Isaiah

Dear All, 

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful summer!

I wanted to write to update you on how we will be proceeding to support the
work all of you have done to lay the foundation for a powerful organization
in Rochester.

Thanks for your patience as we undergo a transition in staffing.  Again, I
want to reiterate, that ISAIAH staff and the ISAIAH Board of Directors are
completely committed to moving forward with all of you to build a powerful,
faith-based movement for racial and economic justice in Rochester.  We also
know, from years of building local organizing capacity, that every place is
different and all organizing must be locally and organically grounded to be
effective.   Therefore, we want to take the opportunity of this transition,
to re-ground ourselves with you in the mission and vision of what we want to
build together.

ISAIAH is a faith-based organization committed to being a vehicle for
congregations and people of faith to act effectively for racial and economic
justice.  ISAIAH is made up of member congregations who deeply commit to one
another to be "member-owners."  Member congregations pay dues, are
represented on the Board of Directors, govern the organization and are the
core decision-makers as to the mission, vision and strategic direction of
the whole. Exploring membership in ISAIAH is a serious undertaking for any
congregation and a collective of congregations in a region exploring
membership in ISAIAH is an even bigger undertaking!  

We have committed an experienced staff team from ISAIAH to work with a core
leadership team from Rochester in the month of August.  This team along with
some Board Members of ISAIAH met with Rev. Don Barlow, Sr. Patricia Fritz,
Miguel Valdezsoto and Rev. Andy Nelson at the end of July.  This team will
be working with the ISAIAH Staff Team to put together a larger gathering of
clergy and religious leaders in early to Mid-September to put before you
some thoughts on how to delve deeper and create a firm foundation for a
collective of 15-25 congregations in Rochester to come together to form an
organization.  In the meantime, we will also be setting up one-to-one
meetings with many of you to hear more from you about your hopes, your
vision and your interest in this enterprise.

The staff team from ISAIAH on this project will be as follows:

Paul Marincel: 25 Years of organizing experience, founder of ISAIAH, MORE2
in Kansas City, TAP in South Bend.
Lisa Amman: Organizing Director of ISAIAH, 10 years of faith-based
organizing experience Doran Schrantz: Director of ISAIAH, 12 years of
community and faith-based organizing experience

We will also be engaging Phyllis Hill, ISAIAH Lead Organizer, Rev. Grant
Stevensen, President of the Board and Rev. Paul Slack, Chair of ISAIAH
Clergy Caucus.

Please directly contact myself, Lisa or Paul if you have questions or
concerns.  We would be more than happy to talk with you!

Doran Schrantz
Executive Director
ISAIAH
612-333-1260 x. 211
schrantz@isaiah-mn.org