JustFaith is a conversion-based process that seeks to integrate personal spirituality and social ministry. The aim of JustFaith is to empower participants to develop a passion and thirst for justice and to express this passion in concrete acts of parish social ministry. JustFaith is a tool that has proven over and over again to be an effective strategy for training and forming parishioners to be agents of social transformation.

JustFaith is a process. Over the course of seven to eight months, participants meet weekly for readings, videos, lecture, discussion, prayer, retreats, and hands-on experiences in justice education. The intent is to provide a tapestry of learning opportunities that emphasize and enliven the remarkable justice tradition of the Church. Participants are exposed not only to a substantive and demanding course of study but are also afforded the privilege of becoming community with other participants and sharing a journey of faith and compassion that is both life-giving and challenging.

JustFaith is adaptable to local parish interests and staffing. The syllabus allows for flexibility in the study topics and program schedule, and accommodates differences in parish staff availability and facilitation skills; JustFaith can be--and typically is--facilitated by parishioners, meaning it does not create added responsibilities for professional staff. The program can also be adapted for use in other settings including diocesan-sponsored programs, small faith communities, and college campuses.

JustFaith was first introduced to the Joliet Diocese in 2003. Since that time 110 individuals have graduated from the program sponsored by 8 parishes throughout the diocese!

Download a brochure describing the local Joliet Diocese JustFaith experience.

Listing of JustFaith Groups meeting in 2007/08

Materials For Getting Started

• JustFaith Getting Started
• JustFaith General Overview
• JustFaith Registration Form
• JustFaith Flyer

For Youth Groups, Please see our New Program Justice Walking!!! Information below.

JWalking

Justice Walking - A Program for High School Students

JustMatters is a new and expanding series of formation materials that allow participants to spend six to eight weekly or bi-weekly sessions focusing on a particular social justice topic.  Formatted like JustFaith (prayer, reading, videos, speakers, dialogue, community building and an immersion component), JustMatters allows a group of eight to twelve people to give sustained attention to a specific area of social concern or social ministry, culminating in a call to engaged action. 

Each year, new materials focusing on particular topics are created and added to the JustMatters library.  Categories include critical issues, social ministry skills, and spirituality.  Subscribing churches will have access to all topical options and can receive up to four modules per year. JustFaith graduates will find these resources useful in engaging the larger church in the study of current issues, effective strategies and a sustaining inner life.  In addition, participants in JustMatters may find this to be a compelling springboard into the JustFaith program. 

The initial topics being introduced are Immigration, Climate Change, The UN Millenium Development Goals, Federal Budget Priorities (Living Solidarity), Forming Small Justice Communities, and Prison Reform. Other topics under consideration are Economic Development for the Poor, Rural Life, Militarism, Racism, Community Organizing and Aging and the Elderly.

JustMatters Overview

JustMatters Brochure Topics Overview

JustMatters course flier preview "Climate Change"

JustMatters course flier preview for Living Solidarity

Registration materials for Living Solidarity

JustMatters course flier preview for Prison Reform

JustMatters overview for New Wineskins: Forming Missional Communities

JustSkills

Practices and Tools for Parish Social Ministry

In 1994, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document called Communities of Salt and Light: Reflections on the Social Mission of the Parish . The bishops insisted that social justice is the mission of the whole parish—that the social justice mission is what keeps a parish alive and makes it truly Catholic. This vision of parish life informs the JustSkill’s goal of building a thriving, prophetic church that does “service and action, charity and justice”.

The JustSkills program has been crafted in response to the many requests of JustFaith graduates who ask for help in developing the skills necessary to do the work of justice within a parish setting. It offers a parish blueprint and some of the skills and tools needed to make this vision a reality within the parish setting.

JustSkills is:

an opportunity to learn about and practice some of the skills necessary for doing the work of effective social ministry, especially – but not exclusively - within the parish context

• an opportunity for deepening one’s prayer experience and spiritual reflection
• an opportunity to deepen our understanding of key justice issues

JustSkills offers participants:

• a process that helps make the experience and practice of our faith more life-giving
• a set of tools that can broaden and enhance the parish commitment to action on behalf of justice
• support and training in specific skills that each participant can apply in whatever area of social ministry work they choose to undertake after completing the program
• a tool for planning actions within their parish, but it is not an action process of itself.

JustSkills Getting Started Materials

See also http://justfaith.org/JF1222.html

www.paxjoliet.org