Community Organizing at Temple Beth El pursues the social justice vision set forth by Temple Beth El’s Tzedek Council, which you can find here. We define community organizing as building powerful relationships across lines of race, class, and difference, grounded in trust and mutual respect, and leveraging the power of people to act in shared self-interest to help make systemic change. We use the principles of community organizing to help engage our large and diverse congregation around a shared vision of how we can contribute to achieving racial justice in Charlotte.

Congregants are invited to participate in either of our active Issue Teams (Equity in Education and Criminal Justice). Issue team members are TBE’s on-the-ground community organizers. They meet at least monthly to:

• Review what we already know/have learned (from listening circles, external meetings, etc) in monthly meetings.
• Identify and meet with fellow congregants who may have a connection with the issue.
• Set up external research action meetings to understand the work being done in the community and identify potential partners.
• Identify gaps in current efforts that we (at TBE) are suited to help fill
• Develop and implement a plan of action for the next 6 months around a specific campaign.
• Educate fellow congregants on identified issues through meetings, educational events, and participatory learning experiences.