Mission and Vision

a living document

Our Mission

The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice (CLBSJ) connects biblically informed activists and justice-oriented scholars through critical, creative and contextual education initiatives aimed at forging empowering uses of the Bible for enacting social justice today.

Our Work and Vision

CLBSJ stewards a first-class collection of books and periodicals in biblical studies, the history and practice of social justice activism, and related fields. These include titles on exegesis, hermeneutics, history of biblical interpretation, theology, social ethics, practical theology, and the social sciences (sociology, anthropology, political science, economics and psychology), socio-political history and religion studies. Our initial library holdings were donated from the libraries of three biblical scholars who were pioneers in the fields of critical, contextual, multi-disciplinary biblical studies: Norman Gottwald, Jack Elliott and Herman Waetjen. Since then we have added collections from Walter Wink, Alice Hageman, Mark Johnson, Lynn Gottlieb, Ed Long, Christian Peacemaker Teams, Muslim Peace Fellowship, and others. Our titles speak from and interpret all religious backgrounds as well as social justice perspectives that are not explicitly religious. These holdings are available for researchers and community members to use onsite. (At present we do not have the capacity to lend out books.)

Each of the contributors to our collection strove in their own way to overcome the divide between academic understanding and grassroots activism which tends to dominate our institutions and frame our journeys. To respond to and further cultivate their creative interweaving of theory and practice, CLBSJ develops educational programming and resources designed to propagate and interpret the embodied biblical and justice-oriented intellectual work represented by these collections. These resources include online sessions exploring contemporary topics in activism and biblical studies; finding aids that summarize and orient segments of our collection; and books pamphlets and study guides that assist individuals and groups to undertake focused studies. We have a particular commitment to centering the voices of BIPOC biblical interpreters, and providing resources to aid in the correction of misuse of the bible. Through all these resources, we strive to uplift the voices of scholars, students, activists, educators, community organizers, clergy and lay leaders who are seeking biblical resources to support campaigns for social justice today. Taken together, these resources weave a synergy of theory and practice in a dynamic educational climate dedicated to nurturing biblically-informed activists and justice-oriented scholars.

CLBSJ’s primary collection is located at Stony Point Center (SPC), a retreat and conference center owned by the Presbyterian Church USA, located approximately 40 miles north of New York City. SPC’s facilities include private and dorm-style housing, meeting rooms, and a dining hall that can be used by those who wish to visit the library for any length of time.

In addition to the central facility at Stony Point, we are actively seeking to identify and partner with satellite centers that would be interested working with us to hold smaller, curated collections and host educational programming that can extend access to critical, creative, justice-oriented biblical reflection.

Our biggest hope is that CLBSJ will aid in connecting and cross-fertilizing projects and activities of scholars, students, clergy, activists, and community organizers who currently tend to work separately and without the rich resources and insights they can offer one another. If you or your congregation or organization are engaged in reclaiming the Bible for justice — through research, preaching, teaching, or representing scripture in the streets, we would love to connect with you, learn about your work, and discuss how we can support each other. Please find options for connecting at clbsj.org/connect.