Striving for Justice

Journeying with the Methodist Church in Britain

Authors

  • Megan Seneque Research Associate, Susanna Wesley Foundation, Roehampton University
  • Sue Miller Director of the Susanna Wesley Foundation, Roehampton University
  • Ermal Kirby Methodist Minister, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) committee
  • Jill Marsh Methodist Minister & Implementation Lead for the Methodist Strategy for Justice, Dignity and Solidarity, Methodist Church in Great Britain
  • Charity Nzegwu Methodist Minister, District EDI/JDS (Justice, Dignity and Solidarity) Officer in the East Anglia District
  • Bevan Powell Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Adviser, Methodist Church in Great Britain
  • Adrian Roux Methodist Minister and Learning Network Coordinator for the Church’s Southern and Islands Region

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47061/jabsc.v1i2.1950

Keywords:

Systemic injustice, racial injustice, intersectionality, collective transformation, systemic injustice, justice, dignity & solidarity

Abstract

Black ministry has historically found itself at the intersection of theology and racial justice. In this dialogue, a group of people, both ordained and lay, discuss their work in the Methodist Church in Great Britain, taking a deep look at self and system through the lens of justice and inclusion. The Methodist Church has a long history of grappling with issues of (racial) justice. In 2019, at a Racial Justice Symposium convened by the Methodist Church, participants engaged in an awareness-based systems change process to take a deep dive into what it means to shape inclusive community. Theory U (Scharmer 2016, 2018; Scharmer & Kaufer, 2013) provided the overarching framework and key principles for this journey of co-inquiry.

References

Cowan, M. A. & Lee, B. J. (1997). Conversation, risk & conversion: The inner and public life of small Christian communities. Orbis Books.

Scharmer, C. O. (2016). Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges (2nd edition). Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Scharmer, C. O. (2018). The essentials of Theory U: Core principles and applications. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Scharmer, C. O. & Kaufer, K. (2013). Leading from the emerging future: From ego-system to eco-system economies. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Veling, T. (1997) What if community were possible (Epilogue). In M. A. Cowan & B. J. Lee, B.J. Conversation, risk & conversion: The inner and public life of small Christian communities. Orbis Books.

Front cover image by Jean-Baptiste Bonvalot, drawn in Procreate on an iPad, 2021. The drawing includes thick, vertical black lines that vary in width, overlaying many small dots that are connected by fine lines, also overlaying a loose grid at the bottom, with two concentric circles around a dot on the right. The black lines floats over a yellow ocher wash, on top of a pale gray background.

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Published

2021-11-30

How to Cite

Seneque, M., Miller, S., Kirby, E., Marsh, J., Nzegwu, C., Powell, B., & Roux, A. (2021). Striving for Justice: Journeying with the Methodist Church in Britain. Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change, 1(2), 127–144. https://doi.org/10.47061/jabsc.v1i2.1950

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): Journal of Awareness-Based Systems Change

Section

In Dialogue

License

Copyright (c) 2021 Megan Seneque, Adrian Roux, Bevan Powell, Charity Nzegwu, Ermal Kirby, Jill Marsh, Sue Miller

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.