Finding the Way of Hope

ONLY SOCIAL MOVEMENTS really change history. Developing, nurturing, and supporting a new generation of leaders is central to the long-term success of these movements. As leaders like me get older and look to the future, mentoring young leaders is particularly important. More and more of my time is spent doing that mentoring, not only broadly but in relationship to particularly promising young leaders whom I have met. It is some of the most important and enjoyable work that I do.

For many years, Sojourners called together large conferences on biblical justice and peace. Thousands of people came year after year, and many positive things happened—new relationships, connections, projects, and organizations—even marriages and families! Now, several other groups are having justice and peace conferences, which is exactly the kind of “competition” Sojourners has always hoped for.

Last year, some of our younger staff came up with a great idea—to have a leadership “Summit” for people already providing leadership for the biblical vision of justice and peace. All the participants would have to be nominated by credible leaders doing this work, and instead of Justice 101 with big speakers and standing ovations, this would become a new, creative environment for moving justice agendas forward—Justice 202. We didn’t publicly advertise these gatherings—instead, the invitation spread by word of mouth as leaders, especially younger ones, were drawn together by experienced justice leaders who nominated them.

IN JUNE, WE hosted our second such gathering. The Summit was capped at about 300 participants to have a gathering small enough for people to actually meet and talk and get things done. This year, 56 percent of attendees were women, including 54 percent of main stage speakers. Fifty-seven percent of attendees were people of color, including 69 percent of main stage speakers. The Sojourners Summit looked like the nation the United States is becoming.

Our opening session, “The Way of Hope,” focused not on the big issues we would deal with over the next few days, but instead on the spiritual foundation of hope, which we all need to sustain our efforts to overcome injustice in its many forms.

An hour after we finished our first evening together, nine black Christians were murdered by a white supremacist in their church in Charleston, S.C., during their Wednesday night prayer meeting. Scheduled sessions the next morning on the “Criminalization of Blackness, Poverty, and Youth” and “Implicit Bias” would already have been powerful, but after the horrible event the night before, everything went deeper—including our relationships with each other. Many expressed how good it was to be together after what had just happened.

WHEN I WALKED into the room the first night and saw who was there, I knew this would be an extraordinary three days. In August 2014, I had met young leaders in South Africa who are determined to complete the national transformation that Nelson Mandela’s generation began. Later that summer, I went to Ferguson, Mo., and met the young leaders there who were turning a terrible moment into a movement to change our criminal justice system.

Both groups—the young leaders from South Africa and those from Ferguson—were at The Summit. When I saw them connecting, getting to know one another, and talking about their experiences and strategies, my hope for the future took a leap forward. A special closing session, honoring the young leaders and pastors from Ferguson for their risk-taking and perseverance, was one of the most inspirational times of the week.

One session brought together a leader from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the CEO of Marriott International, and the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, who all want to move the nation toward a living wage. Another session focused on new approaches to peace in Syria and Iraq and toward overcoming ISIS. And I have hardly ever seen a standing ovation as powerful as the one following the session on “Moral Injury and Soul Care” for activists and caretakers—many of those gathered were feeling a deep need for the care of their souls as they try to care for others.

The presence of wise and experienced “elders” was another of the highlights of The Summit, which culminated in a ceremony during which each participant came forward to be blessed and prayed for by one of the elders. And artists were a central part of each day’s program, helping to move issues from our heads to our hearts.

Leaders are not just born, they are formed, often by the relationships they create together. Watching that happen at the Sojourners Summit was one of the best and most hopeful parts of my year.