Abstract
This article emerges from a collaborative research project between a religious studies professor at DePaul University and the executive director of the Chicago-based non-profit Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI). In 2016, we forged a community partnership to explore and enhance the relationship between pedagogy, faith, and social justice. In this article, we share the results of our research on how exposure to and involvement with the work of ICDI impacts students, staff, and volunteers. Our research reveals the powerful effect that a community-engaged partnership can have not only on adult learning but also on spiritual development. Our findings suggest that faith in action may take several forms, including encounter, accompaniment, advocacy, and social justice, and that those who engage the work of ICDI may engage them in different ways. These insights will be useful for institutions, both universities and community organizations alike, in enhancing adult learning and spiritual growth.
Highlights
This article emerges from a collaborative research project between a religious studies professor at DePaul University and the executive director of the Chicago-based non-profit Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI)
We found that for institutions like DePaul University, the largest Catholic university in the United States whose mission is centered around faith in action, this type of community-engaged learning can be a potent site for realizing mission
Due to small sample size we analyzed the volunteer and staff data as one set but are aware that looking at the staff and volunteer data separately may provide additional insights given that staff have many more hours of engagement. These above limitations notwithstanding, our data analysis reveals a variety of ways in which the work of ICDI impacts students, volunteers, and staff and offers insight into our ongoing conversation about faith, faith journeys, and pedagogy
Summary
This article emerges from a collaborative research project between a religious studies professor at DePaul University and the executive director of the Chicago-based non-profit Interfaith Community for Detained Immigrants (ICDI). Our findings suggest that faith in action may take several forms, including encounter, accompaniment, advocacy, and social justice, and that those who engage the work of ICDI may engage them in different ways These insights will be useful for institutions, both universities and community organizations alike, in enhancing adult learning and spiritual growth. We were interested in how exposure to the work of faith-based institutions informs an individual’s faith journey Both DePaul University and ICDI are faith-based organizations, rooted in the Catholic tradition, that honor and value religious pluralism. Both put a premium on active forms of faith that do the work of social justice. We have found it helpful to approach faith in terms of formal institutional religious affiliations, and in terms of how faith functions in helping individuals and communities to DePaul University and ICDI: Faith-based Institutions with ‘Faith in Action’ Missions
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