My Tuesdays nights in April were spent on Zoom with a group of 15 or so friends, new and old, considering Ron Sider’s – Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger (RCAoH). It is a book I have read and re-read several times over the last 25 years – the first version came out in 1978! I was not quite reading then, but found a later edition in college while I lived and worked in DC and was learning about the intersection of my Christian faith and doing justice. Sider’s book laid a foundation for me that I continue to build on. It led to a deeper understanding of the issue of poverty and the call of my f ..read more

With plenty of thought and prayer at the end of 2023 the board and staff of Boston Faith & Justice decided we would focus on poverty in 2024. Alongside our community we wanted to learn more about the lived reality of poverty as well as the structures and systems that make it seem intractable and discover how we could best work toward a more just world for everyone! We have had some really incredible podcast guests who’ve helped us dive deeper into different aspects of poverty (Ari at Circle of Hope and Jenifer from International Justice Mission) as well as the many intersecting issues that ..read more

The vast majority of Americas have heard of poverty. It is the state of poor people or perhaps even it is or was us or me. The line of who is in poverty and who isn’t often exists unconsciously in our minds. Wherever that division is, we classify people accordingly. Certainly, it is a line people who are above it don’t personally want to cross, from not in poverty to in poverty. On the other hand, those in poverty would love to cross over because being in poverty is being poor, very poor. But how can we move beyond our assumptions about what poverty is and to what it means for us as people of ..read more

During the final moments of Jesus life, he hung dying on the cross in the scorching sun, beaten, abused, tortured, and thirsty. Not just with a Crown of Thorns adorned on his head, but metal nails fastening his hands and feet to the cross in which he was forced to carry. Although in pain and agony, facing excruciating (a word which literally translates to “out of the cross”) pain, He didn’t stay silent. He spoke to those around him—strangers, family and friends. He was speaking to you and me in his final hours. This shows us how Jesus has fulfilled His saving mission and sends us forth to foll ..read more

In my last blog of this series, I consider the obstacle of projecting ourselves, our preferences and our desires onto our neighbors. However, this isn’t just a challenge at the individual level. This happens on a larger scale in our societies. One of the forms this projection can take is paternalism. This is when people in power restrict the freedom and responsibilities of those under them, in their best interests, of course! This could be in the form of misunderstanding what people want and need or simply projecting self onto them. We see this at work in large systems like anti-poverty measur ..read more

Faith Leaders for Housing Justice (FL4HJ) came together in September 2021 in response to the injustice that people experiencing homelessness were facing in the encampment that was built up in the Newmarket Business District, the epicenter of services for individuals experiencing homelessness, individuals with substance abuse disorder (addiction) and people suffering mental illness. This area is also known as Mass and Cass, the methadone mile and the miracle mile. The Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), Shelter Division, runs two shelters in the area; Woods Mullen Women’s Shelter and the So ..read more

Something we talk about quite a bit at Boston Faith & Justice is living simply and it seems like it makes sense to define what we are talking about. I always like to start with the dictionary. Its seems too much to ask Webster or Miriam to define simple living for us so I started with simple: : free from guile : INNOCENT : free from vanity : MODEST : free from ostentation or display – a simple outfit : of humble origin or modest position – a simple farmer I think a combination of these first 4 (out of 10) definitions get ..read more

Something we talk about quite a bit at Boston Faith & Justice is living simply and it seems like it makes sense to define what we are talking about. I always like to start with the dictionary. Its seems too much to ask Webster or Miriam to define simple living for us so I started with simple: : free from guile : INNOCENT : free from vanity : MODEST : free from ostentation or display – a simple outfit : of humble origin or modest position – a simple farmer I think a combination of these first 4 (out of 10) definitions get ..read more

Clean Up Thursdays on Atkinson Street have changed. Since the city removed the tents and cleared Atkinson Street, the Newmarket clean-up crews’ job has shifted, and walking with the crews has changed as well. Previously, while some crews walked into neighboring streets, several crews would work to clean up Atkinson Street. This effort meant sweeping and scooping up trash in a crowded area with rows of tents on the blacktop. I sometimes found it hard as a chaplain to hear the person I was listening to, and no privacy was available. Depending on who was there, I might listen to someone on a Newm ..read more

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:17-18) “Poverty is often material scarcity piled on chronic pain piled on incarceration piled on depression piled on addiction – on and on it goes. Poverty isn’t a line. It’s a tight knot of social maladies. It is connected to every social problem we care about – crime, health, education, housing – and its persistence in American life means that mill ..read more