WHAT YOU’LL LEARN: The Justice Ministry Education program uses the action-reflection-action form of learning. Participants engage in intense hands-on field work and reflect on their experiences with a supervisor and a small group of peers. Participants engage in 150 hours of field work combined with 150 hours of directed learning. The 150 hours of directed learning is broken down into 90 hours of small group learning and work, 30 hours of individually-directed work, and 30 hours of participating in movement work happening in one’s regional area.

The JME curriculum focuses on five areas of learning, growth and practice:

1. Faith-rootedness
2. The practice of justice work
3. Role discernment and knowledge of self
4. Self-care and communal care
5. Accountability and relationship building.

Participants leave the program spiritually activated and practically prepared. The small group structure of the program ensures that each participant is challenged to focus their learning in the areas they most want to grow.

FEEDBACK FROM JME PARTICIPANTS

• My experience in the JME certificate program was transformative in ways I could never have imagined or anticipated…One of the most unexpected discoveries I made through this program was that I already had a relatively clear, deeply rooted, and personal theological frame established when I entered the program…More than anything, I lacked the confidence and familiarity with articulating that theology…As a result of this program, I am able to express my theological frame with more clarity and confidence than ever.
• Perhaps the largest area of growth and learning for me throughout JME pertains to the fourth educational outcome – “self-care and communal care in justice work.” It was largely through our group theological reflections that I was able to observe or acknowledge the ways I have struggled with self-care and also the ways that I grew in naming my own needs and pursing support to get those needs met.
• As I have grown in my own self-awareness and rootedness as an organizer and a beloved child of God, I have also deepened my critical analysis of organizing and expanded my view of what it means to do the work of justice with faith-rootedness. In part this has meant I have begun to develop a less rigid and dualistic perspective of what it means to “do justice.”
• I am deeply grateful to be walking this road with such a diverse and thoughtful group of friends who share lived experiences and points of view unlike my own. Our social context is crisscrossed with intersections of diversity we must learn to navigate together in order to live out God’s vision ‘on earth as it is in heaven.’
• I decided to take the JME class to explore my own spirituality and justice work in a group with fellow travelers. Recent events in our country and the world have lent an urgency to my seeking, so I’ve really appreciated the opportunity of our community together. I have had several realizations during the program, and many deeper understandings, which I’d like to sum up here, in three main categories: (i) my justice activism is tied to my queerness; (ii) multi-faith work and pluralism are the bedrock of my activism; (iii) the importance of self-care, listening, and lightening things up.

WHAT TO EXPECT: Justice Ministry Education groups have 10-12 participants and are led by an expert supervisor. Each participant works at a field site during the program, and the field site can be a current place of employment (if the work is related to faith-rooted justice) or any institution that allows the participant to engage in faith-rooted justice work. Supervisors assist participants in selecting an appropriate field site. The scheduling of the small group meetings are different for each group. JME is a deeply hands-on intense learning environment and is not like regular classroom learning. Participants should expect to be challenged by their peers, by themselves, and by their field sites.

COSTS: The tuition for Justice Ministry Education in 2018 is $800. Scholarships may be available. When participants use a field site that is different than their place of employment, stipends may occasionally be available, depending on the budget of the field site and the availability of scholarship funds.