Dignity: Seven Strategies for Creating Authentic Community

by Beth-Sarah Wright

Overview

DIGNITY is a transformative set of ideas to help individuals and communities identify and address barriers to authenticity.

The author was inspired by a question in the Episcopal Baptismal covenant: Will you strive to respect the dignity of every human being? DIGNITY is seven actionable tenets (diversity, identity, growth, nurture, integrity, transparency, and yield) with which we can identify our purpose, articulate our aspirations, and equip ourselves and others for both the opportunities and challenges of honoring this covenant. They are prompts to be reflective about who we are and what we value.

This practical guide will help the spiritual community bridge the gap between where we are, and where we want to be. For we know that “you can develop a healthy and robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor” (James 3:17).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781640653337
Publisher:	Church Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/17/2020
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.20(d)

About the Author

BETH-SARAH WRIGHT, PhD, is Director of Enrollment Management at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia and Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Emory UniversitySchool of Medicine. Wright is the author of four books: two on the intersection of mental health and spirituality, a third on Christian Identity and the Nicene Creed and a spiritual novel rooted in three generations of women in a transnational context spanning the Caribbean, UK and the USA. She resides in Atlanta, GA.

Table of Contents

Foreword xi

Introduction: A New Way of Seeing xv

Part 1 The Story: An Institutional Tale 1

Points of View 3

Jehan, the Student 3

Sofia, the Director of Student Life and Engagement 6

Susan, the Parent 8

Derek, the Teacher 11

Joshua, the School Headmaster 14

Joshua and the Manifesto 17

The Story through the Dignity Lens 23

Part 2 The Dignity Lens: Seven Strategies 25

Diversity 27

Identity 36

Growth 44

Nurture 51

Integrity 58

Transparency 63

Yield 68

Summary 73

Epilogue: What about Me? Imagine Your Life Based on DIGNITY 81

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright uses her giftedness as a storyteller to speak clearly about dignity, allowing those who seek authenticity to have a concrete and sensible model to follow. . . . She invites readers into the bold work of courageously naming what needs to be named to facilitate healing and then to keep moving toward building authentic community." —Catherine Meeks, PhD, co-author, Passionate for Justice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time, and Executive Director, Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing

“The tenets of Dignity are an investment in healthy relationships and genuine community. You will find within these pages a framework for positive change and growth no matter the setting.”
—Klaas Baks, Professor in the Practice of Finance; Executive Director, Center for Alternative Investments, Emory University

"Dignity is an inviting, positive, but also challenging assessment of the ways we can live up to what we say we do as institutions. It is grounded in story, not only the story of a particular chapter in the life of an institution, but how our individual and collective stories reflect our identities, in all of their diversity, complexity, and power. I am confident that this book will help many schools, churches, and other organizations both understand and more fully embrace what they are called to do in the living of these days."
—The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D., Executive Director, National Association of Episcopal Schools

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright uses her giftedness as a storyteller to speak clearly about dignity, allowing those who seek authenticity to have a concrete and sensible model to follow. . . . She invites readers into the bold work of courageously naming what needs to be named to facilitate healing and then to keep moving toward building authentic community." —Catherine Meeks, PhD, co-author, Passionate for Justice: Ida B. Wells as Prophet for Our Time, and Executive Director, Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing

“The tenets of Dignity are an investment in healthy relationships and genuine community. You will find within these pages a framework for positive change and growth no matter the setting.”
—Klaas Baks, Professor in the Practice of Finance; Executive Director, Center for Alternative Investments, Emory University

"Dignity is an inviting, positive, but also challenging assessment of the ways we can live up to what we say we do as institutions. It is grounded in story, not only the story of a particular chapter in the life of an institution, but how our individual and collective stories reflect our identities, in all of their diversity, complexity, and power. I am confident that this book will help many schools, churches, and other organizations both understand and more fully embrace what they are called to do in the living of these days."
—The Rev. Daniel R. Heischman, D.D., Executive Director, National Association of Episcopal Schools

From the Publisher