Will You Show Up With Auburn?
We have one message: We all belong.
Despite challenging times, our spiritual convictions remind us that we belong to one another and are called to deepen our relationships with partners, allies, and friends, and, where possible, with those with whom we disagree. Auburn stands with you to counter this moment of violence and polarization with solidarity, compassion, and mobilization.
Starkly different visions of the future are struggling for the soul of our country. It is a struggle that we cannot afford to lose. So much is at stake. Auburn’s work is national and local in scope, working with multifaith leaders, communities, and movements to imagine and create a future where all belong.
Today, we ask you to join us with a generous gift to fuel leaders and movements to create a world where all belong.
Leaders across the country are asking Auburn to show up and work side by side to propel our nation from fear to hope.
Auburn shows up alongside immigrant rights organizations offering technical and strategic support to change the shortsighted and horrific policies that have led to violence and family separation at our borders. Auburn Senior Fellows are raising the moral voice and rallying the power of their constituencies as they collectively demonstrate that Buddhists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Sikhs can work across lines of difference with shared vision and purpose.
Auburn shows up when moral issues are on the ballot as they were in the recent Midterm Elections. We worked with trusted partners in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Wisconsin to offer media and message training, voter mobilization, and spiritual sustenance. Auburn created a national Get Out The Vote video and organized against voter suppression with digital campaigns under the banner of #FaithfulDemocracy.
Auburn shows up to equip Black women working on the frontlines of justice through the Sojourner Truth Leadership Circle (STLC) with a variety of contemplative spiritual practices designed to help leaders embody “resilience in a new register.” STLC has expanded to address the needs of a growing community of Sikh American activist women and Jewish women of color.
Auburn shows up with action research in small, vibrant towns like Columbus, Nebraska to investigate how faithful civic practices are employed to welcome new immigrants, and how those practices can be replicated across the country. Auburn’s research team is convening and polling people around the country in search of messages that resonate to create the Future Story of America where all are welcome and all belong. Our research also shows up in the training of future religious leaders to Make Theology Matter, to show how seminaries can best train students for on-the-ground impact in their congregations and communities.
Auburn shows up with faith-rooted justice learning cohorts in 13 cities across the country through our Justice Ministry Education program, and in cities across the south with our Resilience Fellows program. We show up with leaders to offer peer-to-peer learning and spiritual support with resources and trainings to create more just communities.
Auburn shows up as a convener and container for challenging and productive conversations, bringing together diverse points of view to move forward on issues including LGBT Rights and Reproductive Justice so that the next generation does not suffer from the same cultural, religious, and political gridlock we currently experience.
We show up digitally, to mobilize thousands of individuals with our Social Media Campaigns and Initiatives on our Groundswell platform for collective impact on issues such as gun violence, deportation, and violence against women and girls. Our most recent campaign invites action in the wake of the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and has collected more than 1,700 letters and pledges to resist anti-Semitism for a book that we’re delivering personally to the Jewish community in Pittsburgh today.
Thank you.
Blessings and gratitude,
Rev. Dr. Katharine Rhodes Henderson
President, Auburn Seminary
