Justice Ministry
Biblical inspiration for Justice Ministry
Micah 6:8 says, “And what does the Lord require of you? But to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
In Matthew 23:23-24, Jesus chastises the Pharisees for not following Micah 6:8.
Nehemiah the prophet provides a model for building the power needed to affect powerful systems when he gathers a Great Assembly to hold public officials accountable for the promises that had previously been made to the oppressed Jews in their community. He built power with people.
Vineyard Justice Ministry Efforts
To build power we join with ~25 other congregations under the banner of IMPACT, and together, by turning out thousands of people at an annual assembly called the Nehemiah Action, we exercise that power to bring justice to the Charlottesville area.
As one example of the results of our efforts, IMPACT has been successful getting the City of Charlottesville to put $3MM a year (for several years in a row now) into an affordable housing trust fund. By 2025, the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Trust Fund will have funded the construction or renovation of affordable homes for over 3,500 families in Charlottesville.
Vision 52/1
Our congregation wants to turn out our Average Worship Attendance of 85 people at least once a year for justice. We want the 85 who attend 52 worship services each year to attend the annual Nehemiah Action!
Justice Ministry Cycle
The process of working for justice wins each year starts with building a Vineyard Justice Ministry Network.
• A formal network of relationships – organized through households – that engages the entire congregation in doing justice. We have a 3-part annual cycle:
1. It starts with listening in the fall via house meetings where we listen to each others’ stories of how injustice personally affects us.
2. In the winter and spring, we research and take action. Within IMPACT, we vote on the issues we will focus on, and we learn how they affect our communities.
3. In the summer, we celebrate our wins and start fundraising for the next cycle.
If you have any questions, reach out to the Vineyard Justice Ministry Team Members, Carissa Phillips, Crystal Seek or Jessica Leathers.
Contribute financially to IMPACT
We encourage all network members to prayerfully consider investing $200, or an amount meaningful to you, into IMPACT’s work. So far, IMPACT has leveraged over $80 million in community improvements. See all the ways you can invest by visiting IMPACT’s Page.
Community Problems Assembly October 27
IMPACT’s Annual Community Problems Assembly is coming up on Monday, October 27, from 6:30 to 8:30pm at the Church of the Incarnation.
This is the first of our four major assemblies in the coming year. During our gathering we will be:
Getting updates on our ongoing issue campaigns
Hearing from candidates for the upcoming local elections
Voting on a new issue campaign for the coming year
Welcoming new congregations to join IMPACT
Electing our executive committee for the next year
All network members are invited and encouraged to attend as we re-commit to our work of justice in the coming year!
Voting on our New Issue Campaign
We held over 60 house meetings this year and heard from over 500 community members. During these meetings, people shared stories about real problems affecting them every day. As our house meetings are concluding, IMPACT house meeting leaders met together to discuss what stories we heard, and two clear themes emerged: Neighborhood /Public Safety and Immigration.
At the assembly on October 27 we will hear testimonies on the issues and congregations will vote to decide which of these two issues will be our next issue campaign.
Local Candidates Invited to our Assembly
On November 4, voters will be electing a new Supervisor for the Samuel Miller District in Albemarle County. IMPACT has invited both candidates—Fred Missel and Scott Smith—to attend our assembly and talk about their priorities for addressing Albemarle’s housing crisis.