lift up these issues in the media
Session Five: Swedenborgians in the Field
Monday May 23rd, 7:30-9pm EST on Zoom
A panel discussion led by Rev. Rich Tafel, on the topic of what Swedenborgian faith-based advocacy might look like in the field, featuring Swedenborgians already engaged with civic issues.
