Cost per paperback copy: $15.00 CAD. You will be able to choose the quantity on the next page.
**Bundle and Save! Order together with Living Ecological Justice: A Biblical Response to the Environmental Crisis to save on shipping. To order the bundle or for international orders, please contact us at 1-800-667-8046 ext. 230 or send us a message.
A Gospel Response to Poverty (2011)
Looking for a resource to discuss, reflect, and take action on poverty in your community?
Download Living Justice as a PDF. You can also download individual sections of the book (reflections, activities, and prayers) on our Church Resources page.
Living Justice: A Gospel Response to Poverty was published in 2011 for Christian faith communities trying to live out the justice mandate to love the stranger, the widow, and the orphan, and to seek just relations within society. It is a resource for people interested in learning more about the situation of poverty in Canada, exploring the Christian call to respond, and searching for ways to engage and create change. It includes reflections, discussion questions, activities, and prayers that provide insight into experiences of poverty in Canada, the challenges and opportunities we face as a society, and actions that we, as Christians, can take.
Living Justice explores poverty through theological perspectives of various Christian traditions – Anglican, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, Christian Reformed, Lutheran, Mennonite, Presbyterian, and United.
Recognizing the complexity of poverty and the various ways in which it impacts each and every one of us, Living Justice goes beyond material (or physical) poverty and explores emotional, community, and spiritual poverty as well. Material poverty is understood as a lack of money, resources, housing, and/or livelihood, while emotional poverty is about personal brokenness, isolation, and/or vulnerability. Emotional poverty can be experienced by anyone, regardless of their social or economic condition. Community poverty, in turn, relates to situations of separation within society, division and a lack of cohesiveness among people living in close proximity to one another, and/or misunderstanding between members of society. Finally, spiritual poverty is understood as the separation of faith and action, personal fear and woundedness, broken relationships, distance from God, and an inability to see God’s image in the face of others.
Living Justice is a learning guide best suited to small group discussion and engagement over a period of weeks or months. The booklet also contains elements that could be used in worship or for personal times of reflection. Most of the activities are designed to be carried out in church meeting spaces; some require more physical space, preparation, or coordination with local organizations.
All of the materials in Living Justice are intended to invite prayerful contemplation and action in order to reduce the burden for those living in poverty, and ultimately to see that poverty is eliminated.
CPJ regularly facilitates workshops on faith, poverty in Canada, and public justice. Contact Natalie Appleyard for more information.