By: Rev. Anna Golladay
There’s a particular kind of exhaustion that comes with a summer like this one. The heat index climbs past 100. The news cycle doesn’t slow down just because the temperature has. And somewhere in the back of our minds is the old, tempting idea that activism is for cooler months — that democracy work can wait until fall, when the air is easier to breathe and the pace of life feels more forgiving.
We don’t believe that. And if the story of our faith teaches us anything, neither should we.
Scripture is full of summer work. The Israelites carried their calling through the wilderness heat, not around it. The prophets did their most urgent speaking in seasons no one would call convenient. Jesus himself ministered under an unrelenting Middle Eastern sun, moving from town to town, meeting people where the need — and the temperature — was highest. Faithfulness was never contingent on comfort. It still isn’t.
Democracy doesn’t take a summer break.
This is a midterm election year. Voter rolls are being purged in states across the country. Immigrant communities are living under increased surveillance and enforcement, with more murders in Texas and Maine. Clergy and lay leaders are showing up — in the streets, at detention centers, at city council meetings — because someone has to bear witness while others look away, or look for shade. The work of peace, people, poverty, and planet that Convergence collaborators organize around doesn’t pause for July and August. If anything, this season is when the stakes get clearer.
So the question isn’t whether to engage this summer. It’s about engaging in a way that’s sustainable, faithful, and actually effective in the heat.
A few ways to show up without burning out:
Move your organizing to the hours that make sense. Early morning canvassing, evening phone banks, indoor postcard-writing parties with the AC on — democracy work doesn’t require standing in a parking lot at 2pm. Adapt the how, not the whether.
Pair civic action with mutual care. A voter registration table next to a water and sunscreen station. A know-your-rights training that ends with a potluck in a cool fellowship hall. Activism and hospitality were never separate callings — this summer, let them be the same event.
Rest is not the opposite of resistance. Sabbath is a spiritual discipline, not a luxury you earn after the work is done. Pace yourself the way this movement needs you to: for the long haul, not just the next news cycle.
Find your people. Isolation makes everything feel heavier, including heat and heartbreak. Organizing alongside a community — a congregation, a network, a coalition — is what makes sustained action possible. It’s also, frankly, what makes it joyful.
This is exactly why Convergence exists: to connect congregations, organizations, and individuals who refuse to let the season dictate their conscience. Our initiatives are active right now, all summer, doing the unglamorous, unseasonal work of building a more just and generous world.
If you’ve not yet engaged with us, the Commons is a great place to start. If you already are, take a look at what your fellow collaborators are organizing and find where you’re needed most.
However hot it gets outside, the work — and the people doing it — will still be here.