Tammy Bullock is driven to see transformation at work.
In her role as the Director of Transitional Housing at the Nashville Rescue Mission (NRM), Bullock aims to help the women coming through the doors at NRM “grow in their relationship with God and ability to live sober, productive lives.”
This drive for transformation has long been present in her work and only seemed to blossom during her time in the Nashville Institute for Faith & Work’s (NIFW) Gotham Program.
As part of the Gotham Program, participants put their collective year of study into action with a capstone cultural renewal project intended to affect change in their sphere of influence.
For Bullock, this is where On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Conversations That Lead To Action was born.
"On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Conversations That Lead To Action is a three-part series of forums with the collective church as a change agent,” Bullock said, “bringing together leaders from different spheres, including clergy, business, nonprofit, and elected officials, as well as people from the community.”
Specifically inspired to help bring healing to racial divides in Nashville, Bullock hopes these events create sacred space for Nashvillians to foster the skills of listening, reconciliation, creative problem-solving, non-judgment, and visioning for change.
“I am a person of color who experiences the implications of racism daily, but I also experience more of God as I encounter and collaborate with people who look and think differently than me,” Bullock said. “I have come to believe that we diminish our understanding of God when we limit ourselves to one group of people, area of town, and way of thinking, speaking and acting.”
Bullock, a 2019 alumnae of the program, was voted by a committee to be one of the recipients of NIFW’s annual Shine Light on Darkness Grant, which will help bring to life her capstone project.
“I am greatly encouraged to continue the work God has given me to do,” Bullock said.
The first gathering for On Earth as it is in Heaven: Conversations that Lead to Action is set for September 7 and will feature guest speaker Jemar Tisby, author of The Color of Compromise, on the topic of “Awareness: Learning from Minority Voices” at Christ Presbyterian Church.
“My prayer is that the forums will plant seeds of longing and desire for more opportunities to engage and collaborate with people outside of our norm,” Bullock said. “I also pray that the collective church of Nashville will seek ways to work together, creatively, to challenge systems and structures and ultimately bring about systemic change in the inequities and divisions due to racism.”
To learn more or get involved with the project, visit On Earth As It Is In Heaven: Conversations That Lead To Action on their Facebook Page.
Learn more about Gotham, NIFW’s faith + work leadership program designed for Christians seeking to steward their role for God’s glory & the common good.
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