Tapestry of Faith: Heeding the Call: A Program on Justicemaking for Junior High School Youth

Implementation

To generate interest in Heeding the Call, consider writing a letter for the congregational newsletter about the importance of social justice to our faith, the need to engage youth in this faith-developing work and how this curriculum supports these efforts. If youth will participate in the long-term Faith in Action, Allies, consider seeking support from members of the justice committee in your congregation who are also working toward being good allies. They might accompany youth to events, suggest reading material or websites of interest.

The program was designed in such a way that workshops can be done either sequentially or as stand-alone workshops. Consider how you will work with scheduling each workshop. Some may go well with the liturgical calendar and may be taught related to congregational life. Others might tie-in to social justice activities of the whole congregation.

If you have more than twelve time slots in the year, consider spreading some of the workshops across multiple sessions and using more of the alternate activities.

The program includes the use of a Justicemakers Guide. The Justicemakers Guide is a booklet for participants to use both within and outside of the workshop. Within it, are tools for individuals to use in their justice work, such as non-violent ways to communicate and ways to oppose oppression. It also contains places for youth to take notes, write reflections, draw, and keep records of their actions.