The is report 2 of 5 from ICPJ’s January 2008 Congregational Liaison Meeting (read report 1)
Transcending the several topical concerns around our table (including housing, economic justice, and nonviolent action), there were several process concerns about how we can address the wide variety of concerns in the community. These include:

• How can an individual searching to get involved find a place?
• How can the programs and initiatives in different communities connect to each other?
• How can we respond to new concerns as they arrive?

Using Technology to Foster Connections: The group recognized that technology can improve the connections and collaboration between social concerns organizing. Since many of our email inboxes are over-flowing, we recognize that ICPJ can play an important role in filtering and consolidating information. In addition to our existing events calendar on the website (http://www.icpj.net/events-calendar/ ) we the group suggested additional ideas:

• A “community connections” page that could list social concerns initiatives in area congregations and community groups.
• A “help wanted” page
• A “community resources” page

To make sure these resources get in front of the people who need them, the groups suggested that ICPJ periodically share these resources with our contacts in area congregations.In order for this to work, however, we need our community partners and ally congregations to share what they are doing with social justice programs with us. If you’re group is organizing a fundraiser for the Lakota nation or a study session on the MGDs, please email that to ICPJ.

Building face-to-face ties: Our group also recognizes the limits of electronic media, so they encouraged hosting similar liaison meetings once or twice a year, as well as planning annual gatherings of clergy where they can address the specific opportunities and challenges they encounter in their unique positions.

Extending our Reach: The group also suggested that ICPJ share the dialog model used in the liaison meeting. Congregations could use or adapt our setup to promote discussion and action within their community. ICPJ could even send facilitators to help with the process, and to bring the model full circle, we could then post their results of these congregational dialogs on our website.

Reaching new audiences: One attendee was surprised not to see more younger faces at the event, which brought up questions of how ICPJ can use social media like Facebook to recruit and new participants.