“A conversation space for justice in the Christian Reformed Church.” Do Justice seeks to encourage people to have conversations around justice. But how do we stay in dialogue with people who strongly disagree with us on an issue we are passionate about, especially when that issue affects the lives of people in very tangible ways? How do we foster conversation with people that we disagree with on an issue they are very passionate about and that also affects people’s lives in very real ways? How do we have these conversations on social media, which adds another dimension to our disagreement?
During this series we will be hearing from people who because of the nature of their jobs, the things about which they are passionate, or the people with whom they interact have had a lot of experience answering those questions. We hope that this series will give us some guidance and advice to begin to answer those questions. Above all, we hope that this series will help you stay in conversation in constructive ways that honor and respect the image of God in those you disagree with and in the people affected by the issues you are talking about. We hope to learn together how to communicate in ways that build up the Body of Christ.
Will you make a personal commitment to respectful dialogue, especially for this year's Christian Reformed Church Synod gathering? To make your commitment public and to encourage others to follow your lead, tweet or share a Facebook post with the hashtag #CRClistens.
#CRCListens: Listening- It's More than Just Tolerance (Rob Barrett of The Colossian Forum)
#CRCListens: Dialogue is Hard but it's Worth It (Professor Joseph Kuilema of Calvin College)
#CRCListens: I Think It's More Complicated than That (Rev. Thyra VanKeeken of First CRC in Brandon, Manitoba)
#CRCListens: Our Disagreements are Nothing New (Rev. Paul Vander Klay of Living Stones Christian Reformed Church in Sacramento, California)
#CRCListens: Be Excellent to One Another (Christine Berghoef, author/speaker)
#CRCListens: Finding Grace on the Internet (Amy Vander Vliet, senior web editor for Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs)
#CRCListens: Ordinary Acts of Love (Gideon Strauss of the Center for Public Justice and Institute for Christian Studies)
#CRCListens: 3 Key Insights for Having Difficult, Honest Conversations (Kathy Smith of Calvin Theological Seminary)
#CRCListens: 3 Guidelines for Dialogue on Social Media (Jane Halton, coach)
#CRCListens: Learning to be Gospel People (Bishop Mark MacDonald of the Anglican Church of Canada)
#CRCListens: The Problem with All or Nothing (Mike Hogeterp, Director of the Christian Reformed Centre for Public Dialogue)
#CRCListens: Why We Need Robert's Rules (Darren Roorda, Canadian Ministries Director)
#CRCListens: 9 Tips for Entering and Sticking with Tough Dialogue (Jeanette Romkema, Dialogue Education practitioner and educator)