Announcing Co-Executive Director, Joey Lopez’s Transition
In 2020, 5 days after the stay at home order, I was invited to join the Church Council team. My role was to support the program development that has led to the Council’s Faith Land Initiative. This was not only a time of uncertainty for our communities, but also a time of change and exploring new possibilities for faith communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has spotlighted the deeply rooted injustices around us, and it has highlighted our capacity for resilience and community care, care that is only possible when we imagine a future when justice is realized and organize toward it!
The past 6 years at the Church Council has been about living more deeply into the Council’s vision of a future when justice is realized – where all people experience liberation, profound peace, expansive equity, and joy-filled human flourishing. It has been an honor to support and lead toward a deeper anti-racism analysis, a new mission and vision, and a re-imagining of how a historic ecumenical institution can transform to build collective power across faith traditions and alongside those our city and county have historically ignored. In this time at the Church Council, my own approach to community organizing and change work has been transformed. I leave grounded in the lessons I have learned from all y’all:
The “process is as important as the outcomes” from our Faith Land Discernment Cohorts
The resiliency practice of celebration and convivencia from our Grupo de Solidaridad
The persistence of our Seattle Budget Roundtable, showing up over and over to demand Seattle pass a budget that reflects the values of community care
Last but not least, the impact of true and deep collaboration that makes the impossible achievable with my colleagues Tara and Marina
It has been an honor to serve the Church Council, the congregations and faith communities in our network, and our community partners to create a future when justice is realized! My next steps are rooted in this vision, as I am transitioning for a season of rest and renewal, while also prioritizing my partner and the family we imagine for our future. My last day with the Church Council will be July 31. In the coming weeks, you will hear an update from the board about what is next for the Church Council.
Thank you for the past 6 years. Thank you for showing up for our communities. Thank you for building collective power for transformational change. I hope you will join me at our upcoming Drag Fundraiser to say “Goodbye!” in person.
Finally, I ask that you join me in continuing to support the work of the Church Council. In the face of growing attacks on our migrant, trans, and BIPOC neighbors, we need people of faith… we need communities of faith… speaking out, showing up in city hall, in the streets, articulating the moral clarity our various traditions teach – that all people, that the planet, are of sacred worth and deserve to be free. We know that the systems we are up against are fundamentally flawed and it is our responsibility to use our power to dismantle and change them… together! During this time of transition for the Church Council, I hope you will bring your power to the table, because when we organize that power together, our wildest dreams become reality.
May it be so!
Joey (he, him)