Jim Smith
& Frank from NWM
Becoming a Man - Paul Monette
our stories are meant to be told
remind us of who we are and where we came from , of our passions
mobilizing Catholics - any kind of real affective action comes from where we are and how we are routed in ourselves and faith life
most effective and most sustainable that way
need strength, and remember where your strength comes from
fredrick b. - vocation in the world .. life work
you find that life work when you find the place where your deepest passion meets the hunger of the world
the core of you meets the need that is in the world for reforming or for justice
where in the hungers of the world do your passions meet?
LGBT exclusion runs the gamut from silence to violence -- both are equally deadly
who's the demographic?
in minisota, it was people in the pews -- the malliable middle
who is YOUR demographic?
greater inclusion of everyone -- reach out to alienated catholics
women are a very obvious target audience - there are more women in the pews and then are generally more favorable and alienated even in the pews
call to action groups
people in the pews -- talking about the largely silence -- people with no voice who don't know that they ahve no voice
educating factor -- have to empower the people in the pews gibe them an understanding of who we are
a lot of the catholics have the passion, but they don't know where they can speak it to make a difference
young adults - because they might not want to be part of formal religous communities anymore
connect with the latino , hatian communities
need to connect as friends with people in these communities
parents
schools - catholic schools and in catholic colleges and universities
intentional Eucharistic communities .. twin cities St. Steven's
we cannot forget that there are priests out there who are allies
jim: 3/4 of those priests I talked to gave donations to dignity
reach out to bishops
the elderly
take risks to reach out to those we're not sure about
principles and strategies of outreach
1) be proactive, positive, and affirming -- one of the great advantages of our work to lift up LGBT dignity within the church is we're lifting up something very postivie and sacred .. opposition is working to exclude and diminishing .. they're end message is to restrict the ciricle , not to expand it -- that's our goal .. as if we're being handed a plate of gold to distribute -- hard to lose with a message of afirmation and welcome and inclusivinty and dignity and compassion
but it's easy to lose site of that because of our legit anger .. can sometimes inspire us to act and speak negatively and judgementally .. we don't have to do that ..
2) think intersectionally - not just in terms of going otuside yoru boundries .. not just how are tehy going to hep us, but how we we going to help them -- how are we going to help when immigration issues come up, for example
how will we have theier back as we would like them to work on our struggles as well
cross-pollinating but also recognizing what our obligations to taht are as well as the benefits
3) don't expect to change the world with one or all of your efforts
we're a tree in the forest, not the forest itself
strategies
not easy -- we don't have the pulpit -- if we do want to reach out, going to take some real creative efforst
persistant efforts
take advantage of opportunities that arise suddenly
primary strategy that has continued to work is having conersations with others -- one at a time .. conversations are trasnformative because they nutrue a relationship and understanding and respect between peopole who might have disagreements -- they're not arguements, theyr'e about telling our stories and finding common ground
these kinds of conversations can become adversarial fairly quickly -- so it's not easy, but it's important
2) use religious lagnuage -- don't cede the religous tradition to the right -- speak because of your faith, not in spite of it
use images that emphasize the sacredness of all lgbt people, of their elationships, the way that we see the face of God in the people who support us -- don't be afraid of using religious language
what's the faith language that you'd put on your convictions?
one thing to respond with theology or scripture -- it's another thing to respond to a real story of love
people are hooked in with that kind of story
collaborative strategy -- you can't do it alone
and then there's the creative -- and think outside the box --
those opportunities can be very fun
- one area is in social media -- one of the best efforsts -- frs. james martin created a hash tag called "say something positive"
.. about LGBT people
are we called? do we have a passion to be creatie? I hope so
strategic vision & plan -
- within your community, think of that passion that you wanted to work on
that becoes in your plan your goal
including othr marginalized catholis, reaching out to young people,
those are goals that soind pie in the sky
under the goal, come up with real actions
if you're going to reach out to alientated catholics -- have to identify them --
social media or the Web
come up with a list of perhaps 4 or 5 concrete steps
who are your allies in those efforts -- find the other leaders in your community who can help you with that
give yourself a timeline -- be very generous withourself so as not to get burnt out or discouraged -- to get one or two of those five steps done
from there, you may have to start the process over again
always think 5 ft down the road
so identifying other alienated catholics -- might give that 4 or 5 months -- after that, reassess -- was it harder, easier? do we have to change our strategy? and it's good when you come up with concrete steps -- the more specific, the better
so identify *ten* alienated catholics -- so measurable quantity
this information will be on the dignity Web site
be gentile with yourself, don't get discouraged -- come back to your passions, come back to those motivationg experiences to find your strength
and celebrate your successes! that vies you the strength to want to do it again.
just because you work for justice doesn't mean you always lose