Welcome Home!
How we got here + What to expect
“Do you have a Substack? I’d hate to lose out on following your voice if Twitter ever goes down.”
That’s the first thing I saw in my Twitter DM’s one Saturday morning. Last Saturday actually.
The message was from a Canadian Pastor - the demographic I gear most of my Twitter content towards. And she had a point.
Twitter is where I found my voice. And even though my voice is mine to keep, I’d hate to lose the main platform that has surprisingly helped amplify my voice to thousands of folks + hundreds of church leaders over these past few years. Especially on account of an unpredictably narcissistic dude who seems determined to take down Twitter along with his own public reputation.
But I’ll save my thoughts on that for another time.
What To Expect Here
“What does Jesus have to do with Justice? Does the Gospel of Christ have anything to say to the injustices of this earth? Are concepts like systemic justice, diversity, equity & inclusion even Christian?”
If you’ve ever wrestled with these questions - welcome. You’re in the right place!
Or maybe you’re already convinced that Jesus is Justice. Maybe you’re already convinced that the Gospel of Christ is Good News for survivors of injustice. And that systemic justice, diversity, equity & inclusion are uniquely Christian concepts. But as an advocate for Justice Jesus’ way, you still find yourself struggling with the language to articulate this hope you have.
I know it’s pretty lonely out there for misfits like us - especially in the Church (oh, the irony). But as a church I once help plant used to say all the time - there’s a place for you here (even though that was more marketing than reality for this particular church).
Welcome home. And thank you for joining me on this journey.
So how does this work?
You won’t have to worry about missing anything. Once you subscribe, every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.
If it’s okay with you - I’m going to *ambitiously* aim for a weekly send rhythm. That way, I don’t clutter your inbox while still allowing us to feel connected.
Every newsletter will have thoughts on current events, theological reflections on justice and even occasional updates on some of the justice mobilization and advocacy work I get to do across the North American (albeit largely Canadian) Church.
Help me grow this community!
If there’s anything that years of justice work has taught me, it’s that seeking justice is way more fun when done in community. This Substack account is a way to grow that community and I’d love your help with this.
I plan on keeping all my content free for now and I’d love for this space to be an encouragement to as many folks as possible.
If you know a justice advocate or a church leader who would benefit from my reflections, do forward this along to them + encourage them to subscribe.
You can also follow along and interact with my thoughts on Twitter (as long as it’s still up) and Instagram. My handle in both places is the same - @JoashPThomas.
What am I up to this week?
Apart from the unique joy of getting to lead my rockstar team in mobilizing the Canadian Church to seek justice with International Justice Mission Canada (my employer) this week, I also have the honour of preaching at Indonesian Christian Church Canada (one of the largest Indonesian church communities in Toronto) this Sunday.
I’ll be teaching on two Christian concepts that don’t often get thought of together in the Church and in the public square - Prayer & Justice.
Hope to have some cool stories to share with you from this Sunday in future updates.