Church & Colonization Series
As part of the 2020 National Campaign, Re/Generator Tess Gallagher Clancy organized an Advent series of reflections on church and colonization. Using the themes of Advent (faith, hope, joy, and love), Re/Generation participants and leaders reflect on aspects of how colonization in the United States has been intertwined with Christianity, and the Catholic Church in particular.
Faith: The two Christianities (Lindsey Myers)
I recently sat at a city council meeting where a pastor, a woman of color, told the city council the parable of the persistent widow. She exclaimed, “just like the widow who bothered the judge again and again until she was given justice, we will be here again and again until you give affordable housing to those who need it.”
Hope: Searching for hope on stolen land (Tess Gallagher Clancy)
I grew up in a white family in western Montana, on lands from which the U.S. government forcibly marched the Bitterroot Salish (Séliš) only a hundred years before my birth. My family cherishes our Irish-American heritage and our Roman Catholicism that comes part and parcel with our background.
Joy: Contextual Catholicism (Abby Rampone)
Browsing a used bookstore in my home state of Vermont, I came upon An Inland See: A Brief History of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington by Howard Coffin. Soon after I finished reading it, my friend Tess introduced her project about colonization and the Catholic Church. Immediately, I wanted to learn about the Church’s colonial presence in Vermont. Why didn’t I know very much about that history?
Love: Solidarity against private property (Zach Johnson)
I have made a career out of working for charities. All of them impose a way of life on the people they serve, from big organizations like Catholic Charities and Salvation Army, to independent church shelters of various denominations, and volunteer-run drop-in centers and food shelves. Even the government’s social service arm I worked for was built to only fill gaps left by the overburdened network of charity programs.
