Welcome to the JOURNEY of a lifetime!
As we Travel the Road of Justice and Freedom with people from diverse backgrounds, we learn from the Civil Rights movement, from current justice leaders and from one another.
The Justice Journey Experience™ is a weeklong pilgrimage to the South, where we visit museums, churches and monuments of the Civil Rights movement and hear from guest faculty along the way. This experience has proven its effectiveness in assisting multi- cultural audiences of believers in addressing the painful racial divisions between us, from a Christian perspective. Unlike seminars or workshops that examine these issues on a more superficial level, The Justice Journey Experience™ combines eight elements that enable participants to go deeper and make real progress, individually and collectively, toward racial reconciliation and social justice.
Learning by Experience
The Justice Journey Experience™ is centered on experiential learning, taking participants to the places where the Civil Rights Movement was fought, introducing them to the “foot soldiers” of the Movement, and examining the lasting divisions in our society. This type of learning quickly leads to greater understanding than lectures or readings alone. One of the most powerful experiences is at the Enslavement & Civil War Museum in Selma, where the group participants are placed in a re-enactment of the loading of a slave ship and experience some of the humiliation and fear involved. Surprisingly, all the participants on the journey have expressed that they understood very little of the history of the Civil Rights Movement before going on the Justice Journey. “… truth requires a maximum effort to see through the eyes of strangers, foreigners and enemies.” Taylor Branch, Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years 1963-1965.
Building Relationships
The Justice Journey Experience™ is a discipling spiritual transformative journey. It is less about my plans to do something about injustice and more about God’s plan to heal this land by using his redeemed people to do his work here on earth. The structure of The Justice Journey Experience promotes one-on-one and small group interaction, creating safe places for people to interact across racial lines. The Justice Journey Experience™ placed great emphasis on small group interaction to allow participants time and space to process each day’s events. In addition, relationship building starts prior to the journey, with a gathering at a designated church for a Sunday service and an orientation session typical lead by Dr. Michael Emerson, author of Divided by Faith.
Challenging Assumptions
We can make a difference. We can get over our hatred. We do not have to accept what we see on our streets across this nation. But we cannot do it with a divided church. God wants all of us to be involved.
The educational component of The Justice Journey Experience historically has been led by the Godfather for the reconciliation movement Dr. John Perkins and other thought-provoking faculty members. In addition to hearing his provocative lectures during the bus journey and at historical sites, the group views documentaries and movies that challenged their understanding of American values of fairness and equality.
Taking a Biblical View
But let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. Amos 5:24
The concepts of justice and righteousness, deeply embedded throughout the Old and New Testaments, are the focus of biblically based teachings on racial reconciliation and social justice. During our visit to Atlanta one of our faculty members provides a powerful teaching on God’s heart for justice and righteousness at the first stop at the King Center in Atlanta and offers concrete suggestions for Christians who desire to address these issues.
Calling for Repentance
At some point in every journey experience, the participants are led to a place of confession and conviction for their own personal sins and complicities in racial prejudice and injustice, followed by a call to repentance. At the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham a challenging message is delivered on forgiveness and grace, and followed with a prayer for repentance, calling the group to come to the altar. “Before God can change the world, He will have to change the Body of Christ. This whole journey is about brokenness. You must be broken for God to use you.” Rev. Dearal Jordan
Celebrating the Progress
The Justice Journey Experience™ is an extremely intense and spiritually transformational, leading people to difficult places of understanding. It is important to spend time celebrating the commitment of the participants to encounter the truth about themselves and society. At the close of the Justice Journey, the participants celebrated with a banquet and then a very inspiring re-entry closing message and a time of worship.
Structuring the Follow-Through
Participants on The Justice Journey Experience begin to develop relationships that they desire to take further. However, we have learned that a certain amount of structure is required for follow-through to take place. Therefore, on the bus ride home to Chicago or on the plane, the participants are asked to complete a brief survey on their interest in any of three areas for follow-through between the participants: 1. Pairing up with another person for prayer; 2. Finding ways to address social justice issues together; and 3. Participating in dinner exchanges. Historically every participant has desired to engaged in all three. All churches are strongly encouraged to facilitate follow-through opportunities on behalf of those who participate in the experience. “How do you account for a church that is 100 million plus strong and we are like apartheid on Sunday morning? We must capture in our minds that we are one in Jesus Christ.” Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, President, The Skinner Institute
Leading by Example
The Justice Journey Experience™ is structured so that the multiple churches and/or organizations can share leadership of the Journey, with the planning team representing all organizations and shared upfront leadership responsibilities during the journey. It is also hoped that teaching pastors and other senior leaders will take strong positions on the values of social justice and reconciliation, supporting their teaching with public action. “A lack of love is a moral failure. God has been working with me about how I need to use my voice to speak into situations of injustice.” Gene Appel, Senior Pastor, Eastside Christian Church