November 2025

Honoring Our Pasts, Embracing New Futures

Community Reflections on In My Grandmother's House

While our November theme is The Inward Journey, the guidance of Rev. Dr. Pierce reminded us that inner work is never an individual endeavor. We are each a unique reflection of the Divine image of Love, shaped within the intricate networks of our families, communities, and churches of origin.

As we enter a season of celebration, one full of gatherings and, inevitably, complexity, we can hold multiple truths. We long to cultivate a deeper sense of gratitude, recognizing God’s abundance woven throughout creation. At the same time, we acknowledge that this American holiday carries a painful history often ignored in the service of comfort.

Dr. Pierce leans into this tension in her book and in our conversations. She expresses profound gratitude for the Black church that shaped her: a tradition that nurtured her faith, gave birth to spirituals and civil rights advances, and forged love out of suffering. At the same time, she names the deep hurt, pain, and limits within that same tradition, lamenting the theological emptiness or lack of safety that some experience.

As we gather in the weeks ahead at abundant family meals, in intimate hangs with friends, at neighborhood events, or choose paths of solitude and reflection, we are invited to hold this tension. We can name the good and the pain. We can look backward and inward. And we can take that strength with us, committing ourselves to participate in a greater wholeness, creating more welcoming and more honest spaces for us all.

Join Us for December: Life After Doom by Brian McLaren

• Watch the full remarks from Brian McLaren, offered at our Fall Gathering
• Read on your own timeline and join the community conversation
• Stream the Live Conversations twice a month to hear what the book is stirring in Peter, Sophie, and special guests Adriene Thorne and Megan Pardue.
• Each month’s content includes book excerpts, videos, supplemental readings, plus prayers and poetry.

→ Join today as an individual or become a church partner.

Winter Gathering Registration - The Future of Faith: Belonging in a World of Borders

In January 2026, we will gather to explore how stories of belonging can guide us toward lives of collective flourishing, even in a world where exclusion so often prevails.

• Begins Jan 29, 7:00 pm and concludes Jan 31, 12:00 pm
• First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley (2407 Dana Street, Berkeley)

Our keynote speaker will be Pádraig Ó Tuama, theologian, poet, and conflict transformation practitioner. His book, Borders and Belonging, will be a featured text in our Spring 2026 network curriculum. Pádraig will be joined by an inspiring lineup of speakers, including Adriene Thorne, Gail Song Bantum, Megan Pardue, and Tyler Sit and Imagination Workshops with Barbara Lyon.

​We’re grateful to offer sliding scale ticket prices for this event. Tickets include single evening options as well as the full three-day gathering.

Support the Faith & Justice Network!

Your generosity supports our vision of a community of belonging that embodies faith and justice. You support our far-reaching work, from online cohorts that provide vital care for laypersons and clergy to powerful gatherings that have a lingering impact on our days.

Right now, your gift is fuel for transformation. It strengthens leaders who are carrying heavy burdens with limited resources. It creates spaces of healing where people feel seen, supported, and called forward. It ensures that rigorous theological reflection, reflective of our diverse experiences, is available to all.

In this season of giving, we invite you to consider making a special gift. Your support now will help us step into the year ahead with the resources we need to sustain programs that advance our mission of “Pursuing a theological imagination for the common good.”

We’ve seen what’s possible when people believe in our mission and give so others can flourish. Thank you for partnering with us in our work!

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