Transcript
Speaker: Greetings, everybody. Welcome to the CCDA podcast. My name is G. Tyler Burns, and I'm honored to be standing in as a co-host for today's episode in partnership with CCDA and also Chasing Justice as well. And I am joined by a very special guest, my good friend, Alethea Lamberson. Alethea, how you doing today?
Speaker: What's up? I'm doing well. It is a beautiful day here in Atlanta, which is where I live. And this is just really fun, Tyler, that, you know, we have our own podcast, but we get to be on a podcast together. And so that's just, I'm really excited about the opportunity to to chat with you today. So I'm doing well.
Speaker: Yeah, it's funny to think about because I think the last time we've been on a podcast together it' probably four years ago, I want to say, four or five years ago, something like that. Yeah, it's been a long time. So this is cool. CCDA bringing us together. So shout outs to CCDA. Thank you all so much. Bringing us together on the mic again. Well, I know some of you are like, who are these people and why are they on? why are they in my ears while I'm washing dishes or driving or whatever it may be? But we want to introduce ourselves. So Alethe, I want you to go first and then I'll follow up after you.
Speaker: Yeah, sounds good. Yeah, so Alethea Lamberson, i live in Atlanta, Georgia. i have a few different jobs this year in 2026. I'm an intercultural consultant for another organization. i launched a life and leadership coaching business earlier this year, but we're here to talk about Chasing Justice. And so I serve as one of the project managers with Chasing Justice for a few different initiatives. One in particular we're going to talk about today being the Pilgrimage Pop-Ups. I have been connected to Chasing Justice since 2020, end of 2020. As I mentioned a few moments ago, I have a podcast with my dear friend, Matthew Melendrez. And it's so funny doing the podcast with Tyler because Tyler is actually the person who helped Matthew and I
Speaker: understand what does it mean to be a podcaster? How do you prep? How do you write a script? How do you tell stories? How do you connect and engage with an audience in this virtual way? And so we had the privilege of being a part of the Chasing Justice podcast network, and we launched our podcast in early 2021. So that was my introduction to Chasing Justice. And here we are five years later, i have the privilege of working for Chasing Justice under the the leadership of Sandra Van Opstel. And it's been a blessing.
Speaker: In addition to all those things, I am an auntie and it is my favorite, absolute favorite thing in the world. So that is little bit about me. that's That's the Clip Nose version. There's so much more we can say about Aletia. Aletia is amazing. Y'all get to know her.
Speaker: But my name is Tyler, officially G. Tyler Burns. So I'm a pastor and I speak and I'm an activist. I'm also a podcaster, as was mentioned. ah For years, I did a podcast with my good friend, Dr. Jamar Tisby, New York Times bestselling author called Pass the Mic. They recently launched a podcast called The Black Christian Experience.
Speaker: And I am a member of the advisory committee with Chasing Justice, but I also have the privilege of working as one of the the project managers on the pilgrimage pop-ups as well. So it's a joy. And for those who don't know what Chasing Justice is, we're connected to CCDA because Chasing Justice was founded 2020 at the height of a global pandemic and racial and societal unrest and political upheaval intentionally.
Speaker: It was founded out of the vision of of our founder and executive director, Pastor Sandra Van Opsel. The idea is that we envision a world where young leaders are inspired by their faith.
Speaker: They're equipped to challenge systemic injustice and also foster flourishing communities. We say this all the time. We believe in collective flourishing, specifically among emerging leaders. And what is unique about Chasing Justice is we're not just talking about justice. We are BIPOC-led, which means that we are talking about the panorama of what it looks like to express justice and experience God's shalom. in the midst of our unique story and community. And so that means that there's a whole host of voices that you'll see when you go to Chasing Justice website or when you appear at a pilgrimage pop-up or when you interact with our content, you'll hear a host of BIPOC voices who are wondering, how can we collectively flourish together? We're dreaming, we're imagining what this looks like, where faith and justice are not separated from from one another, but they're actually in concert together beautifully.
Speaker: And so that's what Chasing Justice is about. And as Alethea mentioned, we've been working on this project, this initiative called the Pilgrimage Pop-Ups. And Alethea, want to kick it to you. What do you feel is the importance of these pop-ups? Why are we doing these? Because we've experienced a few of these so far, and they've really broken some new ground, not just for the participants, but for us as well.
Speaker: So what what what would you tell the people about the Pilgrimage Pop-Ups that they need to know? Yeah, it's been such a life-giving experience. We have a few under our belt so far, Pensacola, Montgomery, and most recently the Bronx, beginning of August. And yeah i think one, there's so many things I think are important about the pop-ups. One is that they're in person.
Speaker: the work that we've done with Chasing Justice since its inception, a lot of it's been virtual, right? Which makes things really accessible for a lot of people, right? You remove a lot of the barriers of travel and cost by by having opportunities connect virtually. But we also know that we there's things that we don't get when we're just virtual. And so that's been part of the push is how do we find some some ways to connect in person and create space for youth and young adults?
Speaker: I think a youth in particular, where you're off your screen and you get to be in person, you get to be in community, you get to have this tangible and transformative experience together where you remove the device. you're You're not on the phone, you're not on your iPad, the computer, the game, whatever it might be. You just get to have this in-person connection with people. And also what we're getting to do with these pop-ups is it's not just at one place. It's not just in the church for hours, right? ah You may start at a church, you may end at a church, but that's just part of the experience. Part of what's so tangible about it is the pilgrimage piece, these pilgrimage pop-ups where you're actually getting to go out into a city and you're getting to to hear and to see and to smell and to taste what's happening locally. And so I think that's another thing that's important about it being in person is the piece where you're actually getting out outside of the the four walls of the space. the The pop-ups are important because you're connecting with multiple people.
Speaker: Right. So you're getting to connect with people who love Jesus good that are not just in the role of the pastor. Right. They're not just at a church. I think sometimes we can reduce or kind of have the like, you have to be this particular person to do the work of justice. Right. And no, like you can be someone from Common Hymnal. We had Philip from Common Hymnal speak at our pop-up in the Bronx. And Philip is using his gift of storytelling through writing and through music to live out his the faith and justice aspect of his life, right? And so he's doing it in that way. And so you're getting to hear that. You might be able to see that if there's some other form of storytelling through art or through
Speaker: a museum or something of that nature. And then also there's a part of the pop-ups is this engaging with ah a local nonprofit, right? That is living out the work of faith and justice locally. And I think that's another piece that's important is it's local.
Speaker: I think Social media can be really helpful in a lot of ways. i think one of the many negative aspects of social media is it paints and picture that's not usually true, right? And I think when we talk about the work of justice, so often, and I find this even in some of the conversations I'm in, is you see the thing on social media where someone has 50,000 followers and they're doing this big event and you think that's what it means to do the work of justice. Right.
Speaker: No, not necessarily. You know, i think that can be a bit bit misguided. And so I think what's really helpful about the pop-ups is that it's local and it's not just the thing that's out there, right? It's not the big thing I just saw on social media that went viral, but here in my community, right? We're going to be doing one here in Atlanta. And so there are things that people are going to learn about in Atlanta that have lived here, they may have grown up here, they may have moved here, but there's history here that they may not know about because it's not the popular thing, right? But there are people who are boots on the ground, loving their communities, that you may never read a book about, you may never hear on a podcast.
Speaker: But we need to learn from them. And so I think it's it's something that's important is it's the opportunity for people to get to learn from people locally and to see that local matters, right? I don't have to leave where I am to go do the work of faith and justice. I can do it right here.
Speaker: And I think those are some of the things that are important about the pop-ups. Yeah, I love that. That is so at the heart of chasing justice. And for those who aren't familiar, one of our rally cries is we want people to to live a lifestyle of justice.
Speaker: And, you know, we talk about what happens on social media or what we do online. Talking about justice is not the same as doing justice. And we see the command of scripture, which is to do justice and love mercy.
Speaker: and what has been impactful for me as a local church pastor in the Florida Panhandle, in Pensacola, has been seeing people re-engage with their local community. So we think of Acts 1-8, where Jesus tells his disciples that you're going to be my witnesses.
Speaker: And essentially he says, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the earth. And what's so fascinating is often our justice work or in our work in general, in in our modern age, we invert that.
Speaker: So it's to the uttermost parts of the earth and then our local community doesn't know anything about what we're doing, right? Like start where you're at, like literally start in the locale that I place you, like start in your neighborhood, right?
Speaker: I love Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of of John, John 1, where he says, the word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood. So how does what does it look like for us to actually take the things that we're learning online, things that we're learning in a book or things that we're learning at a local college or hopefully the things we're learning in our church communities as well and bring them to bear for our local community. So just one impact story, I know we'll get into some more, but for us, you know when we were able to, in January,
Speaker: go in the city of Pensacola, probably about two blocks away from where our church is located, where I'm at right now, in the heart of downtown. And we were able to go to an institute called the Kukua Institute, which is preserving Black history.
Speaker: And so we were able to do this at the the height of a moment that was incredibly important, not just for chasing justice, but also was important for our city because there was a lady that was coming to talk about a quilt that she actually made herself that was a quilt of her local neighborhood when she was growing up. So she was growing up in segregated Mississippi. She's growing up in the midst of racial terror and racial segregation, but she's able to track and preserve the story of her neighborhood, a story that most people would like to take away. Most people like to suppress. Most people like to quiet. She's actually able to show this is what happens in my neighborhood. And then she's able to to put it in our hands and say, what are you going to do to preserve the story and the narrative of your of your neighborhood? And I saw it just rocked.
Speaker: you know, some of our youth and young adults, because they're sitting back like, oh, snap. So because I'm a part of this neighborhood, i have a responsibility not just to exist here and consume, but also to create something beautiful.
Speaker: Yes. To imagine a new ah ah a world, to actually rebuild, as we would say, a just world. To imagine what it would look like for faith and justice to flourish together. Yes. And the pop-ups have been unique. Yes.
Speaker: in helping us to craft that narrative for for the participants, but it's also unlocked things for us as well. What would you say, Alethe, are some stories that are that you kind of have come to light when you see these things, when you hear us talk about the pilgrimage pop-ups, you're like, oh, that story, that individual, that person, that experience. What are the things that kind of arise in your mind?
Speaker: Yeah, there's so many, you know. Just i think about even before we get to the the pop-ups, we had our Chicago pilgrimage, which is ah a four-day pilgrimage in Chicago. and that kind of really spurred us on even as we got into these one-day pilgrimage pop-ups, which they're you know they're just a day locally. and Just it's amazing. I think even when I look about look at are my time in the Bronx, which was a beautiful experience was my first time in the Bronx. And it I'm like, I got to go back like there's just so much history and richness and culture there.
Speaker: But I think when you see people walk into a space and they're kind of like, what is this? Like, yeah, I i registered. I'm here. But like. We're going to learn some things, but like, what is this going to be? Like maybe some unsureness, you know, reading people's, we do ah a pre and a post assessment reflection. So even reading some other pre assessments, like I was hoped to, I hope to learn this, or I'm not connected to community or,
Speaker: I was unsure. And then just after five, six hours, you read their post assessments and they're like, oh, I've got all these ideas. I'm going to get connected locally. i didn't know people live this out. Like, oh, my gosh. Like, it's not just what I see on social media. Like, people in the Bronx are doing this work. And and so I feel like with the the ones I've gotten to be a part of so far, it's been the same thing. I think even Tyler, when we were Montgomery,
Speaker: And a number of our participants were from Pensacola, from Tyler's Church. And again, I think seeing that, like, you are starting to have this experience and you can even see it reflected in the emotion in people's faces and they get ready to leave and there's something different already, right? There's something stirring in them. I think about someone from Chicago said this, I learned what true justice means and looks like in daily life.
Speaker: I learned what holistic community health can look like. I met amazing individuals who humbly and passionately serve and fight for the rights of their neighbors. Another one from the Bronx, a young woman, a young adult, said, I learned practical steps. I learned that there's so much I don't know. And I received hope that this lifestyle is possible because I saw people who are living it out.
Speaker: And I'm like, yeah that that's it right there, right? Like she just needed to see it yeah and to say, oh, this is possible because I think again, what we can be captured by on social media are these things that can feel so like out of reach. Like that's not possible for me. Like I don't know how to do that. And you think you have to have a certain status or stature to do some of these things. And she hopped on a train from Brooklyn. It's almost a two hour train ride to the Bronx. So already there's a level of commitment of like,
Speaker: I need to learn something. That's some commitment right there. Hold on, that's commitment. On a Saturday, taking the train from Brooklyn to the Bronx, and she got to leave that experience to say, oh, I actually know a tangible next step.
Speaker: And I think something that's beautiful is we are doing the pop-ups in cities. where we have Chasing Justice partners and CCDA practitioners. And so we have a network of people. And so what was really beautiful about my time in the Bronx with this young woman in particular, i said, hey, you know, where, you know, do you live in the Bronx? She said, no, we came from Brooklyn. And I was like, oh, I know that's a trip because I just talked to my friend, you know, when we were doing recruiting and he said, i'm going to put the word out, but it could be a two hour train ride from from Brooklyn to the Bronx.
Speaker: So this this young woman got on the train from Brooklyn to the Bronx on Saturday morning and left to head back to Brooklyn with connection to network and with a vision and imagination that this is possible to live this out. And so I think that's one of many stories just in the few pop-ups that we've done. and I think what will continue to come with the pop-ups that we have, that people have this experience and they leave different and they have a vision and imagination for something they didn't have before.
Speaker: I love that because, well, part of me doesn't like that because i the Bronx is the one I didn't get to go on. So I'm kind of jealous. Once I saw all the clips, I was like, man, I've been to all the pilgrimage pop-ups so far except the Bronx. That one seemed lit. So there's a little bit of up holy envy. I was like, man, I want to be there.
Speaker: But I could see that the participants were leaning in and learning so many different things. And and obviously I'm partial to my local community, but I do want to mention it because something really incredible happened in Montgomery, I think, for our church. I think two stories is one of our board members came and he's in his 70s and he said, sir, I'd like to come and I'd like to bring my grandson was visiting for the summer.
Speaker: So we went to Montgomery and we toured the Equal Justice Initiatives Legacy Museum. And if we had more time, it would have been to all four sites. But just the timeline was so quick. I mean, you'll see that the pilgrimage pop up as a one day, as Aletheia mentioned, it passes so quickly. So you got to get as much as you possibly can. And we also went to Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. King pastored, got to see some nonprofit partners on the ground at Metropolis and UMC in Montgomery.
Speaker: But right after we left the Legacy Museum, we walked up to a restaurant that's about a block up. And everybody was there except for this particular board member, Mr. Battles, and his grandson. So I'm calling, I'm texting. I'm like, you good? Like, what's going on?
Speaker: And i turned around about 15 minutes after I first tried to reach out to him and just see him walking up and talking to his grandson. I see an intergenerational exchange of wisdom, of clarity.
Speaker: And he said, I'm sorry, Pastor. Like I was taking some time to explain to my grandson what we went through. and to explain to my grandson why this is so important.
Speaker: And so I saw it literally change a family, that this was a space where a family can actually share wisdom, can share insight, and a grandfather can look at his grandson and say, this is not for nothing. We don't march for nothing.
Speaker: We don't protest for nothing. We don't get involved in our local community for nothing. We don't do the work of empowerment and reconciliation, to use CCDA language, right? We don't we don't do that work for nothing, right? And the second thing is is incredible because it's it's a little bit more recent, but another participant is a college student in who who attends our church, who's a member of our church. Her name is Kaya.
Speaker: And she was so on fire after being at the Legacy Museum that she she took my wife and I out to lunch and she was like, hey, I want to get involved. i want to do more. So were praying and discerning. And so Kaya actually starts working.
Speaker: next week at our church as our truth and justice intern, our first ever truth and justice intern. Come on now. She's starting, she's literally fostering partnerships with local community nonprofits. She's going to be leading an incredible one day Sunday event that's actually going to take over all three of our services for advocating for children. So with the Children's Defense Fund,
Speaker: she's She's doing so many different things. So it's truth and justice. And that was intentional for us because we wanted it to have a discipleship element, a formation element, because most people think that justice is separated from spiritual formation. They think it's an additive, but actually truly the out outworking of your love for God should be a love for your neighbor.
Speaker: And love, you know as Cornel West would say, justice is what love looks like in public. So literally, how do I show love to my neighbor is I do justice. I advocate on their behalf.
Speaker: I don't just give them charity, but I advocate. right And so it's just incredible to see that literally going to these pop-ups could change the fabric of your church. I'm dreaming what could happen as a result of love.
Speaker: you know, Kaya being willing to go to pop-up, bring her friends, have conversations all the way back home, and then say, i want to do something about this. I don't just want to talk about it. I want to be about it. And one of the things that she mentioned that was really spurring her on was hearing two young Black pastors at the end of the day in Montgomery really give ah an aggressive charge to Yeah, they did. To our participants to be like, listen, we started this stuff when we were in our 20s. We started stuff when we were in our, we're in 18, 19 years old. We started stuff when we were your age. And now these organizations are receiving grant money and funds and we're able to help X amount of people.
Speaker: And sometimes all you need is just to be able to see it. Like yeah I mentioned earlier, all you need is just to be able to see it's possible. And you mentioned this word imagination. And so much of Chasing justice is fueled by this word imagination.
Speaker: I think so much of CCDA is also fueled by imagination. What could it actually be? yeah If we were involved properly, we loved our community. And we rebuilt that the ruins that have been torn down, right? we We rebuilt those things that have been affected, whether it's by injustice or racism or white supremacy or whatever it may be. Like, if we actually rebuilt things, what would it look like?
Speaker: Can you talk a little bit about the imagination element, Alethea? Because... One of the first books I read when it came to justice that kind of opened my mind was The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann. And it showed me this this approach to scripture that was totally different than what I had words for at the time. I think was in me, in my DNA, growing up in Black church and Black Christian tradition. But I didn't have words for the connection between loving my neighbor and having a dream and imagination for what it could look like in my city. So
Speaker: what What is the importance of a pilgrimage pop-up to enhance this imagination of what life could be? That's so good. i think one, just kind of clicking down, Tyler, on the story you shared about Kaya, and that's, ah i think, a perfect example of some of the the hope of our pop-ups is that there would just be an imagination for, oh, like, I can do something.
Speaker: And I'm going to try it. I think that's another thing, too. And we might get into this. You know, think this generation specifically, Gen Z and Gen Alpha is the unknown and the fear. And so, like, I might not try it. Right. Like, how's it going to go? Where I think, you know, us millennials and older. Right. It's like, oh, we just had to do it. You know, we had to figure it out, you know. And so I think. Let me tell you something. I'm now, Alethea. I'm not the young boy anymore.
Speaker: I was telling my wife this. Listen, listen, I'm sorry. that I'm sorry to go down a rabbit trail, but y'all got to hear this because this is a moment for me. I need y'all to pray for me. Listen, I was at the fair and dude dropped a dollar.
Speaker: i said, bro, you dropped a dollar, picked it up, gave it to him. He said to me, he turned around, said to me, and I quote, y'all hear me. He said, appreciate it, OG. I said, oh gee I said, brother, I'm in my 30s still, man. Like, what do you mean? It was just a reminder. We are the young folks anymore. Like, it's not happening. like it's Anyway, continue. It's not. I am very much auntie. And, you know, it's got to live into that. But I do think that's one of the distinctive between the generations, right, is, and there's a lot of that has played into that for Gen Z and Gen Alpha with COVID, with this digital society and reality that they live in. And so I think for Akaia to have this in-person, tangible experience and to hear
Speaker: people who look like her especially say, oh I did this when I was your age. Like, I took that step of faith. I had people telling me, you're crazy. What are you doing? That's not going to work. And then guess what?
Speaker: It worked. Because God is the one who did it. i had to be faithful to say yes. i had God put the imagination in me and there were things I had to do.
Speaker: But God is the one who who made it happen, right? But I had to take that step of faith. And so I think for people, for young people to see courage modeled in that way, to see faith modeled in that way, it's going to spur your imagination when there's already something stirring within you. I think for you to come to a pilgrimage pop-up, you know, when talk about this integration of faith and justice. It's not these, justice is not the separate thing to our faith. It is very much integrated in the roots of our faith, right?
Speaker: if you're If you're saying yes to come to this, there's already, so God's already doing something in you. Whether you're like, I just learned about justice when I went to church the other day, or you have been following the activists on social media for the last six years, and you've read as many books as you can, and you've downloaded all the podcasts, right? Wherever you may be, There's something stirring in you. And now you get to have this tangible transformative experience where God is going to use that to say, hey, Kaya, reach out to pastor, first lady, take him to lunch, share with him what's on your heart. And now, boom, something that's never happened at your church is happening and you're the one leading it.
Speaker: That's, like I think, ah a great example. Absolutely. There was some work I did this summer not connected with Chasing Justice, but again, it was with some young people and the same experience. They had this um immersive experience and and reading their reflections upon leaving, they had vision for stuff that they didn't have vision for before.
Speaker: You know, I had one young man and one of his reflections. He's been walking with Jesus for four years. He's 20 years old. And he said, I didn't know that Christians cared about the work of justice.
Speaker: My, my, my. h I mean, tears, just as I'm reading his reflection, the tears are just welling up. And I felt so grieved reading this. And like, oh, you're you're one of many. Like, whether you're at this thing that I'm leading or you're coming to a pop-up, right? There are so many young people who have this, again, because of what they see on social media and for some of them in their churches, if they're part of a church, right?
Speaker: where Christians are saying justice isn't important, where Christians are saying that's this add-on, this extra, like this is all you need to do to be a Christian. And so I'm reading him, reading his reflection and thinking about so many other young people who have had a similar experience to him.
Speaker: And now he's got this vision 20 years old for something that was already stirring in him of stuff he cared about because of what was happening in his community. But now he's like, oh, my faith actually compels me to do that. Yeah.
Speaker: Like my faith can take this further than what I could have done because here's all the people I saw talk about it, doing it, living it out. And so I think to have an in-person experience where you're getting to hear people, you're getting to see things, you're, you see the mural, right? And you see something really beautiful reflected in the mural. And maybe you are an artist and you enjoy that type of work or you're like, oh, I can actually use that to express this work of faith and justice in this way. That's going to,
Speaker: Make people pause. How many times we see a mural and we pause and we look at it and we're like, this is kind of deep, you know? You know, I think those types of things, there's an imagination you, I think if you're just on social media, right? yeah That you you can't get.
Speaker: Right. Like it just it's limiting in a lot of ways. And so I think there's something that's really powerful about the in-person and doing it in community. I think that's something else that's helpful. As I think about the Bronx, the most recent one we had was there was a time where we did some reflection communally. It wasn't just individual. And so people are just sharing and you just see people like, oh, I didn't think about that. Right. Yeah. Right. You're hearing some, you're one of your peers or even a speaker who had been present, who was encouraged by another speaker. Like, oh, I hadn't thought about that. Or I love that point that you made. And you're like, oh, I missed that. You know, let me write that down. And and then you get to reflect on that.
Speaker: as well, there's something really powerful about that. And so I think doing it in community is also the part when you talk about imagination, i think we do so many things solo and isolated that it also stifles our imagination. And so if I can be in community doing that,
Speaker: And then I'm doing it in in my local, like people are doing it here. Wow. I can now, I can now be a Kaya and I can, I can have a brand new role at my church doing this work. That's going to span across the three services and, and the list goes on and on and on. And I can only imagine you talk about the thread being pulled.
Speaker: So Kaya is doing that. So her peers are seeing that and they're like, wait a second. Yeah. Pastor's not doing that. Yeah. The young adult, you know, leaders not doing that. The youth ministry, you know, all these like, you know, seasoned people, you know, are not the ones doing it. It's Kaya.
Speaker: So if Kaya can do it, what does that mean for me? And that was spurred on because of her experience at a pop-up. Yeah. It's crazy you mentioned that because like literally a couple of days ago at church, there were like 10 college students that were sitting up near the front.
Speaker: And i was like, how do you hear about the church? And they said, oh well, we Googled, but we heard Kaya goes here. So because we heard Kaya goes here, like we were like, oh, okay. Then we checked around. We're like, oh, Kaya goes here. Yeah, we'll be here.
Speaker: And like, we'll see you next week. And I'm like, oh, this is crazy. Like she's doing a whole movement. Like it's just one example of what it looks like to actually create space. Willie Jennings says it so well that space is the arena of of divine meeting, right? Like this is where God meets us. God meets us in place.
Speaker: We don't often think about that, but God meets us in tangible place. We think about imagination. I just can't think of a better segue to the CCDA conference this year because the theme for CCDA's conference this year is Behold from Isaiah chapter 43, where it talks about, you know, I'm doing a new thing. God's saying I'm doing a new thing. Like it springs forth. Don't you perceive it? Right.
Speaker: And this is not a shameless plug, like, because I want more people to be there. I want as many people as possible to be there. And I also want as many people as possible that are there to come see us and talk to us.
Speaker: But CCDA's national conference is going to be October 7th through 10th in Richmond, Virginia. And if you haven't signed up, I think there's still some open slots. If you, for whatever reason, are delaying, there is absolutely no reason for you to delay. It's an incredible experience. But, and I say this as somebody outside of CCDA,
Speaker: the times I've been at CCDA conference has been mind-blowing to think about the community, to think about what you learn. Also think about the level of inspiration, the level of speakers, the level of worship.
Speaker: And I think the biggest thing thing that intersects with chasing justice beyond just the programmatic elements. The biggest thing is the embodiment. We are embodied believers. We should be.
Speaker: And so much of our Western evangelical expression of church and Christianity tries to disembody us, tries to separate us from our bodies, tries to separate us from our lived experiences and our narrative.
Speaker: And when you are walking around, interacting with, engaging with, learning with, praying with, crying with embodied believers, diverse believers from all over the world, it's an unforgettable experience. And I know this year will be as well, but Aletheia, we going to be there too. We to be in a building, you know, we are we also going to doing a little something, you know, we talk about these pop-ups, we talk about these pop-ups, people like, what does this have to do with CCA? Well, I'm going to tell you what it to do with CCDA.
Speaker: Because somebody like, don't don't don't don't cut us off. All right. I need you to sign up. Now tell them what what what we're going to be doing. going to be doing a little something, something.
Speaker: We are in Richmond. Funny, in Richmond, but we are going to the pop-up we are doing in partnership with CCDA at the conference is the Go and See Explore Charlottesville. So ah there are a lot of Go and Seas. Okay. So this is our plug for the pop-up, but I think anyone that you do will be incredible. But in particularly the one that Tyler and I will be a part of is the one that Explore Charlottesville. And this pop-up I think is going to be and connected with this Go and See, I think is going to be really rich. There's so much to learn. i think about
Speaker: Probably for those who are little bit older, you say Charlottesville, it elicits some feelings and thoughts in light of what we've seen in the last decade. But I think for some of the youth and young adults that will be attending the conference, maybe you're coming with your youth group or your parents are bringing you along and you're like, okay, what what can I be a part of? I think this pop-up that we're doing connected to this Go and See is a great opportunity to be able to learn about some much-needed history. And so the Explore Charlottesville Go and See, it says, what does holistic community development look like in a neighborhood that's been historically overlooked?
Speaker: And so we're going to get to look at a local nonprofit, Abundant Life Ministries, how they're serving their community. There'll be an opportunity for us to have lunch together. We'll get to reflect on some things. And then the I think that's really cool about this particular Go and See is it's connected to the University of Virginia, or UVA for short, there in Charlottesville. And so I think for the youth and young adults getting to be on a college campus getting and learning about the history connected to this particular campus, that if you are a young adult that's in college, that your college may not have this type of history, but there's some some significant history here connected to UVA. And so we'll get to learn about some of different things happening on on the the campus area. We'll get to see a memorial to those who were enslaved in Charlottesville who actually
Speaker: built and maintained the University of Virginia. So it's opportunity to learn the history, but also what does it mean to to lament, right? I think that's part of our work in faith and justice is this part of lamenting, which again, I think God shows up in some really beautiful ways that connect it back to imagination, right? It's like, okay, how do we make sure this never happens again, right? How do I have an imagination for something different?
Speaker: that this generation can then take on. And so I think there's a significant opportunity to learn there as well. So that's part of what we'll be doing. of the ways you can connect with us and spend some time with us at CCDA is joining us on that for that pop-up at that go and see.
Speaker: And that go and see is also connected to a venture and initiative that Sandra, Pastor Sandra and I do every single year, multiple times. It's called our Live Justly Intensive. So it's literally a cohort.
Speaker: And this year we're doing it for, ah it's ah it's a four week cohort. And it's a way for us to actually build the the building blocks with people over the course of four weeks to try to help them figure out how do you actually live justly.
Speaker: justly where you are. um and this year, the reason why i'm mentioning is because it's connected to the CCDA conference, but it's also connected to young people as well. So it's for our teenagers. So, so much of these pilgrimage pop-ups are geared towards 13 to 17-year-olds, 13 to 18-year-olds, but also young adults as well. And so I just want people to to participate in the go and see if they can, especially if you have teenagers or if you're a young adult and you're just flipping on the podcast, you're like, oh, I just want to see what's coming up in October, getting ready and getting prepared. As Alethea mentioned, whether you're going to Hampton or Fredericksburg or wherever, like there are great places for you to to participate in the go and sees at the conference.
Speaker: But You know, we just want to plug Charlottesville because we know how transformative the pop-up has been for us and the pop-ups have been for our local communities.
Speaker: And as a pastor, not somebody connected with Chasing Justice as a pastor who's saying, hey, I believe in the work of Chasing Justice, was there when it started, want to continue this work of of helping people rebuild the just worlds.
Speaker: But not even thinking that, oh, this could change the fabric of my church. Even as a member of Chasing Justice, like, oh, this is changing the fabric of my church. This may completely transform lives in our local community. So there's so much more that we could say, but we want to direct you to the show notes. please go and check out however you can be involved. Number one, by attending the CCDA a National Conference.
Speaker: Number two, by visiting the Go and See and actually registering for that. And once you register for that, doing this all day is going all day now. So y'all going need some good walking shoes and everything. We're going to experience going be immersive. A nine to five situation. But you know, if we're there, we're going to fun. You know, we're going to learn a lot. We're going to have a lot of experiences.
Speaker: We get to ask some great questions of our local partners there and we're going to explore it together. And we're literally going to behold what God is doing. in the midst of an overlooked community in a neighborhood that has been underserved historically.
Speaker: But also, number three, want you to be able to connect with us when you get there. We would love to meet you and we'd love to tell you more about what's going on at Chasing Justice. Alethea and I, we don't bite, I promise. we this We'll talk to you. We're not mean. And we would absolutely love to connect with you wherever you're listening and wherever you find yourself in your journey.
Speaker: No matter where you are, we truly believe that together we can actually rebuild a just world and live a lifestyle of truth and justice right where we live. So Alethea, this has been a lot of fun. This has been awesome. Before we wrap, yeah I need to say a couple things.
Speaker: Yeah, I need to say couple things. I was getting ready to it to You didn't let me alley-oop you. I'm sorry. didn't let me alley-oop you. I was getting ready to throw to Dwayne Wade. I was getting ready to throw to Dwayne Wade. it was like closing remarks, I was like, wait, wait, wait, I got to get this these details in real quick about registering.
Speaker: My bad, my bad, my bad. No, you good. So yeah, just as Tyler had mentioned but with the go and see, you can actually register on the Chasing Justice website. It's 25 for youth and young adult, 50 for, we say mentors. So anyone over 30, it's 50. Unks and aunties. Yes, unks and aunties. And I think for those who may be listening, it might not be the the youth or young adult that's listening to this, but the parents, the pastor, the young adult leader,
Speaker: This an opportunity, I think, as Tyler gave it a perfect example about his role as a pastor, but also I think for parents. I think about Mr. Battles, right? Tyler mentioned a little bit ago about his experience with his grandson. Something I forgot to mention is this is intergenerational, these pop-ups.
Speaker: I think so often it's like, okay, let me go drop off the teen, the young adult, you know, you go and have this experience by yourself. But something that's clearly very valuable to Tyler's impact story about this board member and his grandson is they got to have the experience together. And so as you think about if you're bringing... your your your teens you know to to CCDA this year. You're a young adult leader and you have a number of people coming from your your church and your ministry to come with them. You get to have this experience together. And I can only imagine how that might spur some things on whether in your ministry or at home as you leave the conference. And so we want you to experience it with them, not something separate. And so I think it can be a transformative experience
Speaker: for the the older folks as well. And so would love for you to be a part of that. And like I said, you can register on the Chasing Justice website for that pop-up connected to that Go and See.
Speaker: Okay, Tyler, sorry. mean infinite like Let's come back to the oop. You know, anything else since I jumped it there? No, this is perfect. Alethea, thank you so much for doing this with me. This was a lot of fun.
Speaker: Many thanks to the CCDA team for allowing us to take over the podcast for an episode and have some fun in learning together. And many thanks to you all as listeners for joining the CCDA podcast. If you want to learn more about CCDA and Chasing Justice, you can check out the show notes of this episode.
Speaker: Please also don't forget to subscribe to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. This episode is produced by Sarah Callen in association with Christina Fore. We will be back soon with another episode featuring CCD practitioners who are committed to seeing people and communities experience God's shalom.
Speaker: Alethea, thank you for joining me. Tyler, this was so fun. Thanks for leading this and doing what you do. Oh, it's it's so fun when you're in what you do on podcasts. I just love it so, so much. You are so engaging and a great host. So thank you.
Speaker: Thank you, fam. I appreciate you. We'll see you all soon on the next CCDA podcast.
