Faith that Does Justice

“What does the Lord require of us?” the Old Testament prophet Micah asks. The answer is “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” First comes justice, an imperative in both the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus. This fall, our adult Sunday School class will focus on what it means to do justice – as individuals, as a church, and as a nation. The series, which begins at 9:30 a.m. on September 13, will be led by Joe Monti, emeritus professor of Christian Ethics and Moral Theology at the School of Theology at Sewanee. Here is the schedule for the series:

9/13 1. Faith that Does Justice: The View from Here:A Christian Church In Late Modern and Suburban America.
a. Texts and Narratives of Faith and Justice: Ancient and New
b. Justice as Repairing the World: Anne Tyler’s “Saint Maybe”
c. New Forms of “Normalcy:” Justice, Worship, and the Moral Life

9/20 2. The Forms of Justice: The Perspective of “the LeastAdvantaged” and the “Priority of the Poor”
a. The Convergence of Social Theory and the Teachingof Jesus: John Rawls & the Judeo-Christian Scriptures

9/27 3. Justice, Class, and Privilege in American Society:Economics, Politics, and Making Just Policy
a. Justice and the Environment: Who “Owns” the Mountains?
b. A Just Health Care Policy

10/4 Justice and All Creatures Great and Small: The Blessing of the Pets(No Class)

10/11 4. Justice and Race: White Privilege, Affirmative Action,and The Obligations of Reparationa. J. Monti: “Dynamite Hill: Fountain Heights in the 1950’s:White Privilege in Mid-Century Birmingham”b. Katrina Brown: “Traces of the Trade” (Documentary DVD shown duringcoffee hour after the 10:45 Eucharist)

10/18 5. Justice and Gender: Taking Others’ Experience Seriously
a. Women’s Experience: Carol Gilligan’s “In a Different Voice”
b. GLBT Christians: “The Bible Tells Me So” (Documentary DVD shown duringcoffee hour after the 10:45 Eucharist)

10/25 6. Justice, Forgiveness, and the Law: What Would Jesus Do?
a. The “Unbalanced” Example of the Amish and Other Forms ofthe Radical Religion of Jesusb. Protecting the Weak and the innocentc. Making Justice: Worship, and the Moral Life