From Josh, the Creative Lead of the Institute for Religion, Politics & Culture at Iliff School of Theology in Denver & a PhD student in the Joint Doctoral Program at Iliff and the University of Denver.
In the summer of 2024, I enrolled in an immersive course called “Inclusive Leadership and Local Politics.” I just graduated in May and was accepted into the Joint Doctoral Program at the University of Denver and Iliff. People advised me to take the summer off because I would have the next five plus years to read, study, and work on projects—no need to do more, do less, and rest while I can.
But I’m good at saying yes to adding things to my already full plate, and great at resisting and rejecting good advice. For some reason, I thought an immersion course that would take me to Durango for a week and traveling around locally to the suburbs of Denver would feel a little like a vacation, something I am horrible at taking. With a few clicks and clacks on my keyboard, I enrolled in the course and jump-started my PhD journey.
Half the course consisted of reading books and articles, and then meeting on Zoom to discuss what local politics looks like in smaller communities. What does inclusive leadership look like in small-town worlds of different people with different needs? How do you meet them? How is policy shaped, formed, and implemented, and how does it impact the community? These were some of the points of conversation I had with my colleagues and professors, including Rev. Dr. Amanda Henderson.
This course, as Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi mentioned to me, was Amanda’s child. She drew on her life experience working with diverse communities and worldviews as the former executive director of Interfaith Alliance, and combined it with the knowledge she gained and generated from studying rhetoric, religion, and politics. This is what gave rise to Inclusive Leadership and Local Politics.
“From my experience in my previous work, I knew that through traveling to different communities, oftentimes, when you actually talk to people, you find out that reality on the ground is so much different than these big kind of binary ways that complicated issues get boiled down to. Especially in national discourse.”
—Rev. Dr. Amanda Henderson, a quote from our time in the immersion course.
One of the people and places we spent time discussing local politics and inclusive leadership was Littleton’s very own Robert Reichardt, Littleton City Council member. I remember the incredible patience and wisdom Robert displayed and showed us during our visit. He shared his own personal involvement in the church, or lack thereof, but as a city council member, he believed in the need for churches and diverse perspectives within the community. What a community needs are good, safe places for community engagement, regardless of differing worldviews. As a Littleton City Council member, what he cared about was figuring out ways to utilize his leadership position to support the institutions and people of Littleton for the well-being of the community. He was a great storyteller, weaving the political with the personal and advocating for the power of stories.
“The other thing that elected leaders do is to tell stories. I would tell that [Trans] person’s story, either in campaigning events or when I’m speaking as an elected official, and by telling the story of this person and why I think supporting them is important, that, I think, helped hold the line or maybe move the ball.”
—Robert Reichardt, Littleton City Council member
So when I heard a year after our conversation with Robert that Amanda was running for Littleton City Council, I was thrilled and fully supported this decision. From seeing the work Amanda has put into this course we took, into the life she’s curated here in Colorado, to putting what she taught and exposed us to into action, I knew Amanda was the best person to run for this position. She embodied a lot of what Robert said to us, and then some. And as it would turn out, to no surprise, the people of Littleton District 3 believed so too. This week, Amanda was officially elected to be the Littleton City Council member for District 3.
I am beyond proud of my colleague. It’s a lot of work that asks for an incredible amount of time. But Amanda and I share a common trait: saying yes, even when we’re already doing a great deal in other areas of our lives. However, if I may speak for her, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
We’re learning to strike a balance between play, rest, work, and giving our time to things outside ourselves—even if rest and play mean doing stuff that isn’t very restful, like backpack rafting down the Grand Canyon or running from 7pm to 7am ten plus miles on a team of five, literally, the night we got back from our two week immersion trip.
It’s an ebb and flow between splashing in the waves and standing firm in doing things we believe in on the shore. I believe it’s on the shorelines of life, decentering ourselves, and moving between the waves and solid ground, rest and work, play and work, in embracing the both/and, believing we contain multitudes, where we can become the people we are becoming and doing the things that have a positive impact.
I am honored and humbled to work with such a person as Amanda. Watching her move from pedagogy to praxis, not just thinking about it but stepping into it, has been a delight. An incredible individual dedicated to the collective good.
-Josh
In this political moment, when we so often see the worst of humanity —and the worst of politics — on full display, I believe change starts at home. What does it look like for Littleton to show what it looks like to break through the noise to build communities that work for people, and politics based on integrity and honesty? Let’s find out! Message me now to be a part of the next stage of leadership in Littleton. From Campaigning to Leading...
—Amanda, Littleton City Council Disctrict 3, from her Facebook Post