06/27/2026
As our time at Better Together 2026 comes to an end, Vineyard Justice Network invites you to join us for learning and outreach in NYC as we dive into practical ways to put our heart for Beloved community to work in practical ways. We’ve heard proclamation, now we need to move in Spirit-led demonstration!
Our day and a half together will include worship activations, justice training, and “get proximate” immersions around New York City.
Details:
$40 adult ticket
$25 student ticket
Price includes light breakfast snacks and lunch for Friday
Training location: The Hub NYC, 109 E. 31st St. NY NY 10016
THURSDAY, 7/23: 7:15-9PM (6:45-7:15PM registration, with rooftop afterparty after the session!)
Thursday Evening Spotlight: “When You’re Filled with the Spirit, You Sing!: An Interactive Worship & Justice Training & Demonstration”
-We’ll be led by Stephen Brackett of the Flobots and the NOENEMIES project, which works within communities to explore the power of protest music. Stick around Thursday night for an afterparty on the rooftop of The Hub.
Stephen Malloy Brackett — aka Brer Rabbit — is a Denver-based artist, organizer, and educator who has spent twenty years asking what music can actually do. He co-founded the platinum-selling Flobots, co-founded Youth on Record, and serves as Executive Director of both ONE Denver (the city’s Office of Nighttime Economy) and Foundation Music School in Fort Collins. He is a former Colorado Statewide Music Ambassador, a PBS producer and presenter, an adjunct professor at CSU, and the creator of The House Party — a platform for rebuilding the ecosystems that make politically grounded artists possible. He has always lived in Denver. That is not incidental.
FRIDAY, 7/24: 9:15AM-5PM
-begins with breakfast snacks, also lunch. Also includes travel across NYC via subway, optional debrief dinner 5-6pm
Friday Morning Spotlight: “Gospel Rooted Justice: An Immigration Case Study”
On Friday morning at 9:15am, we will have a light breakfast and then continue our time through worship, equ
Tina Colón Williams, immigration attorney and Worship Pastor, will lead us in thinking about immigration in a Gospel rooted way. How do we center God's Kingdom with such a divisive issue and how do we demonstrate God's compassion to real people impacted by our broken immigration system? Tina will lead us in worship, teaching, and discussion as we wrestle with the words of Leviticus 19:33-34.
"‘When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the LORD your God."
Friday Afternoon Spotlight: "Get Proximate!"
After lunch together, we will go out into the city to see faith in action as we get proximate to the needs of the City and the Jesus followers who are responding to the call to be the hands and feet of Christ. Details below.
At 5:00pm, we'll offer an optional dinner to discuss, debrief, and to celebrate what we've learned. Join us!
Get Proximate Immersion Options:
Friday, July 24 | New York City
New Life Community Development Corporation, Queens Led by Executive Director David Jennings
Mercy without justice leaves cycles intact. Justice without mercy loses the person in front of you. New Life CDC in Elmhurst, Queens has built a ministry that refuses to choose—moving neighbors from relief to restoration to reinvestment, one relationship at a time. They distribute 150,000 pounds of food a year and have invested over $65,000 helping individuals launch businesses, earn certifications, and cover unexpected medical costs. They serve neighbors facing layered barriers: limited English, no insurance, undocumented status, housing insecurity, trauma. And they do it all as a demonstration of God's love, partnering with their neighbors rather than simply providing for them. Come see what it looks like when a church decides that confronting intergenerational poverty is an act of worship.
City Seminary of New York Led by Dean Geomon George
The city is a classroom, and City Seminary of New York has been teaching in it for years—equipping urban leaders, immigrants, and everyday disciples to do theology from the ground up. Dean Geomon George will walk us through what it means to pursue public faith in one of the most complex, beautiful, and contested cities in the world. Come ready to think, question, and be challenged about how the Gospel takes root—and what it demands of us—in places like New York.
The Gleaning Project NYC Founded by Noemia Marinho
What happens when you hand someone experiencing hardship a piece of discarded material and say: make something? The Gleaning Project NYC has been answering that question since 2019. Founded by Brazilian artist Noemia Marinho, the Gleaning Project brings underresourced New Yorkers together weekly in a non-clinical studio space to create art from what others have thrown away—rebuilding identity, community, and a sense of belonging through dignified, meaningful work. This isn't art therapy. It's something rarer: a place to practice being human again. Come see what it looks like when beauty and belonging become acts of justice.
Bishop Vivian Grubb | Faith Forward Church, Brooklyn Affordable Housing & Food Pantry Initiatives
Faith Forward Church in Brooklyn doesn't just preach good news to the poor—they show up with keys and groceries. Under the leadership of Bishop Vivian Grubb, Faith Forward has built a ministry of affordable housing advocacy and food pantry service that puts the beloved community to work on the block. Come see what faithful presence looks like when a church decides that its neighbors' housing and hunger are its business too.
