Want to know more about Christian nonviolent action in the tradition of Martin Luther King Jr?
Saturday 14 June
9:30am – 5:00pm
Morisset Uniting Church
10 Stockton Street, Morisset NSW (Google map)
We are working with the Love Makes A Way crew and the Paddington Uniting Church Social Change Project to offer this introductory workshop that will explore the theology, spirituality and practice of creative nonviolence for personal and social transformation.
Learn – and share your wisdom and experience – about the nonviolent example of Jesus and King, and how we can put nonviolent love into practice in our own lives and in our advocacy for the poor, the stranger and the planet.
Learn about the #LoveMakesAWay campaign for compassionate treatment of asylum seekers.
This workshop will cover why people take nonviolent action, its power as an effective means of social change but also as a way of life, explore our fears about taking action, explain what happens if you get arrested for civil disobedience (which is a subset of NVDA), showcase stories of ordinary faithful people acting powerfully against war and climate change, and give you a few chances to role play taking action yourselves.
Facilitators:
Justin Whelan is the Mission Development Manager at Paddington Uniting Church, a role that involves lay ministry, community development and community organising that empowers people to be the ‘change they want to see in the world’. Justin was one of the proponents of the Uniting Church in NSW & ACT’s resolution to divest from fossil fuels in April 2013. In his spare time he researches social movements with a particular interest in strategic nonviolent struggle. A lifelong activist whose first protest event was in the womb, Justin has participated in numerous nonviolent direct actions in support of peace, human rights and the environment, and has been arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience three times, most recently during a prayer vigil sit-in at the electoral office of Immigration Minister Scott Morrison as part of the Love Makes a Way campaign.
Matt Anslow is a member of Hope Uniting Church, a PhD student researching Matthew’s Gospel, and a prominent young Christian leader. He has been involved in a number of nonviolent actions in recent years, including the Swan Island Peace Convergence and the Love Makes a Way sit-ins at Scott Morrison’s and Tony Abbott’s offices.
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