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JOIN DJAN JOIN DJAN CLICK HERE PEACE VIGIL JOIN DJAN CLICK HERE |
DJAN HISTORY,
PURPOSE AND STRUCTURE
By Charles Harvey Lord, Co-Founder Disciples Justice Action Network, known by the acronym DJAN (pronounced DEE-jan,) traces its beginning to the mid 90's when ecumenical Protestant churches suffered declining income for mission, declining membership, and a crisis in courage. In the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) this led to a restructure that eliminated the Department of Church in Society, and made working conditions uncomfortable for longtime staff members who specialized in social justice. To many socially concerned members of the Disciples Church, it appeared that the denomination was being seriously tempted to practice corporate irresponsibility and public issue irrelevancy. Seventy five persons at a General Assembly in Pittsburgh in 1995 called for a federation of existing peace and justice groups and political activists to make the case for prophetic witness. The next year, 1996, at Park Manor Christian Church in Chicago, 100 persons formally began the Disciples Justice Action Network. What
began as a protest against an apparent religious withdrawal has grown
to be a corporate force of its own. Over a period of time leaders of
the denomination have welcomed this new expression and given it a place
in church life, even though it is not under ecclesiastical control.
And it is because of DJAN's very active presence at General
Assemblies--including the resolutions process--that Disciples of Christ
are looking anew at prophetic witness and the appropriate role for
Disciples both in public policy advocacy and grassroots justice
activism. DJAN now claims as supporters over 1500 individual/family members, and 200 congregations and peace and justice groups. Our life together is guided by a multi-racial, multi-cultural, geographically dispersed Decisions Team of individuals and representatives from member organizations. We have face-to-face meetings, but also make frequent use of e-mail and teleconferences. We also publish a quarterly newsletter, Call to Justice! We
are pleased to collaborate with The Disciples Center for Public
Witness and DAWN (Disciples
Advocacy & Witness Network) to publish two blogs: our Justice
Advocacy News Blog, Justice Matters, and our
Justice Advocacy Opinion Blog, CENTERpiece2. We also have our
own blog, Call 2 Justice, and a
page on FaceBook.
And, you are encouraged to find out what DJAN director Ken
Brooker Langston is doing and thinking by following him on Twitter. Also, please feel free to call us at 410-212-7964, fax us at 443-782-0273, or send us an email at disciplesjustice@comcast.net. We look forward to hearing from you, and we hope you will join us or renew your membership soon. We value your friendship, your support, and your passion for justice. |
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Disciples Justice Action
Network (DJAN) is an
unofficial peace and social-justice organization of the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) "In the unity of the body of Christ, we are called by God as a covenanted people to join in prayerful discernment and prophetic action for the sake of the Gospel. As a network of individuals and organizations, we are committed to demonstrating acts of justice for all of God's creation." (from our mission statement) |
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