Program: The Road
Location: Atlanta, GA
Director: Rev. Laura Bryant
Web Site: www.theroadatlanta.org
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“There is no higher achievement in all the world than to be a person in community….This is
the most creative and difficult work to which any of us will ever be called…We are to be builders of liberating communities that free love in us and free love in others.” (Elizabeth O’Connor)
The Road beckons a diverse group of young adults to spend a year in community as companions on a journey of holy adventure and purposeful engagement with marginalized people in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. Fellows will work 32 hours each week in religious and secular settings committed to reconciliation, justice, advocacy and service. One day a week will be devoted to theological study, spiritual formation, leadership development, and community projects in the neighborhoods of Atlanta.
We want Fellows who can bring their passion and questions, heart, mind, and spirit, energy and curiosity to the common table of mutual care, collaborative work, and to the endeavor of building more just and liberating communities. We partner with leaders, teachers, and activists from the larger Atlanta area who share their wisdom and experience with issues of social justice, particularly race, poverty and the related concerns: housing, education, healthcare, unemployment, incarceration, immigration, and addiction. Spiritual direction and spiritual practices, structured reflection, and intentional community help to support this work.
The Road, though sometimes rough and challenging, offers companionship, mentoring, transformational practices, and unexpected discoveries and joys. We welcome those discerning vocations in ordained ministry and equally those discerning vocations in the world Christ came to heal and save. Structured parish partnerships will be a key element for those interested in parish ministry.
Ideally, Fellows at The Road will be all sorts, (race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic level and religious affiliation or not) allowing the gifts of differences to challenge and enrich a year of inner and outer growth. The Road community is grounded in a regular rhythm of communal meals, communal prayer, reflection and celebration.
Fellows will live together at Emmaus House (www.emmaushouse.org), an Episcopal community-based ministry in Peoplestown, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city. The city of Atlanta and the Peoplestown neighborhood have a rich and profound history in the civil rights movement and in community organizing which provide an important context for the year.
The Road is for those who want to put their faith into action, explore the connection between faith and social change, commit to community, and grow in capacity for compassionate and courageous leadership. We welcome Fellows who are inspired by these values and wish to inhabit them more fully:
- Building Spiritual Community
- Companionship with Marginalized People and Communities
- Radical Empathy and Hospitality
- Servant leadership
- Imagination, Experimentation, and Holy Adventure
- Prayerful Reflection, Discernment, and Study
Our Name
The Road was chosen for many reasons. It resonates with journeys of faith in the Scriptures—on the roads to Jerusalem, Damascus and Emmaus. It reminds us of the common journey we all share as God’s children, journeys of faith and doubt, certainty and confusion, joy and sorrow, searching and finding. It recalls those roads which were key in the history of civil rights and of seeking justice for all in our nation—from Selma to Montgomery, from places of powerlessness to Washington D.C. God invites us to travel together on new roads that open us to new possibilities for understanding, for service, and for transformation which we may never have imagined. We are all about the journey, the road, and companionship along the way.
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