Kingdom Justice Summit 2024 Recap
Attendees: Have you taken your faithful next step? Tell us about it!
March 9th, 2024, was a day of great connection. Each year, the Kingdom Justice Summit brings in great speakers and brings together Christians from our community to learn about, connect on, and discern how to live out justice. This year, the Collaboration Project team was encouraged to see some great representation regarding age, denomination/tradition, and first-time versus repeat attendees. But the numbers tell only part of the goodness.
The content says even more.
Our first keynote presentation was from Aaron White and Michel Boissoneault, who are neighbors and friends in a challenging area of Vancouver. In a time when folks are more lonely than ever, and it seems the news has plenty of rough content to work with, hospitality (the welcoming of the stranger, or enemy in some definitions) is the answer to dislocation and all the atrocities that stem from it. He called us to reflect upon how we often look to systems and programs for the solutions to hunger, homelessness, mental illness, etc., but how often, that keeps strangers as such. Aaron made the bold and storied claim that,
“the opposite of addiction is not sobriety…it’s connection.”
Our second keynote was Andy Kim, who challenged us to consider what it means to receive hospitality from the ultimate host, God. As Andy walked us through the story of the Road to Emmaus (pun intended), he had us notice the empathy, authenticity, humility, and generosity that are present in Jesus’ hospitality.
Also throughout the morning, we reflected and worshipped with the help of two original songs, Come On In and The Least of These. These songs were composed by the musicians of the day, Amanda Edwards and Linell Muse who lead worship at Door Creek and David Smith Jr. who leads music at Northside Christian Assembly. (Cheers to the collaboration!)
Aaron used this photo in his presentation to point out how the sentiment in this poster is often how we feel about strangers’ misfortunes. Whether with homelessness, addiction, or racial injustice, we’re all very upset with it, but often not enough to actually step in and help.
The breakout sessions spanned the intersections of hospitality and justice through the lenses of creation, recovery communities, everyday hospitality, and cross-cultural components, to name a few. Following the breakout sessions, three leaders from our community shared about the intersection of hospitality and justice in their work of ministering to international students, starting a school and serving as a principal there, and co-working with God to transform their church into an international church that represents 16 different nations.
An incredibly unique aspect of this year’s Kingdom Justice Summit was that it featured an art exhibit by Alina Puente-Oby and Qwantese Dourese Winters entitled “Resolviendo.” This exhibit challenged us to reflect on the often-invisible workers in the hospitality industry, the healing and comfort that food can bring, and how doing much with little can demonstrate the heart of hospitality.
We thank our sponsoring churches and organizations, Upper House, all of our presenters, our dinner group hosts, and all of you who prayed for this event for the past few months for helping make this happen.
Collaboration Project would not be able to hold this event at the affordable price point we do without the support of event sponsors and, even more so, our ongoing partners—families and individuals who believe in our mission. Consider joining the community of folks who partner with Collaboration Project monthly to ensure the future quality and continuation of KJS. Thank you!