All Our Children

The Church's Call to Address Education Inequity

The church understands community as unity in diversity: Paul’s vision of the Body of Christ as a physical body, with all parts welcomed and honored as parts of the whole, is an image of community as revolutionary in our day as it was in first century Rome. And the church’s call to act in the world, to be Christ’s hands and heart for healing and reconciliation, hope and justice, gives it a unique role in the national movement to combat education inequity, a movement grounded in education research, community organizing, and community-based organizations. All Our Children offers a variety of stories witnessing the power of real partnerships between faith communities and public schools that create, nurture, and grow relationships, while transforming lives and communities, churches and schools, for healing, liberating action, and resurrection. The book highlights ways that judicatories and congregations are already providing direct service (after-school programs, tutoring, food backpacks), participating in community coalitions of care (with non-profit, higher education, and public service programs and staff), and joining state and regional advocacy campaigns for improved funding, policy, and accountability. Includes an executive summary and discussion guide written by diverse voices within the Episcopal Church, laying theological groundwork while showcasing examples of how partnership between church and school can lift up “education as forming humans” as one way to serve God’s mission in our neighborhoods. Contributors include, plus others: –The Rev. Ben Campbell—Micah Initiative in Richmond –The Rt. Rev. Andrew Waldo—South Carolina’s LARCUM Bishops’ Initiative –Louise Packard—Executive Director, Trinity Boston Foundation –The Rev. Liz Steinhauser—St. Stephen’s, Boston –Michael Sarbanes—Executive Director of Community Engagement, Baltimore –Mark R. Warren—Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs, UMass and Kennedy School fellow