Join the Living Room Conversations Team

Do you want to create a stronger sense of belonging in your Faith Community?

Our new Faith Partner, Jane Grossman, is busy working with Faith Communities across the country who are hosting Living Room Conversations. Our Faith Communities are doing some of the richest and longest lasting work that we know of.

We have started a Faith Leadership Council to guide us in improving and expanding our work and we held our first meeting last month. We were joined by 9 faith leaders from California to Arkansas. Most of our Leadership Council members are not clergy, but are active members in their congregations. If you’d like to join our Leadership Council, we’d love to have you, reach out to Jane@livingroomconversations.org.

The majority of our Faith Communities began their conversations as a way to manage a challenging situation. People were looking for a way to hold civil dialogues in the face of differing opinions. Here’s a few of the successful programs we learned about.

  • Becoming Beloved Community of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville Arkansas invited the local police to hold a conversation on policing. It went quite well and people walked away with new ideas and more expansive thinking. For more information about this effort, click here: https://livingroom.s052.wptstaging.space/weekly-update/re-imagining-police-community-relations/

  • St. Paul’s also joined with Different Together, a program within Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, California to hold conversations across the geographical divide. The series of three conversations went so well both groups are looking for new sister congregations to converse with. Let us know if you would like to partner in conversation with a Sister Congregation.

  • Most Precious Blood Catholic Church in Denver, Colorado used Living Room Conversations as a way for the community to stay connected during the Pandemic. They held over 35 conversations this past year. This helped the community get through challenging times during isolation and they discussed a variety of topics including racial unrest and the elections. One model that was used was to have a speaker on a topic one week, followed by a conversation a week later in order to delve deeper into the topic and allow people to share their thoughts.

  • Friends for Good in Dallas, Texas has been hosting quarterly interfaith dinners for 4 different faith traditions since 2015.  Over 450 people have participated in the program.  During the pandemic, Friends for Good hosted Living Room Conversations on Trust, Hope, Empathy and Forgiveness over Zoom. The conversations were such a success that they will be incorporating Living Room Conversations into their 2022 interfaith program.

If you would like help starting a conversation in your congregation, visit our Faith Communities Web Page and reach out to Jane@livingroomconversations.org.

We’re in the middle of updating Our Faith Communities page so be sure to check back in August!

 

Let’s be a Team!

Living Room Conversations is currently looking for talent to fill impactful roles.

Volunteer – Our volunteer applications are currently OPEN! Now is your chance to use your talents and skills to help Living Room Conversations grow and continue to touch lives. Here are a few specific volunteer positions we are looking to fill. To apply please fill out a volunteer application!

  • Social Media Manager – schedule posts using Hootsuite (mostly posts about upcoming conversations and events)

  • Media Relations – Write, send and follow up on pitches to media

Racial Equity Partner – Our ideal candidate is a self-motivated person with passion and experience in racial justice advocacy who enjoys public speaking, and is comfortable talking and teaching about race and ethnicity.

Roles & Responsibilities

  • Work closely with management and Youth Council to build out our Racial Equity work and create programs that align with the mission of Living Room Conversations.
  • Nurture relationships with key partners across bridge-building, private, and public sectors that are interested in talking about race.
  • Co-facilitate and help design training offerings including our monthly How to Organize & Host a Living Room Conversation on Race as well as custom paid services and presentations. This includes the potential for custom work, public speaking, and presentations.
  • Network and create outreach campaigns to bring in paid services.
  • Maintain, create and expand relevant resources and conversation guides on our “Talking About Race” Resources page.
  • Continue learning and professional development and look for ways to support the organization’s internal DEI work.
  • Host regular conversations about race in your community and/or online.
  • Use your experience to write stories for our newsletter, social media, blogs, and external media outlets This also includes doing media interviews as requests come in.

This is a remote position for 10 hours/week at $25/hour.

To apply please send a resume and cover letter to brialle@livingroomconversations.org.

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