Blog
Showing Up with Faith and Public Life
September 30, 2025
This fall brought two opportunities I’m grateful to share with you—both deeply connected to the kind of faith, justice, and spiritual imagination we hold dear at Reservoir.
First, I was honored to be featured in the October issue of the Center for Open and Relational Theology newsletter. Many of you know I completed my Doctor of Ministry in Open and Relational Theology this year, and it’s been meaningful to stay connected to that growing community of scholars, pastors, and lay leaders. You can read the feature here:
🔗 https://preview.mailerlite.com/t7b1x8j6q5
Theology, for me, is never abstract. It’s always connected to how we love our neighbors, understand God’s presence, and move through the world with humility and courage. Which leads me to the second update…
In late May, and again this past Labor Day, I co-led a 12-mile walk from Lexington Battle Green to The Embrace memorial on Boston Common. These walks were organized by Prayers for Liberty—a clergy collective I’m part of that brings together leaders from many faiths and traditions to pray and act for democracy, human dignity, and shared sacred values.
While many of us are also members of groups like the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization, the Massachusetts Council of Churches, or the Massachusetts Board of Rabbis, Prayers for Liberty isn’t owned by any one institution. It’s a grassroots effort, rooted in a shared conviction that our faith calls us to speak into public life with both courage and compassion.
On these walks, and in our organizing, I’ve experienced something I consider holy:
people from very different backgrounds finding common purpose—not by ignoring our differences, but by honoring them. In a time when “diversity” is often twisted to divide, we see it as a doorway to solidarity, imagination, and hope.
As part of our efforts, we delivered a signed letter to members of Congress urging the protection of democratic values and human rights. This wasn’t a partisan act—it was a moral one, grounded in our faith traditions’ commitments to dignity, justice, and the common good.
This work matters. It takes time, prayer, and persistence. But it also brings unexpected blessing—through new friendships, shared learning, and the chance to walk alongside longtime advocates who’ve held this fire for decades.
I’m grateful to add my voice and presence to this work, and to stay rooted in the legacy of faith-based movements for justice that continue to shape my life and ministry. And I’m grateful for the dozens of you that have participated in these marches and public prayers, and the many other ways so many of you are actively pursuing a more just and peaceful world together.
If you’d like to get involved in our community’s work for social justice, email Pastor Lydia. And if you’d like to learn more about Prayers for Liberty, this recent piece in the National Catholic Reporter is a good place to start.