Their bright red T-shirts said it all: “If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” And together they are going, nearly 1,000 strong, to work for economic justice in and around Boston.
Several hundred young adults gathered at Trinity Church in Copley Square on April 10 to pledge their commitment to putting “Hope in Action” by volunteering time or financial resources to one of seven projects around the city. Hundreds more had pledged their support prior to the major organizing event of the Hope in Action campaign, part of the diocese’s Relational Evangelism Project, “a strategic ministry designed to engage young adults in leadership for mission,” according to assistant director Jason Long.
The Hope in Action campaign asked each volunteer to commit either one percent of his or her time (which breaks down to 30 hours per year) or one percent of his or her income for economic justice.
There are seven parish and chaplaincy-based project teams, and here is what they will be working on collectively:
- Supporting the Boston Public Quartet’s work at the Chittuck School in Mattapan (Emmanuel Church, Boston);
- Boosting technology and education at the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood Center in Cambridge (MIT chaplaincy);
- Revitalizing the library at the Blackstone Elementary School (St. Stephen’s Church, Boston);
- Working with adults at the Bunker Hill Adult Education Program at the Villa Victoria residences (Trinity Church, Boston);
- Advocating for gay, lesbian and bisexual teens at the Home for Little Wanderers (The Crossing congregation at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston);
- Assisting the afterschool program at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Mattapan; and
- Working for education reform in the Boston Public Schools (Northeastern University chaplaincy).
Worship in Copley Square preceded and followed breakout sessions inside the church where volunteers ranked their top five goals and next steps for each project. A couple of dozen project volunteers and leaders spoke passionately from the steps of Trinity Church to rally the troops.
Eric, a former high school dropout who returned to school and received his bachelor’s degree from Suffolk University, spoke from personal experience about why he got involved with Hope in Action through Trinity Church.
“I recognize the urgency to lift others up, inspire those in need so that one day like me they can turn around and do the same thing. I ask you today to join me in taking the hope we all have in our hearts and putting it into action,” Eric said to rousing cheers and applause.
Bishop M. Thomas Shaw, SSJE also addressed the group. “God has tremendous gratitude for what you are doing. God calls us to transform the world, and the transformation you are making through the projects you have chosen make God’s heart glad,” he said.
-- Deborah Gardner Walker