Our Philosophy

We believe that telling the truth about God’s plan for the world is essential for people of all ages. We have experienced children as young as four years old engaging with and learning from conversations about justice when the content is designed with their attention span in mind. Children and adults both identify with language about lies and telling the truth. We teach our children to tell the truth as a first step toward healing. It is essential that children and adults talk about racism and other justice issues in community with other people as a first step towards healing. Our stories offer an opportunity for telling the truth and proclaiming the dream. Creating this space is a gift for people of all ages and all races. Opening these conversations in your context invites the truth of our goodness and God’s love to infuse the wider work of your community. 

Our stories rely on the basic Christian belief that each and every person is a child of God, a mystery that takes a lifetime to explore. This theological approach derives primarily from our reading of Genesis and the Gospels as well as the promises many churches make at baptism. Our approach frames racism as a systemic sin that distorts the image of God in every person and in ourselves. To capture this in language that is relatable to children we emphasize that racism tells us a "lie" about who we really are. Tell Me the Truth counters this lie with the truth Christianity offers: that every person, in all their uniqueness, is equally loved and cherished by God.

We also acknowledge that centuries of Christian influence have perpetuated the lie of racism. Deliberate and incremental lies were told by some to create and maintain a perceived advantage over others. As Christians we are complicit in this injustice. We have an opportunity to invite our communities to tell the truth as a first step towards healing and justice. 

Telling God’s Truth empowers people to recognize racism as a lie and to join in dismantling systems of oppression by wondering how God is at work in the world.

Our History

We, Jen and Will, began this work with a desire to bring conversations about dismantling racism to our own congregations in our ministry with children. We built the foundation for Tell Me About The Dream during the season of Lent in 2021 to teach the children of our churches. We piloted the program between the congregations of St. Chrysostom’s, Chicago and St. Christopher’s, Oak Park in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. The former is found in Chicago’s dense Gold Coast neighborhood but draws parishioners from around the city. The latter is found in a near-west suburb of Chicago amid a walkable residential community. Both congregations are predominantly white and affluent, but otherwise have unique characters. Families in both congregations displayed surprisingly high enthusiasm for the brand new class introducing the difficult history of racism to children. Over 30 children from 20 families participated in nearly every session. We witnessed the power of this storytelling and knew it was something that needed to be shared with other communities of faith. 

The topics we engage cannot be taught to leaders through a traditional published curriculum. And so, we began to design our training program to offer training to Christian formation leaders who wish to do this work in their own churches. We believe that this work needs to be done by known and trusted leaders in a faith community. 

Tell Me About The Dream received a Becoming Beloved Community Grant from the Episcopal Church in July of 2021 to continue development of our resources and training program. 

Today Tell Me About The Dream has partnered with more than 75 communities across the United States and Canada to empower them to engage in the work of dismantling racism in their context.