November 24, 2025
Dear Sisters and Brothers, Members and Friends of the Conference,
Last month, many of us gathered in Indianapolis for the 2025 Congress to "fan the flame of hope" in our Church and world. We are grateful for this gift of connection, and the opportunity to learn and dream together.
At Congress, and throughout the year, we are blessed to serve and support those who are bringing hope and light to others in uncertain times.
Thank you for sharing this journey with us.
Happy Thanksgiving!
-Staff and Board of Directors
Gratitude is a defiance of sorts, the defiance of kindness in the face of anger, of connection in the face of division and hope in the face of fear. Gratefulness does not acquiesce to evil - it resists evil.
That resistance is not that of force or direct confrontation.
Gratitude undoes evil by tunneling under its foundations of anger, resentment, and greed.
Thus, gratitude strengthens our character and moral resolve, giving each of us the possibility of living peaceably and justly.
-Diana Butler Bass, Grateful