Join Us!

Tuesday, June 23 | 1:00–2:00 PM ET | 10:00–11:00 AM PT

Hosted by Dominique DuBois Gilliard | Featuring Dr. Terence Lester, Dr. Emiola Oriola Jr., Amanda Kaminski, and Daniel Yang

What does it mean to belong? In a world marked by displacement, housing insecurity, migration, loneliness, community violence, and growing social fragmentation, the search for home has become one of the defining spiritual and social questions of our time. Yet throughout Scripture, home is about far more than a physical place. It is about welcome, safety, identity, memory, dignity, and the deep human desire to be known and loved within a community.

Join Christians for Social Action for a timely and thought-provoking conversation exploring a theology of home and its implications for the challenges facing our neighborhoods, churches, and society today.

Hosted by Dominique DuBois Gilliard, this conversation brings together leaders whose work spans homelessness advocacy, immigration and diaspora studies, community development, pastoral ministry, and public theology. Together, they will explore how biblical themes of exile, hospitality, neighboring, and belonging can help us better understand—and faithfully respond to—the realities of homelessness, migration, isolation, and disconnection.

As followers of Jesus, we are called not only to care for those on the margins but also to cultivate communities where people are seen, welcomed, and valued. What might it look like for the Church to move beyond charity and become a place of genuine belonging? How might a richer understanding of home reshape our approach to justice, mission, and community life?

Whether you are a pastor, community leader, advocate, student, or simply someone wrestling with questions of belonging in an increasingly disconnected world, this conversation will offer theological insight, practical wisdom, and hopeful imagination for what it means to create spaces where all people can flourish. Perhaps the question before the Church today is not simply how we help people find home, but whether we are willing to become home for one another.

The idea for this webinar began with the publication of Dr. Terence Lester and Dr. Emiola Oriola Jr.'s article, 
Rethinking Home: Belonging, Displacement, and Dignity in a World Built to Exclude.

Dr. Terence Lester is a storyteller, public scholar, community activist, and author. He founded Love Beyond Walls, a nonprofit committed to raising awareness about poverty and homelessness, and teaches public policy and social change at Simmons College of Kentucky. His latest book, From Dropout to Doctorate: Breaking the Chains of Educational Injustice (IVP, 2025), traces his journey from high school dropout to PhD and issues a bold call for equity. Through his life and writing, he uses narrative, policy insight, and faith to challenge systems that leave people invisible and to inspire practical change. He is author of the four-part CSA series on Economic Injustice.

Dr. Emiola Oriola Jr. is a scholar-practitioner, educator, and storyteller whose work explores belonging, dialogue, and what it means to remain human in a fractured world. His scholarship and leadership focus on global citizenship, experiential learning, cross-cultural engagement, and organizational culture, helping people and institutions cultivate deeper forms of connection and responsibility. He holds a D.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh, where his research examined communal dialogue, out-of-school learning, and holistic human development. Professionally, Dr. Oriola has led initiatives centered on dialogue and belonging, including serving as the inaugural leader of the Office of Interfaith Dialogue and Engagement and the Office of Inclusion and Belonging at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Dr. Amanda Avila Kaminski is a theologian, social innovator, and executive leader dedicated to the intersection of spirituality and peacebuilding. She serves as the Chief Learning Officer at Living and Learning International and is the founding Executive Director of the Institute for Constructive Peace and Innovation (ICPI). Previously, she was a tenured Associate Professor and the Hugo and Georgia Gibson Endowed Professor at Texas Lutheran University, where she directed the Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship program. Dr. Kaminski also chairs the board for the global network International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT). Her research bridges historical movements with contemporary ethics.