Village Engage is the local administrator of JustFaith, a small-group study program offered by JustFaith Ministries in Louisville, Kentucky. Its founder, Jack Jezreel, says, “JustFaith Ministries was birthed in the effort to invite and prepare people of faith for the life-changing call of the Gospel to help heal the world—and, in so doing, experience a deeper faith, a more fulfilling life, and a community of care and vitality.”

Like for everyone, during 2020 & 2021, COVID-19 has presented us with logistical challenges, especially regarding how to organize and conduct JustFaith Groups.

Fortunately, in the very early days of the pandemic, the team at JustFaith Ministries immediately began to repurpose its program offerings, plus instruction for any facilitator on how to conduct virtual sessions on the Zoom platform. JustFaith groups have been meeting virtually ever since. In many cases, virtual meetings have been a way for even more people to access them.

The successful implementation of a virtual option has provided an invaluable way for people to stay connected during a stressful and uncertain time. And once the pandemic has finally ended, a hybrid option—that is, a combination of in-person and virtual gatherings for each program module—will remain in place.

Since 2001, over 60,000 people across the country have completed a JustFaith Ministries program. The topics explored in JustFaith, during eight-week modules, include systemic racism, immigration, eco-justice, and faith-based advocacy. JustFaith Ministries also offers compelling social justice programs for young people. Youth programing covers topics like: human trafficking, fair trade, Black history, global poverty, and homelessness.

Greenville has a very active community of JustFaith graduates. In the last decade, over 600 people have experienced these transformative programs in numerous locations such as Triune Mercy Center, Buncombe Street Methodist, First Baptist Greenville, Christ Church Episcopal, Fourth Presbyterian, Long Branch Baptist Church, St. Matthew United Methodist, Westminster Presbyterian, Village Church, St. Anthony of Padua, Aldersgate Methodist, United Ministries and many more.

JustFaith participants often become volunteer facilitators of the program. Facilitators not only manage the flow of every JustFaith group meeting, but also arrange for guest speakers and immersive experiences. Contingents of JustFaith groups have traveled to El Refugio and the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia to visit with people who are facing deportation. They have shared fellowship at Soteria, a program for men facing re-entry from incarceration. Other participants have visited the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama to confront the legacy of racial terror lynchings. Recently a JustFaith group confronted the problem of homelessness in Greenville by visiting an encampment in an under-resourced part of town.

JustFaith programs make people aware of the problems of society’s marginalized groups — and create an environment that invites personal transformation. JustFaith changes people. Those people change the world.

To learn more about the JustFaith program, watch below: