Extending the Reign of God through Community Building: This Year’s Leadership Study Focus
We start our year at LEFSA in September. This year we are going to center our gatherings around the theme of community building.
We asked the LEFSA community, “what are issues WE AS A COMMUNITY would like to address?” Some of the responses we received were:
- nutrition
- dealing with cultural diversity
- affordable housing
- jobs
- adequate healthcare
- voting and voter registration
- community board meeting (fare hike, etc.)
- educational films
- aftercare after living in a shelter
- mental health and mental health education
- meeting with law enforcement and politicians in order to understand our situation
- violence: issue of guns
- medical city shelters
- elected official to visit LEFSA
During respective Leadership Study Days, we will try to address some of these themes.
Leadership Study Day Opening Prayer:
God build your community,
From brokenness and indifference,
Build love and care,
For each other, for your creation.
ALL: God build your community.
From self centeredness,
Build friendship and compassion.
ALL: God build your community.
From mistrust and misunderstanding,
Build unity and togetherness,
For other peoples, religions and nations.
ALL: God build your community.
May we build together your living community,
Bound together by love and joy,
Interrelated to all God’s people, to the earth and all creation.
ALL: God build your community.
Heavenly Father, you gather us together in our faith journey.
Trusting in you, we join one another as a community,
A community of faith on a journey,
A journey to grow ever deeper in our faith, in our love, in our desire to long for you.
ALL: God build your community.
