Best Practices

After noticing that some of the books we grew up reading were less than inclusive and made for attitudes about our neighbors that had to be unlearned, we started wondering...how do parents and educators find books that both explicitly and implicitly support a cornerstone of our theology--that all people are made in the image of God? We've asked a number of justice-minded parents and educators for their thoughts. Today we hear from Laura Veenema, a literacy tutor and mom in Chicago. 

Books that are imaginative and creative also help our kids develop a sense of wonder, curiosity, and possibility. These are helpful traits when imagining what a world that is different than the status quo could be like, an important aspect of working for justice.

As I read the article my heart sank as I realized that the cruise ship line industry has begun to promote volunteerism cruises in order to attract millennials, a younger customer base who have a bent for social justice causes.

How can Canadian Christians celebrate Canada Day this year in a way that rightly honours a great country without falling into either idolatrous patriotism or divisive nationalism? It all comes down to the story we tell ourselves and others in our celebrations around the BBQ and the fireworks.

Like many, I am a Christian both in spite of the church and because of the church. I would like to suggest that there are eight ways that congregations can cultivate worship practices that embrace those who bear scars inflicted by Christians.

Overlooking the beauty that is Badlands National Park this summer, I remember feeling at peace. Our group of 50 spread across the breathtaking landscape and took about 15 minutes to just sit in silence, take in the sights, and reflect on our expectations for the week ahead.

Yet this time of reflection and awe came at a price—a price that I was not aware of until later that evening.

That night, our group listened as a Lakota Native American shared his people’s troubling story.

He said the conversation had been about our group and how it seemed like we thought highly of ourselves, standing on the outside of the circle looking in, and not talking to anyone.

“I’ll tell you why I wrote this article: because there’s a freshman in your English 101 class and there’s a guy on your sports team and there’s a 14-year-old kid in your church’s pew who is hiding a pretty big secret too.” Striving to cultivate a more open, inclusive community, Calvin College featured articles written by LGBT students in their student newspaper. We all have opinions on this issue and many are outspoken, on both sides.

While I was a student at Calvin College, one of the things I both enjoyed and struggled with was learning about different issues that related to international development. I loved being exposed to and being able to do meaningful research about issues such as global health, good partnerships, and environmental sustainability. However, what also made this one of the hardest parts of my academic time at Calvin was the recurring question: “What can I do about these issues?”

We pray; we lament; we give to relief agencies. But we also struggle to understand why this is happening and who’s to blame. And the TV news channels are quick to serve up all kinds of plausible-sounding answers.