Building Community with Faith-Rooted Action
Resources for Advocacy and Systemic Change
- Reverse Prayer of St Francis
- Issues
- Fair Housing and Inclusionary Zoning
- Immigrant Support: Noncooperation at the County level
- Immigrant Support: Healthcare for the undocumented
- Racial and Worker Justice
- Advocacy Tools, Content and Organizing
- Faith Rooted Organizing
- Public Comment Training
- Visibility and Scale
- Engagement
- Online Tools
- Coalitions
- Action Plan
- Our event on 28 Aug 2025
The Reverse Prayer of St. Francis
Dear Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
Where there is apathy, let me provoke,
Where there is compliance, let me bring questioning,
Where there is silence, may I be a voice.
Where there is too much comfort
and too little action, grant disruption.
Where there are doors closed and hearts locked,
grant me the willingness to listen.
When laws dictate and pain is overlooked,
When tradition speaks louder than need,
grant that I may seek to do justice rather
than to talk about it.
Disturb us, O Lord,
to be with, as well as for the alienated;
to love the unlovable as well as the lovely.
Lord, make me a channel of disturbance.
-Author unknown
Issues
Advocacy begins with a specific topic, an “issue.” In Contra Costa County, there are multiple topics deserving faith-rooted advocacy – housing justice, healthcare, immigrant support, food security, economic and racial justice, and more.
These issues arise in different contexts: some are local, and the policy-making body is a city council. Some are county-wide, and the targets of advocacy work are members of the Board of Supervisors. And many are statewide, including legislation and ballot initiatives. Sometimes, the context for advocacy is even closer to home: advocating within our faith communities, such as on how to address challenges like homelessness and affordable housing when there may be many different perspectives among the members of our communities.
Action Plan
The purpose of this program was to present an array of topics, resources and tools that together might form the catalysts for advocacy work in a specific faith community or other organization.
But the next step is to consider all of these (and more!) to take an inventory, to assess needs and interests, and given those elements, to begin forming plan to build and grow advocacy work in your community.
This brief Plan / Checklist will help. Click here.
Faith & Justice Breakfast 2025
Thursday, August 28, 2025
9:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT
Mt Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church
55 Eckley Lane, Walnut Creek, 94596
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves…” Proverbs 31:8-9
East Bay Housing Organizations, the Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition, and the Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy jointly hosted the 2025 Faith & Justice Breakfast: Building Community with Faith-Rooted Action.
The event brought together spiritual leaders, community members, and advocates from diverse faith and moral traditions. We explored the powerful connections between spirituality, justice, and systemic change. The shared purpose: To deepen our understanding of how our faith communities’ missions inherently call us to work for a more just and equitable society as an expression of faith values.
The program delved into practical strategies for engaging faith community members in meaningful action for justice, focusing on key topical examples such as the housing crisis, mitigating the many drivers of poverty, and supporting our immigrant neighbors. We explored how these vital issues resonate with the shared values and calls to action arising from our various faith traditions, without centering on any one doctrine.
Through interactive discussions and collaborative activities, the participants worked on:
- Building Community with Advocacy: Discover how advocacy for systemic change is a natural extension of their community’s unique commitment to serving the common good.
- Exploring Critical Issues: Gain insights into the complexities of housing insecurity, poverty, and challenges faced by immigrant communities, identifying tangible ways faith communities can make a difference.
Increasing familiarity with Advocacy Tools: Share and learn practical advocacy activities, including best practices for contacting elected officials, speaking at public meetings, activating and engaging community members, joining actions, and leveraging social media for impact.- Joining Coalitions: Understand the power of working in multi-faith and community-based coalitions to amplify impact and achieve shared goals.
- Developing Action Plans: Begin to formulate concrete plans for engaging their members in advocacy efforts tailored to their community’s unique strengths and needs.
This gathering offered a unique opportunity to connect with fellow leaders, share methods and priorities, and brainstorm ways to energize community members to be powerful agents of positive, systemic change in the world around us.
