Interfaith Action Joins Hamline University for the 2026 Mahle Lecture, “Just Resilience”

On Thursday, March 26^th Interfaith Action joined Hamline University for the 2026 Mahle Lecture, “Just Resilience: How to Stay in the Struggle for the Long Haul”. This year’s lecture focused on how faith traditions offer resources for remaining in the persistent struggle against housing injustice. The guest list was made up of 200 people from 53 different faith gatherings and traditions— a true testament to the dedication and commitment of our Twin Cities communities.

The keynote presentation was given by Interfaith Action’s own Sara Liegl (Director of Project Home) and Rev. Rachel McIver Morey (Director of Community and Interfaith Engagement).  Sara shared the story of Project Home and the important role of faith communities in sheltering families experiencing homelessness over the last thirty years, giving context and a framework for how faith communities have shown up throughout the years. Rachel spoke on the unique contribution that faith and wisdom traditions are able to bring to justice work by living deeply out of their own stories and grounding people in community.

In addition to the lecture, the Hamline Multifaith Student Alliance presented their project, a collaborative tapestry of a sheltering tree. The project highlighted the impact of community: encouraging guests to help fill the empty branches with leaves, which were decorated with words of inspiration and hope, to create a shelter underneath the tree. The Multifaith Alliance Scholars collaborated with Rachel and Jasmine Anderson (IFA’s Communications Coordinator) in dreaming up and creating the tapestry which will soon be hung in the Multi-Faith Room at IFA’s Project Home.

A big thank you to Hamline University, the Multi-Faith Student Alliance, Chaplain Kelly, the Mahle family, Soul Bowl, and all of the partners and volunteers who made this lecture possible. We also want to express our gratitude to all of our amazing community leaders, faith gatherings, and Twin Cities neighbors for their commitment to remaining resilient and continuing to fight against housing injustice. We cannot wait for next year’s lecture, which will be a culmination of the growing partnership between Hamline University and IFA with a continuing focus on housing insecurity and justice. We hope to see you there!