2025 Synod Assembly Speaker David Scherer Invites Faith Leaders to Racial Justice Cohort

Grand Canyon Synod leaders who appreciated David Scherer and JUSTmove at our 2025 Synod Assembly have an opportunity to continue learning with him this fall. David is offering an eight-week online CPR (Culture, Power, Race) Learning Cohort for faith leaders, meeting Tuesdays, September 8–October 27, from 10–11:30 a.m. Arizona/Pacific time.

David was a featured guest at the 2025 Grand Canyon Synod Assembly, where his engaging approach to intercultural development, racial justice, storytelling and faith was well received by participants. His work through JUSTmove invites communities into growth not through guilt, but through relationship, curiosity, reflection and practical action.

The fall cohort takes that work further by addressing a question many faith leaders know well: How do we “work for justice and peace in all the earth” and proclaim God’s welcome for all without shutting down difficult conversations or being dismissed as “too political”?

Over eight weekly sessions, participants will:

  • Connect with other pastors and faith leaders willing to share experiences and best practices.

  • Unpack real challenges as they arise in ministry with real people.

  • Explore culture, power and race through a biblical lens.

  • Learn developmentally appropriate frameworks for leading social change.

  • Identify goals and concrete next steps for themselves and their organizations.

David’s JUSTmove approach is invitational, intentional, intersectional and incarnational. As Grand Canyon Synod Assembly participants experienced in 2025, he brings together intercultural learning, storytelling, the arts and embodied practices to help communities move toward greater cultural humility.

For Lutheran leaders, this work connects with our baptismal calling to love and serve our neighbors and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. The cohort provides an opportunity to move from aspiration toward practice—developing tools for engaging difficult conversations faithfully while strengthening relationships within our congregations and communities.

The cohort meets online Tuesdays, September 8 through October 27, from 10–11:30 a.m. Arizona/Pacific time.

Learn more about JUSTmove and register for the Faith Leader Cohort.

Grand Canyon SynodBrian FlatgardRacial JusticeComment