Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response (Catholic Version)

Catholic Programming Series

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How is your Catholic faith calling you to address poverty?

This first program in the JustFaith Catholic series, Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response, lays the theological and biblical foundation for responding to poverty in our communities.

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Program Overview

Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response, the first small group program in this three-part JustFaith Catholic series, lays the theological and biblical foundation for responding to poverty in our communities, so that we might respond in a way that honors the image of God in those we seek to serve.

In this program, participants explore these two questions: 1. What tools does my Catholic faith have to offer regarding huge questions around poverty and injustice?, and 2. In light of poverty and other forms of human suffering, what is the Good News of the Gospel? This program is grounded in Catholic social teaching: together, participants will learn about the Church’s commitment to those experiencing poverty and discern the specific ways in which we are called to be a part of this greater mission. Your group will emerge from this program with a transformed understanding of who they are as God’s children and how God is calling them to use their lives.

Each small group program in the JustFaith Catholic series contains eight 2-hour sessions and an immersion experience with an organization working to alleviate poverty. Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response also contains a retreat between Sessions 2 and 3. All sessions contain prayer, dialogue, active listening, weekly spiritual practices, and relationship-building. You can stop after the first 8-session program, or you can offer the second and third as well.

Program goals

Goals for Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response (Catholic Version) include:

Learn about the foundational postures we must assume in order to alleviate poverty in a way that honors God, ourselves, and those we seek to serve

Learn about who we are as children of God, and what it means to participate in building God’s Kingdom

Develop a biblical understanding of the word “justice” and what this word means for our lives and our communities

Sessions

Faith and Poverty: A Biblical Response consists of 8 2-hour sessions, an immersion experience, and a retreat (3 hours for virtual groups, 6 hours for in-person).

Recommended group size is 8-14.

Framework & Session Topics

  • Session 1: Holy Conversation vs. Debate

  • Session 2: Compassion vs. Tolerance

  • One-day retreat

  • Session 3: Awe vs. Judgement

  • Session 4: Abundance vs. Scarcity

  • Session 5: Equity vs. Equality

  • Session 6: Ministry To vs. Ministry With

  • Immersion Experience in your local community

  • Session 7: Reading Scripture with the Poor

  • Session 8: Action vs. Apathy

Sessions include:

Prayer and reflection
Discussion of reading
Videos & group activities
Spiritual practices
Integration of faith

Want to know more?

An overview, sample session, and program booklet are available for free download.

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Promotion

Need help inviting people to your small group?

This program promotion kit contains sample social media posts, bulletin announcements, email invitations, and more.

cost

We believe strongly in making our programs inclusive and available to everyone

There are two registration options:

Option 1: Participants in the group pay their own registration fees: Participants pay individually based on a sliding fee scale of $35, $55, or $75/person. (There is no charge for up to two facilitators.) A minimum of 8 participants is strongly recommended. Scholarships are available for individuals.

Option 2: A church/organization pays the registration fee for all participants: When the group is set up, a church or organization will automatically be billed a flat rate of $280, covering up to 8 participants. For groups with more than 8 participants, the organization will be invoiced an additional $35 for each extra participant when the group begins.

The registration fee includes:

  • Comprehensive materials for each session
  • Facilitation scripts, guidance, and training resources
  • Retreat and immersion guidance
  • Adaptations for virtual groups
  • Direct access to program staff for support

Books are an additional cost and available for purchase in the bookstore.

To ensure our programs are not cost-prohibitive for anyone, all programs are offered on a sliding fee scale ranging from $35-$75.

We ask you to choose the registration fee tier that best aligns with your current financial situation. Paying on the higher end allows us to keep the program affordable for all.

If the $35 tier is difficult for you, please consider the program anyway. We ask that you decide what amount you can contribute as a commitment to the program, and send us an email at info@justfaith.org to learn about partial scholarship opportunities for the remainder amount.

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What our program participants are saying

What is different since I completed JustFaith? The way I pray; the way I eat; the way I shop; the way I parent; the way I serve; the way I view community; the way I view neighbor; the way I view enemy; the way I participate in church and community; the way I participate in policy issues; the way I begin and end my day.

Marisol H.   ·  Virginia Beach, VA

JustFaith was a major conversion in my life. The lens through which I look at the world—politics, economics, relationships, etc.—changed. I now see the world through the eyes of those who live on the margins, and ask myself how I can better serve my fellow members of my human family. Every segment of JustFaith awakened something deep within me that helped to form me in new ways, ways that were noticeably more compassionate than what I had previously been living.

Jack K.   ·  Austin, TX