Congregations for Justice: Why They Join the Struggle, How They Do It, and What They Are Aiming for

In this lecture, Jeffrey Stout, professor of religion at Princeton University, will describe how grassroots democracy works, what some of its successes and failures have been, and why religious communities are still at the core of it.

Members of America’s top 1 percent enjoy the advantages of massive economic and political power. The only chance for ordinary citizens to right the ship is to organize and exert power of their own.

In the United States, religion and politics are usually confined to separate domains. However, what if the solution to our stratified political climate could actually be found through the organization of religious groups in support of grassroots democracy?

Stout will discuss how great social movements have mobilized religious communities in the past, and how congregations today are involved in coalitions that seek economic and civic justice at the local level. 

Two respondents will join this discussion: the Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, special assistant to the bishop for welcoming congregations for the Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; and Marcos Vargas, founding executive director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), a community-based social movement organization serving the California Central Coast.

Stout is the author of four books including Blessed Are the Organized: Grassroots Democracy in America and serves on the editorial boards of Theology Today and Contemporary Pragmatism. He is a graduate of Brown University and holds a doctorate from Princeton.

Admission is free.