Social change has long relied on an inside-outside game: organizers outside institutions build pressure, and people inside them turn it into decisions. Movement chaplaincy has developed deep practices for caring for activists on the outside. What would comparable care look like for the people working on the inside, where burnout is also pervasive?

You’re invited to a small, discussion-based working session exploring what spiritual care can look like for people working in government and other institutions where decisions carry real weight. We’re eager to hear your experiences with burnout, moral injury, and vocational discernment.

The conversation will inform the development of Ecumenical Commons’ emerging Staff Clarity program, which offers spiritual care to congressional staffers on Capitol Hill.
Who should come: Chaplains, seminarians, organizers, public servants, nonprofit workers, former congressional staffers, and anyone interested in the topic.

Facilitator:

• Kelly Crouch (UTS ‘21), Executive Director of Ecumenical Commons

Co-organizers:

• Emma Foster (UTS ’26), Director, Center for Community Engagement and Social Justice (CCESJ)
• Heather Scott, M.Div. Candidate at UTS and CCESJ Fellow at Ecumenical Commons
• Marie Therese Kane, Policy Fellow at i3T, MS in Environmental Policy & Sustainability Management at the New School, and former staffer on the
  Senate Banking Committee

REGISTER TODAY!

Date & Time:

November 12, 2026
6:00 PM – 7:00 PM EST
In Person
Room 207, Union Theological Seminary
3041 Broadway, New York, NY 10027