KJS kicked off around tables:

The night before the Summit, 90 people gathered in 11 different homes in our county to break bread and build relationship centered on proximity to one another and an interest in Kingdom Justice.

A few dinner hosts shared their highlights from the dinners:

“One God moment was having one of the guests stay after and share some very personal stories. Their willingness to be that open and invite us into their story felt like both a gift and a sign of vulnerability that can come out of these spaces.”
“It was wonderful to sit around a table at dinner with people from different churches. That is something I rarely experience but greatly appreciated.”
“At the dinner our son shared briefly his weekly Monday night cookouts and invited those present at dinner to come. One of the dinner guests, previously a stranger, came to the cookout this Monday night and connected further with my son and others.”

These interactions are no small thing and look forward to seeing what comes from them in the months to come.

the exploration of Kingdom Justice continued at the Summit:

The morning began with Shane Claiborne passionately calling us into living justly here and now. Maggie Capra gave historical context to the divisive place we find the American church in, and Pastor Marcio Sierra convicted us to start - to “just do it” - in terms of reaching out to build relationships as a way to build unity. By the end of the morning, attendees had written 4-word poems describing what they feel called to (pictured right).

The afternoon continued with breakouts - first on heart issues related to unity and justice, and then by neighborhoods, to make connections with what’s happening in distinct parts of our community. At the end of the day attendees were asked to name one faithful next step: a small action they could take in the coming weeks in response to the day.

KJS allowed attendees to understood more deeply how united we are as The Church in Dane County, while acknowledging that unity is not uniformity. It helped create imagination around what future collaboration could look like between different bodies of believers. In bringing together Christians from 40 different churches, the day gave attendees an opportunity to interact with someone from a different church or background.

And since then, we’ve been starting to receive glimpses into what has been happening for folks who have taken their Faithful Next Steps:

“Today I found myself in a difficult conversation with a Christian with whom I disagree on a number of issues I care about deeply. I’m not sure I handled it as well as I would have liked, but I did have in the back of my mind some principles from the workshop on difficult conversations. It was encouraging to know others have had similar experiences and that it’s possible to weather these conversations.”
“I gathered local housing resources and have shared them with a fellow deacon, which we hope would be useful if we receive any requests for housing support in the future. I have been praying for and thinking about this since last fall, so I was surprised that the same thing was brought up both during the summit and by our own pastor during the service on next day. God indeed works through His people and Church in amazing ways!”
“I took the first step of expanding the scope of my peripatetic and velocipedal prayer times to include interceding for my neighborhood. I’ve noticed God humbling me by showing that forming a new habit is no glib thing.”