Good Faith Network Update
February 2022
This fall Heritage joined the Johnson County Interfaith Justice efforts in our community. We joined along with 20 other congregations in the area and over 500 network members.
The process began with training of our Network leaders in August and then we began the Listening Process. We held listening sessions at Heritage in September. Six small group Sessions were held, and 38 members attended, and 36 members agreed to be Network members.
On November 8th, the Community Problems Assembly was held where the group of 375+ network members heard the results of the listening process from all the congregations and voted on 2 priorities, Homelessness and Mental Illness. We also voted to officially name our Johnson County group, The Good Faith Network.
On December 7th, a Research Kickoff meeting was held where we began the next phase of our process, The Research Process. Over the past two months, the research teams have been speaking with and gathering information from various community leaders, JO CO agency representatives, medical experts, representatives from other cities sharing their best practices, new proposals from experts and much more. These conversations are to deepen our understanding of the problems and to identify specific improvements and potential solutions for Johnson County relating to homelessness and mental illness. The Research phase will continue through April.
On January 18th, the Good Faith Network board held its first meeting. The board is comprised of the elected board members and 2 representatives from each congregation. Cindy Svec and Sally Williams are the Heritage representatives. Pastor Maria Campbell is serving as the Good Faith Network Board Co-President.
What’s next. On April 4th, a Solutions Briefing will be held where Network Members will review the research committee findings and prepare for the Nehemiah Assembly which is scheduled for May 3rd.
At the Nehemiah Assembly, over 1200+ network members of faith from across Johnson County will present local leaders with well researched solutions to the community’s most pressing problems regarding homelessness and mental illness and advocated for swift implementation of recommended solutions.
We will continue to keep you up to date on the research process and next steps.
Everyone is welcome to participate and join us in making change in our community.
If you would like more information, please contact your Network leader, Gary Cinotto, Sonia Fulton, Jenny Hallam, Sally Williams, sjswilliams@gmail.com or Cindy Svec, cindys@heritageumc.org and we would be glad to share how you can get involved in the Good Faith Network.
