Occupy Faith Reaches Out to Greater D.C. with a Message of Social Justice

By Matthew Santoro

(Photo by Coulter Loeb)

Even before the raids that ended the encampments at Freedom Plaza and McPherson Square, Occupy DC’s faith-based community had begun to shift its focus.

“After a time, we felt the physical encampment had lost its effectiveness towards the ends of the Occupy movement [such as] ending inequality, corporate power in government, and for us, as Christians, calling out a society that worships money and economies in place of God,” said Jeremy John of the Occupy Church.

The Christian activist group started out of a prayer tent in McPherson Square, where they offered tea and conversation to passersby and held a weekly service on Saturday night, giving occupiers a space for worship and discussion.

Yet as the occupation continued, the prayer space lost its popularity and the small group lost its faith in the encampment as a means to an end. By the end of December, the Occupy Church had left McPherson Square to pursue new goals.

Another group, Occupy Faith DC, an interfaith coalition of individuals and organizations, developed out of the groundwork laid by the Occupy Church and Occupy Judaism. Unlike its predecessor, which focused on the political work of the movements, Occupy Faith DC’s mission was to support the material and spiritual needs of encampments by networking with local faith communities.

In the aftermath of the raids on McPherson Square and Freedom Plaza, Occupy Faith DC played a significant role in helping feed and house dislocated occupiers at affiliated local churches. But with the encampments gone, Occupy Faith DC faced a fundamental question of self-definition.

“After the raids, the changes in terms of Occupy [DC] have become more apparent. Before the raids, a lot of people had focused [on] the encampments,” explained James Lee, a founding member of Occupy Faith DC. “Since that time, it’s become clear that there’s been a shift to more action, more organizing, more outreach into the communities.” The movements are working to keep Occupy’s message alive in local communities of faith.

Occupy Church maintains solidarity with members of Occupy DC, but now focuses its energies on reviving social justices practices within Christian communities. Their top priorities include foreclosure resistance, stockholder activism, and supporting the Move Your Money project.

Meanwhile, Occupy Faith DC is developing its own initiatives. They plan to host an economic inequality and social justice weekend on the weekend of May 19 that will involve at least 14 houses of worship around the Greater D.C. area.

In addition to building faith-based support for Occupy’s core issues, Lee expressed concern over what he called an “exploitive” approach to austerity measures and cutbacks. Social welfare responsibilities are being shifted into the hands of faith-based communities that don’t have the resources to handle the overload.

“We can’t do it alone; we shouldn’t be expected to do it alone,” Lee contends. “We’re going to hold them accountable so they cannot shirk the responsibility of attending to the general welfare of our society.”

Crossposted with permission from the March/April edition of DC Mic Check (formerly the Occupied Washington Times).