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Racial Justice
Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway and his collaboration with the Lieber Institute for Brain Development is working to address health disparities, particularly in mental health research affecting the Black community. Hathaway, leveraging his leadership as a pastor and community organizer, saw this initiative as a social justice issue and an opportunity to bridge the gap between Black communities and medical research. He emphasized the importance of inclusive, participatory research that respects and engages affected communities, working to overcome the historical distrust Black Americans have of the medical establishment due to past exploitation.
First Congregational United Church of Christ in Washington, D.C.'s ongoing efforts to address its historical connection to slavery through services and a documentary. During their 2022 All Saints Sunday service, they honored the names of enslaved people who once worked on the land, now the church’s location, which was formerly a tobacco plantation. The service involved congregants offering sacred items in memory of these individuals, guided by artist Jessica Valoris, as part of a broader ritual to include these ancestors in their remembrance. The church’s 2023 All Saints service and the accompanying documentary Speaking Their Names continue to explore this history.
Affordable Housing
Churches are facing declining congregations, leaving their buildings underused. Legislation to encourage religious institutions to redevelop properties for housing, which could help solve housing shortages and promote economic growth are being passed in New York and California. California’s SB 4 legislation, for example, allows religious institutions to bypass zoning hurdles to build affordable housing. The ‘City of Yes’ housing plan is a proposed municipal housing plan seeking the help of religious property owners to create 500,000 new homes in the next decade.
National housing and community development nonprofits like Enterprise Community Partners, Grow America, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have either launched or are planning to launch faith-based property development initiatives.
Environmental Activism
Citigroup’s chief sustainability officer, Val Smith, and four religious environmental activists in September 2024, to discuss Citigroup’s fossil fuel investments. In 2021, Citi had pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but according to reports by independent financial researchers and environmental watchdog groups, the bank has become the second-largest funder of oil, coal and gas projects in the world.The religious activists had booked the meeting with Smith thanks to the Summer of Heat, a campaign that organized more than 40 protests at the bank’s headquarters in Lower Manhattan.
American Forests, a century-old conservation group, is using over $12 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to help faith-based and community organizations plant trees in underserved urban areas. This initiative aims to address "tree equity" by increasing tree canopy in neighborhoods historically affected by redlining and other discriminatory policies. Faith communities are seen as key partners due to their trusted status and local influence. The project seeks to promote environmental justice and improve public health through tree planting.
Practicing Faith & Traditions
Astronaut Barry "Butch" Wilmore is a church elder at Adkison's Providence Baptist Church whose latest mission was unexpectedly extended due to technical issues with the Boeing Starliner spacecraft, forcing him to stay in space for eight months instead of the planned one week. During this mission, Wilmore kept in touch with his church community from space, making personal calls to elderly church members, including Adkison, who was hospitalized for a heart issue, and another 93-year-old church member, Suda Smith, on her birthday. The church, which includes other NASA employees, continues to livestream services, allowing homebound members like Adkison and even Wilmore in space to stay connected.
New generations are embracing old traditions to preserve cultural identity across all ages. Nimisha Ladva hopes to introduce her daughters to Navaratri, a Hindu festival celebrating female strength, specifically through garba, a traditional folk dance from Gujarat Initially her children were hesitant to embrace the practice, feeling disconnected, but after joining their local community they began to feel a deeper connection to their cultural identity.
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