How can a congregation utilize community organising to build relationships with others in their community?

What are linkages between church mission and the work of a broad-based alliance?

How can a listening campaign unite a parish through greater understanding of each other stories?

“I’m a long time leader of Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good because I believe in the relational process which builds power for individuals and institutions to act on what they value. I have seen many people transformed, including my own congregation.”—Pastor Terry Moe, Salt and Light Lutheran Church.

Rev Terry Moe has been a Lutheran pastor for 27 years, the last 23 in Portland, Oregon in the United States. He has also been a leader in a community organising alliance for more than 20 years, working to build power relationally for the common good as a key part of his ministry.

This journey has seen him work with labour unions to bring prevailing wage infrastructure jobs to his community, be a part of driving out drug houses and then decontaminating the homes that had been made unsafe through methamphetamine production. His congregation has helped save a health fund that insured 100,000 low income families, and secure an additional $75million for new affordable housing in Oregon.

At this forum, Pastor Moe will share stories of faith and organising, of how a congregation can build relationships in it's community to achieve justice, and how spiritual communities brought together by organising for justice can be grow alongside a Lutheran congregation. 

Everyone is invited to bring a plate and stay for lunch together after the forum.