Imagine next July 4, as our nation marks its 250th birthday, a once-in-a-generation moment to consider the meaning and blessing of our country’s founding. Now imagine that in addition to this year’s other celebrations, we create the most beautiful tapestry of potlucks and spaghetti dinners the nation has ever seen, opportunities for neighbors to find meaning together in some of America’s most inspiring words.
In a time of rising political violence and threats to the institutions of American democracy, this moment is urgent. The moral thread holding our democracy together is wearing thin. We are losing sight of our shared values. What if we spark a movement to counter the division, contempt, and toxicity that threaten to tear the country apart, and instead make this year something unifying . . . a massive community get-together, a conversation about the values that sustain this country?
America has 370,000 faith institutions, almost three times the number of K-12 schools. The Founder’s gave us religious freedom, because we are meant to be the stewards of America’s civic culture, the ballast of our ship of state, and custodians of our democracy.
We can shore up the bonds between citizens because we are one of the few places where neighbors, friends, citizens, and newcomers can regularly meet face to face; where we study text and seek truth together; and where our varied faith traditions each remind us to see the Divine in every human being.
The Plan
Faith250 invites faith leaders and communities across the country to form clusters of congregations to act as sacred spaces for listening to one another, clarifying our shared civic values, and celebrating our hopes for America. The vision is to work in three phases: (1) clergy relationship building through small groups study of some of America’s sacred texts: “The Declaration of Independence,” Emma Lazarus’s “The New Colossus,” “America the Beautiful,” and Frederick Douglass’s address, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, (2) multi- congregation fellowship by breaking bread and discussing these same texts in larger clergy-led gatherings, and (3) out of these conversations about America, each local community designs and hosts its own public civic ritual, flooding the zone with hope around July 4th next summer.
Local clusters can find start-up materials on this site:
A robust Facilitation Guide
A Sample “Covenant for Conversation” that can be used or adapted to create a positive environment for dialogue.
Easily modifiable study handouts for the four texts including ideas for larger group gatherings.
A Resource Library that will include ritual planning materials for next summer.
Every community is different. We encourage local clusters to approach the 250th in their own way, and tell us what you come up with. We are using substack so we can build a community, pool ideas, and share future resources, so please subscribe. To learn more or ask any questions please write cathyross@faith250.org or click here:
