In October 2023, clergy and lay members from eight Livingston County churches met for the first time to discuss how their faith communities could come together to better our community. They envisioned a future where people of faith from all walks of life could join together around the values of hope-fueled faith, truly and deeply unconditional love, a commitment to unyielding justice, a culture of extravagant welcome, and a desire for community connection with the rest of Livingston County. From this earnest vision, the Livingston Faith & Justice Network, LivFAITH, was born. This group is open to those of all faith traditions, or even those without one, as long as you seek to love your neighbor and honor the divinity and human dignity of all people around you.
The Livingston Faith & Justice Network is a community action committee of the Livingston Diversity Council.
Mission: The Livingston Faith & Justice Network is a community-based workgroup promoting a deeply inclusive, faith-honoring community for our neighbors through education, mutual aid, collaboration, advocacy, in order to recognize the divine worth of all those around us — especially our most marginalized.
Who is livfaith?
The Livingston Faith & Justice Network is made up of committed community clergy and laypeople from various local churches and human service organizations. Some members have elected not to share their information, but the following groups have agreed to be listed on our page:
Advocacy Goals:
Due to our limited size, our group is currently focusing on only two main goals, which we work on in sub-committees within LivFAITH. These goals are:
The deeply racist history of Livingston County is an unfortunate blemish on our past that continues to linger, showing up in the extremely white racial makeup of our county and the continuing racially-motivated hate and violence that’s still taking place. LivFAITH aims to address these issues head-on through faith-based community education, outreach, and advocacy.
We see that our LGBTQIA+ neighbors are nervous to attend church because of a culture of unwelcome that’s been cultivated by our modern climate. LivFAITH is committed to creating inclusive spaces for LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse people in our county, especially within our faith communities. LivFAITH is doing this through faith-based community (and often church) education, outreach, and advocacy.
Meetings for both of the above focus groups occur during our monthly LivFAITH meetings. We are hoping to add more focus groups around poverty relief, mental health, addressing Christian Nationalism, coordinated crisis response, and more as our group grows. Have a passion that you want to grow? Maybe you’re the next focus group leader!
Learn More
The Livingston Faith & Justice Network meets in-person on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 7-9PM, with the meeting location rotating between several churches. To receive information about this workgroup and upcoming meetings, please complete the form below.