“You don’t have to take my word for it.”

The Critical Issues Seminar has come and gone, and with it goes the end of my internship with the NC Council of Churches.

The Council was not the sort of place I was expecting to end up in a social work internship. I have been researching and writing instead of assessing and treating. Despite this difference, it became apparent to me in the first days of my internship that the Council is one of the most important places for social justice advocacy in our state. This view has only been reinforced in my eight months here, proven time and time again through the Council’s powerful work and programming.

But, in the words of Reading Rainbow’s Levar Burton, “You don’t have to take my word for it.” The video above is a compilation of what the Council has meant to those who are working with and in churches to promote change. I hope it will inspire you and your faith community to do more, and to let the Council help you in that quest, be it through a new curriculum (like “Eating Well” or “Becoming the Church Together“), getting an energy audit or a PHW certification, hosting a clergy breakfast on immigration, or in the countless other ways the Council can support your advocacy efforts.

–Leslie Forrest, NC State MSW Intern