Two guest speakers you don’t want to miss

As we have learned about the powers and oppression of empire and imperial thinking these past few weeks, it has become clear that this a huge topic and can be hard to get our hands on. If decolonising is the answer, where and how on earth do we even start? We have two really exciting guest speakers who are going to help us with that: Kat Armas, author of Abuelita Faith and Liturgies for Resisting Empire, and Sophie Callahan, a justice advocate in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Director of Community Engagement with the Center for Faith and Justice.

This Thursday, March 19, we welcome Sophie Callahan. Sophie and her family live in Minneapolis and have been supporting their neighbours during Operation Metro Surge, resisting the ICE occupation of the city. In an article for her alma mater about her experience, Sophie writes:

Across the city, I have witnessed a Christ-like outpouring of love in ways that could fill hundreds of sermons. Small, tiny, faithful acts — mustard seeds, if you will — are keeping our neighbors alive. People are drawing on every skill, from storytelling to legal support, spreadsheet making, prayer circles, prenatal care, carpooling, sewing diapers, fundraising and songwriting in response to the needs of the most vulnerable. We are living out Matthew 25 in tangible ways, by offering our meager loaves and fishes and seeing God multiply them. 

So join us on Thursday to hear more from Sophie and be inspired to join the work in your own community.

Then next Thursday, March 26, we welcome Kat Armas, Cuban-American speaker, author, and theologian. Kat’s writing centres around the work of resisting imperial ways of thinking and being by listening to “the wisdom of the overlooked”. Her most recent book, Liturgies for Resisting Empire, has been the inspiration for our current series and has sparked a lot of conversation in our community. In it she demonstrates how empire is entangled in the very narratives we use to make sense of our lives and determine our identities. She helps us to reject harmful ways of being and to embrace community, wisdom, and compassion. We are so excited to have Kat join us.

Both of these events are great opportunities to invite your own circle of friends, family, and local resisters to a Harbor gathering. Be sure to send them our sign-up link so we can send them our zoom gathering information. 

From Kat’s book, a prayer of resistance:

O God, we resist the temptations of empire: control, comfort, and apathy. Help us walk in a way that honours your vision of wholeness and liberation.