About Us
The Radically Inclusive Parenting Project is a new initiative of The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, an ecumenical and trans-denominational network of faith communities creating, sustaining and celebrating community on the margin.
Our Values Are To:
Listen
Listen with compassion. We want to foster spaces of deep listening to hear what parents and caregivers of children have to say. We also want to help parents & caregivers develop greater capacity to listen to what their children have to say. Children have innate abilities to engage in spiritual experiences and we can learn so much from them!
Learn
Learn with curiosity. We’re committed to learning together in community. We lean into teachings from spiritual leaders, activists, theologians, and psychologists who all share a passion to see social healing, justice, and transformation take place.Â
Love
Love with care. We center ourselves in the infinite source of Love which has the capacity to hold us all in our diverse and dynamic identities and expressions. It is through deep love that we find the power to nurture ourselves and our children in a spirit of radical inclusivity, embodying hope, freedom and healing for the world.
More About The Project
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed to us the importance of home life during times of collective trauma and crisis. Therefore, it is our conviction that we must learn to re-center the household as one of the premier places of spiritual development for our children rather than completely rely on religious programming outside of the home.
Through this project we aim to empower parents & caregivers of children with resources to pass on a spirituality that fosters radical inclusivity and care for all people and for all of creation.
Our approach centers the experiences and wisdoms which arise from BIPOC and LGBTQ+ households. For far too long, colonial systems and dominant culture have tried to silence the voices of our BIPOC and LGBTQ+ relatives and we see our project as a counter to these forces.
Through our efforts, we draw from the wisdom of liberation and womanist theologians, as well as wisdom from the Christian contemplative traditions. These spiritual traditions impart to us the power of our spirituality in sustaining us as we live out active resistance to societal systems and structures that seek to dominate and oppress.
Thus, we hope to demystify spiritual practice and formation in household life and seek to support parents and caregivers to creatively pass on their spiritual values in ways that their children can grow in experiences of the sacred.
If this resonates with you and you’re a parent or caregiver of children or someone who works to support families, you’re invited to join us on this venture!
Our Team
Bishop Yvette A. Flunder
Nubian Flunder
Rev. Nereyda “Neddy” YongÂ
