Next Generation collaboration in CTA and partner organizations

Over the past year, young members of Call To Action, FutureChurch and Women’s Ordination Conference have united to create a collaborative movement for the next wave of Catholic Church reform and social justice efforts. Together, these leaders offered a coffeehouse hour, two workshops, and a dialogue at the CTA conference that highlighted their collaboration and spoke to the growing desire for a sense of local community and action among progressive Catholics in our 20s and 30s.

The first workshop drew an overflow crowd. Young leaders shared information about how to build local Faith Sharing CommUnions for young adult Catholics who seek fellowship and activism. CommUnions have already been established in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Washington, Los Angeles and Phoenix and have members from CTA, FutureChurch and WOC.
A follow-up workshop created space for an honest discussion about how to join spirituality and activism in one’s personal life. Lauren Ivory, a panelist and a leader in the Cleveland CommUnion, talked about the need for local communities that will enable participants to take brave steps toward the justice we seek. “It’s so much easier to be courageous when we’re holding somebody’s hand,” Lauren said.

The final event for the 18-42 crowd was a dialogue with Edwina Gateley. The passionate questions and comments revealed a common desire for concrete ways to build a Catholic movement for justice. New Yorker Robert Breen noted that “we need a lay movement” if we are to ever have a significant impact on the church. Others spoke about the need for this movement to be explicitly linked with changing the structural injustices existing in our local and global societies. Xavier Gravend-Tirole, from Montreal, spent his summer handing out condoms and reproductive health information in Colombia with Catholics for a Free Choice. He proclaimed that changing the church is not enough. “I want to change the world,” he said.

If you are interested in joining an existing Faith Sharing CommUnion (FSC) or starting one in your area, e-mail nextgen@cta-usa.org or write to CTA, Attn: Faith Sharing CommUnions (address on page 1). Leaders from CTA, FutureChurch and WOC have put together an organizing packet to help you to start and sustain a FSC. It includes sample outlines for group gatherings and a resource list. To download this resource, visit www.cta-usa.org/nextgen.html