Julia Weber
Staff Writer
Ordained minister, public theologian and national leader in the multi-faith movement for justice Jen Bailey will deliver the first Interfaith Lecture of the 2025 Summer Assembly at 2 p.m. today in the Hall of Philosophy.
Bailey is a public speaker and preacher focusing on the intersection of religion and public life. Her lecture will focus on her experiences in faith communities working toward radical change to explore ways of moving forward to create a more loving, compassionate and just world.
“I spend a lot of thinking about how we can collectively build the spiritual infrastructure for our movements for social justice, how we heal legacies of harm in our communities, and about how we can imagine a world in which we all feel seen, valued, and loved,” she wrote on her website.
Bailey begins the Week One theme “Potluck Nation: Why We Need Each Other to Thrive” by bringing her experience as co-founder of Faith Matters Network and The People’s Supper to the lectern to discuss the role of spiritual faith in social justice movements.
Faith Matters Network highlights womanist wisdom with the aim of empowering faith leaders, activists and community organizers to connect through their passion for justice and equality. Since 2014, the organization has worked with more than 10,000 leaders and provided a national platform to amplify their work.
Founded after the 2016 election of President Donald Trump, the People’s Supper has hosted more than 2,000 suppers in 135 communities around the world to bring together people from all backgrounds and experiences to engage constructively on how to address issues facing their home communities. The People’s Supper’s work has been featured by publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and “CBS This Morning.”
In 2019, Bailey joined Lennon Flowers — the co-founder of The People’s Supper — to discuss their work with Krista Tippett in Chautauqua’s Amphitheater as part of a week dedicated to “Grace: A Celebration of Extraordinary Gifts — A Week in Partnership with Krista Tippett and ‘On Being.’ ” During that lecture, Bailey talked about her roots in Quincy, Illinois, and her “safe space” of Bethel A.M.E. Church.
“That affirmation that I was, indeed, beloved in the eyes of God, that my brownness was something to be honored, that God delighted in me, that really happened in those kitchen spaces in the church,” Bailey said in 2019.
During that conversation with Flowers and Tippett, Bailey said she hoped people could imagine what “the promise of America could be.”
“I think in America, we are in process,” Bailey said in 2019. “We are at a really important and deep moment of uncovery that is ugly, and there is a choice before us; the question is whether or not we will continue to be in process toward the promise of what America could be, or default into the worst of our instincts.”
By employing the knowledge gained from her work with both Faith Matters Network and the People’s Supper, Bailey will share her experiences with attendees and explore possible ways for people of different faiths to work together to enact positive change and advance the cause of social justice during today’s lecture.
This week’s theme explores the power of pluralism in faith communities and asks both faith leaders and Chautauquans to consider how faith communities can use the power of faith to work alongside and with one another to ensure a life of dignity for all people.
According to her website’s biography, Bailey was ordained an itinerant elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 2013. She currently serves locally on the staff of Greater Bethel A.M.E. Church in Nashville.
Bailey is an Ashoka fellow, Aspen Ideas scholar, On Being fellow, New Pluralist field builder and Truman scholar. She is the author of To My Beloveds: Letters on Faith, Race, Loss and Radical Hope.
