The Story Vault @ Christians for Social Action
Welcome to the Story Vault.
At CSA, we hold fast to the belief that stories are seeds of transformation, carrying within them the power to name what is broken while also unveiling what is possible.
The Story Vault is a gathering place for stories of hope, a treasury where beauty rises out of hardship, where reconciliation slowly takes root, and where faith becomes flesh and bone in the ordinary rhythms of human life. In the days to come, you will find here articles and news, films and podcasts, essays and reflections, and more — all of them bearing witness to the God who redeems and restores, who surprises us with goodness in the very places we least expect it.
As you wander through these stories, we invite you not only to listen but to be reshaped, to let the voices you encounter enlarge your imagination for what God is doing, and to consider how your own story might join this great chorus of witness. For when we lift up these glimpses of redemption together, the Church learns again how to see more clearly and live more faithfullyc
Building Futures from the Ground Up: How Zion’s Closet Is Transforming Title I Schools
By Terence Lester, PhD
(Editor’s note: This is Part 3 of a 4-part series on economic injustice. You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here. In this post, Dr. Terence Lester shows how compassion can grow into systemic change.)
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In 2016, with the support of my family and board of directors, I launched a campaign called MAP16 (March Against Poverty) to walk from Atlanta, GA, to the White House to raise awareness about homelessness in the U.S.
Storytelling Can Activate Justice in Troubling Times
By Melanie Springer Mock
Textbook orders for the spring semester were due in a few days, the 2024 presidential election still a month away. In January, I’d begin teaching International Women’s Literature for the first time in 20 years, and to freshen up my reading list, I added several books from “best of” lists—authors I’d not read before, but whose work seemed appropriate for the course’s objectives.
Telling the Truth in Every Corner: A Conversation with Laurie Nichols
By CSA Staff
CSA is thrilled to welcome Laurie Nichols as our new Director of Communications. A lifelong storyteller and strategic communicator, Laurie brings more than two decades of experience helping people and organizations tell the truth—about God, the world, and themselves.
Creative Justice: Art, Storytelling & the Prophetic Imagination
By AnaYelsi Velasco Sánchez
“The task of prophetic ministry is to nurture, nourish, and evoke a consciousness and perception alternative to the consciousness and perception of the dominant culture.” —Walter Brueggemann
Liberation Starts in the Imagination
For me, justice begins with radical imagination.
Telling Stories that Build Community: A Conversation with Filmmaker Avril Speaks
Compiled by CSA staff
CSA is thrilled to welcome Avril Speaks as Program Director for our new national initiative, the Storytellers Collective. A visionary filmmaker, producer, and educator based in Los Angeles, Avril brings deep experience in shaping stories that center truth, justice, and imagination.
Common Hymnal: How Songs of Praise and Protest Are Reshaping Christian Worship Music
By CSA Staff
What happens when worship music tells the truth?
In a new episode of 20 Minute Takes, Nikki Toyama-Szeto sits down with Malcolm du Plessis and Jalen Seawright from Common Hymnal — a collective of artists and misfits reshaping Christian worship.
Meet the Storytellers Collective
Behind many of the stories you’ll find in The Story Vault is the Storytellers Collective — a national network of grassroots Christian organizations, community-rooted leaders, and creative voices working together to capture what God is doing in unexpected places. Through film, podcasts, essays, and art, the Collective lifts up stories that might otherwise go unheard — stories that name injustice while also testifying to redemption, reconciliation, and hope. Together, these storytellers are helping the church see more clearly and live more faithfully.
👉 Learn more about the Storytellers Collective and explore how communities across the country are bearing witness to God’s renewing work: Visit the Storytellers Collective.