Birthday Thanks and so much more
Dear friends,
I turned 52 this month and my Invested Faith colleagues made a big deal about that on social media. The results of all that fuss were generous gifts to Invested Faith by so many of you. I am grateful in so many ways: grateful for these years of life and gratefully excited to welcome new supporters to the Invested Faith family.
This month I’m delighted to introduce you to a special IF Fellow, Rev. Alisha Gordon. My note to you here cannot possibly contain enough words to express how much I love and admire this woman. She is smart and faithful, courageous and kind, totally unafraid to name injustice and get to work fixing it. You may have seen a Facebook Live “interview” with Alisha I posted a few months ago; below you’ll hear even more about the important work she’s doing.
This month Good Faith Media welcomed me to their podcast, Good Faith Weekly. I had the opportunity to talk about Invested Faith, and you’re invited to listen in!
To have a dream and a calling and to live it out with courage is no small thing; that’s why most people don’t try. But as my friend Rabbi Elan Babchuck recently reminded me, the word “entrepreneur” actually means “risk bearer.” Invested Faith is proud to come alongside faithful risk bearers and to work to do the same ourselves. I do believe that it’s only through risky, faithful action that we will be part of God’s future.
I’m so glad you’ve joined us,
P.S. Miss all the embarrassing posts about my birthday? You can still give a gift that will have tremendous impact. Click here to give now.
Meet Invested Faith Fellow: Alisha L. Gordon
Rev. Alisha L Gordon
New York, New York
The Current Project
Rev. Alisha L. Gordon believes in the dreams of Black single mothers. Gordon is a faith leader, preacher, and educator whose work intersects faith, culture, and politics.
Founder of the The Current Project in Harlem, NYC, an advocacy-centered mission driven organization focused on supporting the well-being of Black single mothers, Gordon uses her own story and lived experience to offer hope, encouragement, and crucial financial support to single mothers working to complete their education or to jumpstart a viable small business.
TCP supports the transformation of women by connecting mothers to the resources needed to attain and maintain economic stability, helping them launch careers or businesses that sustain their families and help them build security.
Here's the latest update from Alisha:
"The Current Project is hosting a fundraiser event, The Current Ball, on National Single Parent's Day, March 21, 2022 in New York City. The ticketed event is co-sponsored by educational policy and Black art theater partners, and we will announce our three-point policy platform that night. The platform will be a part of our coalition building of Black single mothers across the country to give voice to the issues that. are important to them. Tickets go on sale Friday, Feb 25, at www.thecurrentproject.com.
We are half way through our second cohort, CurrentEconomics! Here's a testimonial from one of our moms:
"The Current Project has helped shift not only my mindset, but also, the mindset and habits of my sister. Empowered women empower women…that is what you and The Current Project sisterhood has done for me.""
Invested Faith Chats with Good Faith Weekly
In February, Invested Faith Founder Amy Butler joined Mitch Randell and Autumn Lockett at the Good Faith Weekly podcast to talk about this new model for changing the world.
Here’s an excerpt:
“Well, first of all, let’s address the issue of me getting into trouble. If anybody who says they’re following Jesus is not getting into trouble regularly, they’re probably following someone else.
The gospel is truly offensive. And I think the church’s work is to make us uncomfortable. Every human is looking for community. We need each other in order to live this life. So in the 20th century of America, that has looked like going to church and sitting in pews and being on committees and doing things like that.
Mitch, you just said it. It’s not what the church is going to look like moving forward. And I think what scares us so much is that we don’t know what the church is going to look like.”
Many Thanks!
Many thanks to Rabbi Elan Babchuck, Founding Director of Glean Network and Director of Innovation at Clal and Dr. Victoria White, Managing Director of Grants at Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School, for sharing their presence, resources and ideas with our Invested Faith Fellows in our February Zoom meeting. We greatly appreciate this generous gift of time and wisdom!
Join the Invested Faith Community
Here are 6 Ways to Get Involved:
Match a grant. If your organization would like to partner with Invested Faith to match the funding offered to our Fellows, please reach out. We would love to talk!
Introduce us! Maybe you know someone who fits our criteria for an Invested Faith Fellow: rooted in faith, working for justice, building community, and addressing systemic problems in their community? At Invested Faith, we don't do typical grant applications. Read more about our criteria and how to apply here.
Grant a social entrepreneur. If you’d like your gift to go directly to someone working innovatively to reimagine the faith community, your tax-deductible gift of $5000.00 can make that happen.
Support the ongoing development of Invested Faith through a tax-deductible gift. Click here to support our work.
Spread the word! Help us build our audience by using your social media presence and word of mouth to tell others about this important work. Join us on Facebook and LInkedIn and share our posts with your friends.
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