If you are reading this blog, you’re probably passionate about stopping the climate crisis, dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery, or both. And if so, chances are you’ve tried to motivate the people in your life to join you in doing something about the enduring legacy of boarding schools, the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and relatives, or resource extraction on Indigenous land.
Are your loved ones and church family standing alongside you to take action? Are they calling on their legislators to respect Indigenous rights? Are they reprioritizing their time and spending habits in response to the climate crisis? Are they insisting that the church budget reflect your congregation’s commitment to love, repair, and healing? If so, congratulations! You are a skilled organizer and an exceptionally convincing person!
However, if you’re not so convincing – and if you haven’t had much success in inspiring your church, friends, coworkers, and family to take action – I feel you. I’m a United Methodist pastor, and when serving churches was my primary ministry, I struggled to motivate my parishioners and clergy colleagues to address the poverty and injustices we were seeing in our community. I tried preaching justice-y sermons; I tried outreach events; I tried information tables at conferences. I tried hosting multi-day workshops; I tried Bible studies; I tried Sunday school series. You name it, I’ve tried it; I may have even resorted to cajoling and pleading a couple of times.
Finally, through a JustFaith Ministries program, I discovered it’s not because of my efforts that people change their lives and our world. Instead, it’s through trust-filled dialogue in community that transformation occurs – often to the extent that we can’t not seek the justice of God’s Kin-dom. The reason makes perfect sense (….if only I’d listened to Jesus earlier!), as it’s where two or more are gathered that God tends to show up (Matthew 18:20). The process worked so well that I decided to join JustFaith Ministries’ staff and now spend my days developing small group programs that churches, organizations, and more informal networks use to inspire and equip their communities for faith-filled action.
In 2023, JustFaith Ministries and the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery partnered to create The Land Is Not Our Own: Seeking Repair Alongside Indigenous Communities. The intention behind the partnership was to develop an educational tool that Coalition and Repair Network members could use to inspire, mobilize, and equip their own churches or networks to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. Consultants connected with the Coalition – Kelly Lindquist, Bizzy Feekes, and Sarah Augustine – provided the foundational wisdom on which the program is built. Additionally, an Advisory Team of Coalition members guided the development of the materials. In October 2023, after ten months of program development, we celebrated the program’s launch.
Here’s how the process works:
1. You reach out to 7-14 people you know, inviting them to spend 8-10 weeks in prayer, learning, and dialogue around the Doctrine of Discovery.
2. Two people volunteer to co-facilitate. Co-facilitators do not need to be clergy or have expertise on the topic – JustFaith Ministries provides all the training and information they’ll need.
3. At the end of the program, the group creates an action plan for working for change in true solidarity with those affected by injustice.
With any matter of injustice, there are ultimately two ways of creating change: 1) organized money, and 2) organized people. Insight without action is of little or no value: it’s not by knowing a lot about Indigenous history or the causes of climate change that brings about justice; it’s when we mobilize others and demand change together that we see the change we so desperately need.
The purpose of The Land Is Not Our Own is to help inspired people inspire people, building a network of justice-seekers demanding justice and liberation for Creation, for Indigenous communities, and for ourselves. If you would like to bring The Land Is Not Our Own: Seeking Repair Alongside Indigenous Communities to your church, friend group, or community (online or in-person), visit our website to register, or schedule a conversation with us to learn more.
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Kristin Dollar is the Director of Programs at JustFaith Ministries, which means she works with experts in their fields to compile and write the materials for JustFaith programs. As a United Methodist pastor from South Carolina Kristin has served a variety of congregations, has experience with homelessness and end-of-life ministry, and is particularly passionate about liberation theology and immigration justice.
