Blog

Powerful Together: Conversations for Change

by Elizabeth Tannen and Emily Goldthwaite Fries

• When did you first become aware of homelessness in your community?
• How is the affordable housing crisis touching your life?
• If you were powerful enough to change one thing in the world right now, what would it be?

This fall, leaders in Beacon congregations will ask one another questions like these to create the power needed to live out our vision. Across the collaborative, as part of our inreach – Powerful Together: Conversations for Change – we’ll hold over 1,000 conversations to build relationships and solidarity toward a Minnesota where all people have a home.

In organizing, we often describe one-to-one, relational conversations as the most fundamental building block of organizing: the single most important action that any of us can take.

There are no short-cuts for these conversations, which give us the rare opportunity to explore our values, our family and faith backgrounds, and what’s really at stake for each of us in working for housing justice – what organizers call “self-interest.” We believe that people – through both their efforts and their financial giving – create power, and that what sustains each of us in both these projects is being connected with what that self-interest is.

As we look to pass groundbreaking legislation like Bring It Home, MN in the coming years, we know we need more power than ever.

In 2020-21, Beacon advanced Bring It Home, MN by leaps and bounds, and fought hard for local investments in housing affordable for people with low incomes; 732 people took action (many regularly)! Our collaborative has showed up strong throughout the pandemic, insisting that together we have the resources for all people to have a stable, dignified home that they can afford.

And yet: we have also come face to face with the reality that we don’t yet have the power to demand that change. Far too many of us are still paying more than we can afford for rent, or at risk of losing our homes.

Asking good questions and truly listening for what moves the other to take action out of their values – or what holds them back – is a gift that has benefits far beyond just the two people talking over coffee or Zoom.

Over thirty of our congregations have spent the summer getting ready to launch their inreach in the fall. So far, 80 people have been trained to lead these uncommon conversations, and many more are signing up for the next opportunity on August 31!

Rev. Meta Herrick Carlson of Bethlehem Lutheran Church Twin Cities is encouraging church members to learn this skill of conversations that she considers sacred and life-giving. In her invitations to sign up for training, she says “Being trained for these one-to-ones will benefit the collaborative and housing initiatives, but also every area of ministry at Bethlehem and your relationships in general. You’ll practice articulating your faith and values in new ways. Meet others from the collaborative and think bigger about what’s possible!”

As organizers, we use this tool all the time – with clergy, colleagues in the community, even one another. We are committed to developing a culture of listening and self-reflection throughout the collaborative that will last beyond this fall inreach. Beacon’s values of collaboration, risk-taking, race equity, and inclusive decision-making challenge us to bring our full selves to this work and invite others to the table every chance we get.

Imagine what we will learn about ourselves and each other by opening up about how these issues are affecting us, and the values of our many faiths that invite us into action together.

If you are interested in participating, for one conversation or ten, contact the organizer in your region:

Minneapolis: Emily Goldthwaite Fries, egoldthwaitefries@beaconinterfaith.org
Suburban Hennepin County: Drew Rindfleisch, drindfleisch@beaconinterfaith.org
Scott and Carver County: Justin Lewandowski, jlewandowski@beaconinterfaith.org
St. Paul: Elizabeth Tannen, etannen@beaconinterfaith.org