TABLE OF CONTENTS
From Our Executive Director:
PROOFREADING & SIN
In preparing the LICC's new directory of churches and synagogues of Long Island (information on how to order one is included in this newsletter) I was reminded of a truism among editors: you cannot proofread your own copy. For nearly all of us, it seems, we cannot see the typographical errors in anything we wrote ourselves. Somehow, our eyes gloss over our goofs, supplying missing words and mentally translating our misspellings and other mistakes. This, I believe, illustrates an essential aspect of what Christians call the Doctrine of Sin: we often cannot see our own errors as easily as those made by other people.
I discovered another funny thing about proofreading at the December meeting of our Public Issues Committee when I passed around the new directories. We had checked the roster of chaplains and campus ministers in several previous committee meetings but we only spotted several updates we needed to make once it was reformatted. This illustrates another aspect of Sin: we often fail to see mistakes that are familiar. Since "normal" is what you grow up with, any "falling short of the mark" (which is how Judaism and many other faiths think about sin) that is familiar can easily seem normal to us rather than sinful.
Lent, which begins with Ash Wednesday (Feb. 21 this year, at least among most Western Christians), is a time when many Christians reflect on our brokenness and incompleteness, but proofreading has taught me that we need one another to examine our lives. Some denominations encourage people to find a confessor or spiritual director. Other folks prefer to take their "moral inventory" with a therapist or twelve-step support group. Any way you cut it, you need other people to see yourself as you really are and to learn how you can be better.
This, it seems to me, is one of the gifts of the ecumenical movement and interfaith dialogue: it helps us to see ways in which we need to change. Seeing how seriously many Catholics take confession and spiritual direction has helped me to "grow in grace," as Methodists put it. Judaism reminds me that sin is more about failing to do good than it is about doing bad. Muslims and Bahais and Baptists remind me to focus on the goal and not just the problem, to "keep your eyes on the prize."
We also need other people to help us confront truths we cannot perceive on our own. Elsewhere in this issue of The Prelude, a Buddhist helps us to understand why well-intentioned Christians are wrong when they blithely say "all religions teach more or less the same thing." Also, in this issue, our Board member Werner Reich gently takes Christians to task for pretty much ignoring the Christian victims of the Holocaust. I must confess that the first time he raised this issue with me, I had no idea what he meant. I suspect that I never would have given the time of day to a Christian who made the same argument, but Werner clearly knows whereof he speaks.
We also sometimes need others to point out our ignorance. In this issue, Ralph Wright notes that most of us know little about the suffering of our Christian brothers or sisters in Bethlehem. Caught in the middle of the interminable Israeli-Palestinian conflict, their lives are burdened by both Islamist terrorism and Israeli security measures. As a Christian Arab told our Project Interchange group when I visited Israel six years ago, "Many Muslims distrust us because we are Christians, and many Jews distrust us because we are Palestinians." While solutions to this conflict remain elusive, the rest of the world needs to know what is happening to this beleaguered community, whose disappearance from the West Bank will diminish any chance of peace and reconciliation. As we read Wright's report, Christians, Jews, and Muslims may all squirm a little - and I think we all should.
I often see things in other communities that I do not particularly like, but these invariably are tendencies in me that I would just as soon not face. That is when we really need each other - when we would rather not admit our own brokenness. The Apostle Paul told the young church in Rome that, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23). This is why we need God - and each other.
Shalom/Salaam/Shanti/Pax,
Tom
Return to top
A WORD OR TWO OF THANKS
Sara C. Weiss, Director of Development
Special thanks to The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island for its unrestricted gift of $4,000. We also thank the following for their generous support during the month of December (we prepare our copy a month before publication), and for the blessings these gifts bring to our needy clients:
| Anonymous Donor | $1,100 Student Intern 2007-08 |
| Anonymous Donor | $500 Feed the Hungry |
| Anonymous Donor | $1,000 use where needed most |
| Anonymous Donor | $1,500 use where needed most |
| Bank of America | $10,000 Financial Education |
| Citigroup Foundation | $2,500 use where needed most |
| Congregational Church of Manhasset | $500 use where needed most |
| Community Church of East Williston | $1,825 Food/where needed |
| Community Church of Syosset | $1,500 use where needed most |
| East Meadow Clergy Association | $653 Emergency Food |
| Episcopal Diocese of Long Island | $500 Christmas Baskets |
| Garden City Community Church | $2,100 Food/General Support |
| LIPA, Riverhead Employees | $500 use where most needed |
| Massapequa Reformed Church | $1,000 use where needed most |
| North Fork Bank Foundation | $5,000 use where needed most |
| Order of Eastern Star, Stirling Chapter | $1,000 Riverhead |
| Presbytery of Long Island | $938 Unrestricted |
| Reformed Church of Locust Valley | $500 General Operations |
| Roslyn Presbyterian Church | $1,500 Food/Social Services |
| Town of Riverhead | $1,000 Riverhead |
| United Way of Long Island | $1,491 Monthly allocation |
| United Methodist Women, 1st Amityville | $500 General Operations |
|
We also thank the many other individuals who gave but asked that we don't publish their names, and we thank the institutions that gave less than $500. We are grateful for all of these gifts.
The Pension Protection Act of 2006
We've been hearing that there is considerable confusion about giving IRA's, including minimum required distributions for people 70½ and older, to charities. If you plan to give a charitable gift under this provision, it is imperative that you transfer the IRA or minimum distribution directly to the charity to avoid paying taxes. If you cash in your IRA or minimum distribution first and then give it to a charity, you will have to pay taxes on the amount you give. If you give the IRA or minimum distribution directly to the LICC or other charity, you will pay no taxes and your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) will not rise either.
In any event, we strongly advise you to consult your accountant before doing anything. S/he will advise you about the best way to give an IRA and/or a minimum required IRA distribution so you can avoid unnecessary taxes while giving to help make the world a better place.
Most Urgent Need
Prescription assistance is always a chronic need. Last month we were able to use a small grant from CVS to pay for prescriptions that ranged from $170 to over $200 for each client. Many are clients who were discharged from the Nassau University Medical Center and must wait 45 days for Medicaid approval. We helped them during the intervening period. The CVS grant is almost gone but the clients still come.
A typical example is a 63-year-old African-American man who was discharged from the hospital with prescriptions for the cardiac problems that put him in the hospital in the first place. His prescriptions for 30 days will cost over $200. Another is a 50-year-old African-American man who was just released from jail and now lives in a homeless shelter. He applied for Medicaid but also has to wait 45 days to be approved. In the meantime he got sick and needs prescriptions totaling $168. A third example is a 32-year-old Hispanic woman in her second trimester of pregnancy. She was referred to us by Planned Parenthood and came in with her husband. For her own health and the health of her unborn child she needs prescriptions that will cost $180 while she waits for public assistance approval. Five gifts of $200 each will enable us to help these three clients and at least two others who are also waiting for prescription assistance.
Memorial/Tribute Gifts
A great way to remember a loved one, whether living or deceased, is to give a memorial or tribute gift in his/her name. In your letter accompanying such a gift, please tell us who the gift is in memory of or in tribute to, and who is giving the gift. We will send a thank you letter to the contributor and to the family of the loved one in accordance with your instructions. Please send your contribution to the LICC: Attention: Sara Weiss. If you have questions, call Sara for further information at 516-565-0290, ext. 207.
Naming and Tribute opportunities are also available for our programs. Please see the September 2006 issue of Prelude for a list of Giving Opportunities or call Sara for a list. We also have planned giving opportunities that will sustain these programs in perpetuity.
Return to top
Accessory Apartments:
A Partial Solution to the Affordable Housing Crisis
By the Rev. Paul Johnson, Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock
Members of Affordable Housing Task Force at UUCSR, along with Marge Rogatz, Scott Lyon, and Senior Minister Paul Johnson , met this July, with Jon Kaiman, the Town Supervisor of North Hempstead . The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the group's interest in working with the town on Affordable Housing projects. Many areas were discussed, but Mr. Kaiman mentioned that there was an existing ordinance on the books, permitting Mother-Daughter Apartments, in single-family zoning. He mentioned that there was a possibility that Accessory Apartments could be treated as an extension of Mother-Daughter Housing. It was agreed that the group would explore the possibility of funding the research needed by the North Hempstead Legal Dept to assist them in drafting a proposed Accessory Apartment Ordinance. UUCSR's Board was approached for funding, and it was decided that a Veatch Foundation Mini Grant would be the best funding method, and it was quickly approved. The report was completed in mid-August and presented to Mr. Kaiman. The ordinance is now under development by the legal dept, and we expect it to be voted on by the Town Council early in 2007. The date and time of the Town Council meeting will be communicated to all interested parties. A large turnout will make the community's feelings known to the Council Members and will help negate the typical Long Island NIMBY-ism .
Return to top
IDEAS YOU CAN USE: Tell the Story of Your Church
Does your congregation have a historian? A history buff? A student who needs to fulfill a research assignment? A Boy Scout who is looking for a good Eagle project? You might encourage them to study and share your church's story, or the history of all the congregations in your community. The latter would probably require organizing the whole troop to dig up information and take down oral histories from older neighbors - but then, this is exactly the sort of leadership an Eagle project is supposed to demonstrate.
Besides compiling a local church history booklet, you might also print short historical items in your church newsletter or community newspaper and provide information in the narthex for newcomers. Mt. Sinai Congregational Church (UCC) found a good way to bring their history vividly to modern readers: their newsletter has included excerpts from a diary kept by one of their members a century ago. Your local historical society or library may be able to help you find a similar diary.
You might also encourage them to explore the ecumenical and interfaith aspects of your story. Did a church of another denomination ever provide worship space? Has your congregation worked closely with other congregations? It is certainly worth sharing local efforts to heal divisions in the Body of Christ.
At Setauket United Methodist Church, Cecilia Lundquist writes a regular column called "Cecilia Celebrates Our Past." Recently, she did some digging into the early work of the Salvation Army in their community, sharing with the readers of the congregation's newsletter information about the Salvation Army Children's Home and its connection to local Methodists.
At 1st Congregational Church in Riverhead, church historian Pat Tormey regularly writes about the history of nearby congregations. In telling about St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, she gave a helpful summary of this non-Roman branch of the Catholic Church:
"The Mass of the Ukrainian Church (one of sixteen Eastern Catholic Rites) differs from the Roman-Latin Rite in that it is richer in ceremonial and symbolic ritual. The liturgical language of the Ukrainian Catholic Church is Old Slavonic, with some parts in English. Although Ukrainian Catholics are under the Papal authority of Rome, they have a hierarchy with a Metropolitan in Philadelphia."
Return to top
Christians and the Holocaust
By Werner Reich
A Holocaust expert by default, I frequently speak in schools and colleges. There are two issues that I try to clear up from the outset: the Holocaust was not a fight between Christians and Jews and secondly, while it is true that 6 million Jews died, but so did about 6 million Christians. When subsequently being questioned about who killed the Jews, my answer is, "Not the Christians". A Christian is, by definition, somebody who follows the principles of Jesus Christ, and these principles deal primarily with love and forgiveness. There is no place in any of them for hatred and mass murder.
Everybody seems to forget that within a couple of days of Hitler being voted in, the first law enacted was the ban of Communists meeting, the second law limited the freedom of the press and the third law banned all Catholic newspapers.
I spent two years in concentration camps and, with the exception of one camp specifically designated for Jews, all the other major camps on my tour (Birkenau, Auschwitz and Mauthausen) had many Christians. I am not even speaking about Jehovah¹s Witnesses who were specifically persecuted but Catholics, Protestants and the Greek and Russian Orthodox. I am talking about the Protestant ministers and the many Christians who endangered themselves and their families in order to save their neighbors, not necessarily because they liked them but because it was the right thing to do. I am talking about Christians who were members of trade unions, had the wrong political view or artistic expression or just because they were of the wrong faith. Thus Catholics were persecuted in Protestant areas and Protestants in Catholic dominated areas.
Many American, British, French and Russian prisoners of war who were not Jewish also died in the concentration camps, but they are not included in the 6 million Christian Holocaust victims. On the other hand, I am including some of the 400,000 citizens who, by the end of Hitler¹s first year in power, were sterilized because they had "hereditary defects" and who subsequently died. I also include the 250,000 mentally retarded, the senile, the deformed newborn babies, epileptics and physically handicapped who were injected with gasoline under the Operation T4 plan. I am also including all the murdered citizens of the Christian towns of Lidice in Czechoslovakia and Distomo in Greece who were killed only in order to discourage the activities of the partisans. And finally, on a more personal note, I do include several of my non-Jewish childhood friends, little boys, who were murdered because of their faith.
The Jewish community is so diverse to the extent that some will not even recognize others as Jews and would not dream of entering into a meaningful dialogue with them. Extremism in religious point of view is part of the Jewish landscape yet, when it comes to the Holocaust, all Jews agree: 6 million died. It is probably the only thing that we Jews agree upon.
Considering all the suffering that the Christians had to endure, my question is this: Why can¹t the Christians speak in one voice when it comes to the Holocaust? Why can¹t they speak of their six million, too?
If the Holocaust, the ultimate action of prejudice and hatred, was recognized by Christians as an event that brought great suffering to them too, maybe this recognition could help eliminate a great deal of prejudice and anti-Semitism and arouse a greater sense of injustice than we have now. And maybe it would be one issue that all Christians can agree upon. It could reduce Holocaust denial, a concept that lulls most into a false feeling of security that not voting or persecution of minorities will not affect us.
There is an old truism: anti-Semitism never stops with anti-Semitism. Neither will anti-Hispanic hatred stop right there. Nor will anti-Islamic feelings. Nor anti-Š..
Dear Christians, I got bad news for you: it did happen to you, but you prefer to ignore it. Percentage-wise, without a doubt, you have suffered far less than the Jews, Gypsies or other minorities, but should even one person have died because of his Christianity, thoughts or heritage? But it was not one person, it was close to six million! Shouldn¹t these victims be recognized and mourned? Shouldn¹t we promise these victims and their grandchildren "Never again" and keep our promise?
I think that the Christian recognition of also having suffered during the Holocaust is the foundation of building a more peaceful future. Right now there is still the assumption that "it did not and cannot happen to our people." It is still the big We versus You division. Wouldn¹t it be great if we could all embrace and say Us?
Return to top
* FROM THE MULTI-FAITH FORUM: "Do Buddhists Believe in God?"
By Sheila Sussman
Sometimes people say, "All religions teach the same thing." Given how often Christians fight among themselves over doctrine, I have been known to burst into laughter when my parishioners have asserted this well intentioned but incorrect phrase. Perhaps it is true in some sense, and certainly there are many similarities among most faiths, but the Long Island Multi-Faith Forum keeps discovering ways in which different religions clearly teach different things. Take, for example, this response from Sheila Sussman, a Zen Buddhist, to the question "Do Buddhists believe in God?":
Answering questions about "God/gods" is difficult for us Buddhists and often the answer ends up misrepresenting the teaching. I know that the usual way to phrase it is, "Do you believe in God?" but here's the problem: the word believe.
We cannot say that Buddhists don't believe in God, or in the lesser gods, deities and celestial beings. They certainly believe they all exist. Following his Enlightenment, the Buddha had a conversation with the great God Brahma, who asked him to go and teach because there were beings with little dust in their eyes who were falling away because they did not hear the Dharma:
"Rise up, hero, victor in battle!
O Teacher, wander without debt in the world.
Teach the Dharma, O Blessed One:
There will be those who will understand."
The question would/might/could be better put, "Do you put your faith in God? (or the gods/deities/celestial beings?)" Here, the answer is, "No, not in an omnipotent, omniscient, creator God." (Though some Buddhists, especially Tibetan Buddhists, do put their faith in celestial beings.) God/no-God is just too dualistic an approach for Buddhists to cope with honestly.
It's a troublesome issue because when I'm asked about it, I don't want to offend people who do "believe in God" and who do believe in "God's Saving Grace." I'm always afraid I will offend people when I tell them we don't believe people have a soul, don't have faith in God, don't believe in "sin," don't believe someone else can "save" you, and that you create your own suffering and only you can save yourself (although some Buddhists, such as the Pure Land tradition, do believe you can be helped by outside intervention). Buddhist teachings are all considered such heresies I'm afraid they can create more animosity than understanding.
We also need to make it clear that although meditation is practiced in many religions, the methods are quite dissimilar. When I ask kids what they know about meditation, they say, "Oh, you say OMMMMMMM and think about God," or, "Oh, we learned it in yoga." Meditation is different in each faith, just as prayer is. All of us, Buddhists included, will do well keep in mind that meditation is not a uniform practice, and to respect other faiths' teaching of it. We could preface an explanation of meditation by saying something like, "Every faith has its own meditation methods, and you can ask the other faith representatives here how they meditate. In my faith (or sect of my faith), what we do is..."
Return to top
CHRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM, 2006 -
The Impact of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
By the Rev. Ralph B. Wright, Jr., Pastor, Yaphank Presbyterian Church
We sing each Christmas that beloved hymn, "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and reflect back on the events of 2000 years ago. Yet few Americans reflect on where Bethlehem is today. The conflict in the Middle East over the past fifty years has brought profound changes to the Palestinian Christian Community in Bethlehem. A 2004 United Nations report on Christianity in Bethlehem reported trends which indicate the Christian community may not survive another two generations.
A recent article in Newsday (Sunday, December 31, 2006) highlighted Palestinian Christians worshipping here on Long Island in Levittown. Similar stories could be written about such Christian groups in other U.S. cities as well as in Canada, Australia and Europe. The plight of Palestinian Christians is one of the little known secrets of the Israeli-Palestine conflict.
Most Americans believe Bethlehem is an Israeli town inhabited by a mixture of Jews and Muslims, according to a nationwide survey by top U.S. pollsters Zogby International. Only 15 percent of Americans realize that Bethlehem is a Palestinian city with a mixed Christian-Muslim community, lying in the occupied West Bank.
Ms. Leila Sansour, the founder of Open Bethlehem reported on December 29, 2006 the following:
"Christmas in Bethlehem this year was the most difficult in memory. This reality probably wouldn't surprise most Americans who have a general sense of the Middle East conflict.
"Bethlehem has survived because it has remained open to the world, offering hospitality to pilgrims for centuries. This openness is threatened by the Israeli-built concrete wall and electric fences that encircle Bethlehem."
Returning visitors to Bethlehem express feelings of imprisonment while in the city. The town's geography - a hill surrounded by other hills - means that the 30-foot-high concrete walls and fences, topped by watchtowers, ring the skyline, producing a relentless feeling of claustrophobia.
The Archbishop of Canterbury upon recently visiting Bethlehem said, "The Israeli-built wall is a sign of all that is wrong in the human heart". Speaking to the town's civic leaders, Dr. Williams said the wall symbolized "the terrible fear of the other, of the stranger, which keeps us all in one kind of prison or another", from which God 2,000 years ago came to release people.
The lives of Christians in Bethlehem are intimately bound up, economically and socially, with Jerusalem's Christian community. The wall and checkpoints prevent them from reaching that city, only 20 minutes away. Bethlehem's Basilica of the Nativity and Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulcher and their guardian Christian communities have been severed from each other.
Palestinian Christians and Muslims form a single, multi-faith community in Bethlehem. This is perhaps the most important lesson that Bethlehem can offer the world today. Muslims and Christians live alongside each other and have for centuries, and, if given the chance, will continue to do so. Christians are not being squeezed out by Islamism, but by economic hardship resulting from annexation of land, and entrapment behind a wall.
Without the support of regular visits by pilgrims, Christianity as a lived faith will be extinguished in Bethlehem, and other centers of faith in the Holy Land may follow. It's not just the living folk memory of the incarnation that would be lost, but a beacon of hope in the Middle East.
For more information, visit www.openbethlehem.org.
Return to top
ORATORIO TEREZIN TO BE PERFORMED FEB. 7 & 8
"Oratorio Terezin," written by Ruth Fazal, a Christian who lives in Toronto, will be presented at Carnegie Hall and the Tilles Center on February 7th and 8th. LICC Board member Werner Reich, who is himself a survivor of Terezin, is a big fan of hers.
"Oratorio Terezin" is a large work for orchestra, children's choir, chorus and soloists. The text is the poetry of children from ghetto of Terezin, woven together with the Hebrew scriptures. Fazal writes, "I began to write this work in 2000 in response to reading the book of poetry and art of children from Terezin: 'I never saw another Butterfly.' It was a long and deep three year journey for me, as a Christian and as a non-Jew. I often describe this work as a 'Divine Commission' as I felt God asking me to somehow portray His heart in the midst of this suffering, and to somehow begin to grapple with the big question of 'Where was God in these times?' The result is a work that I feel is full of hope and life."
"Oratorio Terezin" was first performed in November 2003 in Toronto and then went on tour to Europe, performing in major concert halls in Bratislava, Vienna, Brno and Prague. In May 2005, it was performed three times in Israel, beginning on Holocaust Memorial Day, in Tel Aviv. For the concerts in Europe and Israel, tickets were available to Holocaust survivors at no cost, as will be the case with the concerts at Carnegie and at the Tilles Center. As Fazal puts it, "I feel strongly that Oratorio Terezin is first and foremost written for those who survived this horrendous time in history, and my hope is that the evening will be a real encouragement to their hearts."
Return to top
WORTH QUOTING
Listening to Martin Luther King
"I know we celebrate the legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but have we listened to him?"
--the Rev. Dr. Hak Joon Lee, New Brunswick Theological Seminary,
1st Baptist Church of Riverhead's, 2007 MLK Breakfast
Anti-Semitism
"I have become convinced that anti-Semitism is the most deeply-rooted prejudice in the western world. Stereotypes about Jews continue despite so many efforts by Jews and nonJews together to root them out. Anti-Semitic jokes can still be heard on the lips of Christians who would never dream of similar kinds of 'humor' involving other ethnic or religious groups. In the past several years, all of us in the Catholic community have become ever more conscious of the rise of anti-Catholicism in our land. . . . What we Catholics have been experiencing in our country these past decades has been the ongoing reality for Jews for thousands of years."
--Bishop William Murphy, The Long Island Catholic
Doing Good without Seeing the Results
"We are accountable for our intentions and our actions, not the results. When we are trying to do good. . . we may see the results in our lifetime or perhaps only after our lifetime… We are responsible for making the effort."
--Dr. Ibrahim Negm, Islamic Center of Long island Annual Dinner
Lent and Wheel Alignment
"The Lenten Season is for Christians what a wheel alignment is for cars. Through the natural course of driving everyday, the alignment in our cars goes off, which makes it important for us to get our cars realigned periodically. Without this periodic wheel alignment car tires become worn until they are bald and dangerous to drive on. Well, Lent provides us with the opportunity for spiritual realignment."
--The Rev. Bernadine Ladson, Olivet Baptist Church, Valley Stream
Return to top
WORTH WATCHING; "Amazing Grace"
This winter a new film tells the story of "Amazing Grace," the hymn written by a reformed slave ship captain. The National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) is one of 74 groups endorsing the movie, along with the National Association of Evangelicals, Sojourners, the Library of Congress, the Salvation Army and the Faith Alliance Against Slavery and Trafficking. Many congregations will join in launching a new abolitionist movement on February 18, which they are calling "Amazing Grace Sunday." You can register your congregation at http://www.amazinggracesunday.com. The movement is called the Amazing Change Campaign [http://www.theamazingchange.com/index.html]. It is designed to carry on in the spirit of the movie's main character, William Wilberforce, and end slavery forever. The film opens nationwide Feb. 23.
Return to top
WORTH READING: Edgar's Middle Church, Hewer's Understanding Islam, & Brobston's Daddy Sang Lead
Bob Edgar has served as a United Methodist pastor, a six-term Congressman from Pennsylvania, the president of Claremont School of Theology, and now as General Secretary of the National Council of Churches. He led our Annual Convocation last March at 1st Baptist Church in Riverhead and will be speaking in Manhasset at a program that the LICC is co-sponsoring at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Shelter Rock on Friday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Mainstream people of faith, Edgar says, are "often drowned out by the far religious right." In his new book Middle Church (Simon & Schuster, $25, ISBN 0-7432-8949-8), he tells how "the Faithful Majority" can reclaim moral values he believes have been hijacked by the Religious Right.
Edgar does not claim to have a monopoly on virtue: "I no more believe that God endorses my political agenda than I think he would vote for anyone else's." While he is not reluctant to disagree with conservative leaders, he is even more interested in identifying common ground where people of faith can work together for tolerance, justice, and love. He recognizes that many conservatives and evangelicals care just as much as progressive Christians do about the environment, peace, and the growing gap between rich and poor - and he is largely responsible for the NCC working more deeply with evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Jews, and Muslims in recent years.
A gifted preacher and teacher, Edgar packs great jokes and many a memorable turn of phrase into this book. "Global warming," he argues, "is also about global justice." In confronting Islamist terrorists, he urges, we must preserve democracy, tolerance, and civil liberties and "deny them their victory." In examining our nation's current foreign policy, he asks, "What part of 'blessed are the peacemakers' don't they understand?" and insists, "We're the good guys - let's act like it." He sympathizes deeply with the suffering of Palestinian Christians, but rather than calling for divestment of church holdings in Israel, "I would rather those on all sides shift our focus toward investment in peace." He has a whole collection of new beatitudes, such as "Blessed are the faithful risk takers" and "Blessed are those who read the whole Bible."
Another new book, "Understanding Islam" by C.T.R. Hewer (Fortress Press, $35, ISBN 0-8006-3797-7), provides an introduction to what Edgar calls "Middle Mosque" - mainstream, moderate Muslims who also get drowned out by right-wing Muslim-bashers and by zealots who follow heretical offshoots of Islam.
Hewer, A British expert in Christian-Muslim relations, explains why science and Islam are almost never seen as being in conflict, why Muslims often treat those of other faiths with a great deal of respect, and why they believe that the Quran's version of events is more accurate than earlier Jewish and Christian accounts of the same story. Even those of us who know a fair bit about Islam will find this book helpful: this last belief, for example, was incomprehensible to me before reading this book.
Understanding does not always lead to agreement, but it at least produces clarity about differences: I am still offended that Islam claims that their sources are perfect but the Bible is corrupt, but Hewer has disabused me of any notion that Christians are more tolerant than Muslims of other faiths.
There are some mistakes to be found in these pages - Fargo, North Dakota, had a mosque three decades before the one in Iowa he calls America's first - but there is also the clearest explanation I have ever seen of the differences between Sunni and Shia schools and the variety of Muslim movements found today in America and Europe. It is, in fact, one of the great strengths of this book that it shows us so many different varieties of Islamic thought and Quranic interpretation.
Most of our Muslim neighbors, it turns out, are trying to live faithfully in a complicated world. Far from being fanatics, they are mostly moderate, moral Americans. Hewer helps us to meet and understand these good people.
Music lovers will also find Stan Brobston's "Daddy Sang Lead: The History and Performance Practice of White South Gospel" worth reading. Published just this week and available through Amazon.com, Borders, and Barnes & Noble, this is probably the first serious study of white southern gospel music. Brobston, who taught on Long Island and sang in a United Methodist choir for many years, looks at both the history of gospel music and how it is performed in rural Georgia. A review will appear in the March Prelude.
--TWG--
Return to top
TV WORTH WATCHING: “Lives for Sale”
“Lives for Sale,” a new documentary that airs on WLIW/21 on Sunday, Feb. 3, at 3 p.m., takes a fresh approach to the immigration debate that is roiling our region and our nation. By now nearly everyone in America knows that nearly half a million immigrants enter the country each year, many of them illegally. What few of us know is that perhaps 20,000 of these are “trafficked” or sold into virtual slavery. “Lives for Sale” explains how poor, vulnerable women in Latin America and elsewhere are promised good jobs in the United States and then imprisoned here in brothels and as house slaves.
The good news is that our immigration laws have finally acknowledged this trade in human flesh and have provided help for victims who manage to escape and new penalties for those who enslave them. A thousand people, nearly all of them sexually-exploited women, have been rescued so far under these new legal protections, and nearly all of the 200 traffickers prosecuted have been convicted.
The Rescue & Restore Coalition (which includes the LICC) is working with clergy, doctors, nurses, and others who are most likely to come into contact with victims of trafficking, helping these professionals learn how to help those who may be desperate for their assistance. “Lives for Sale” emphasizes that ordinary neighbors can help victims, too, telling how someone in a middle-class suburb never suspected that a Guatemalan woman was confined next door for six months until she gave birth prematurely—and was then rescued by a neighbor she had never known.
Return to top
NEW HELP FOR VICTIMS OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING
The LICC, along with Catholic Charities and many other agencies, is a partner in the Rescue & Restore Coalition, which tries to help victims of human trafficking to escape from those who are exploiting them. We have great posters we’d be glad to share with your congregation or agency, both in English and in Spanish, that help people who have been smuggled to find help.
In order to help and serve victims of trafficking, they must first be identified. Challenges such as physical captivity, monitored public interaction, victim shame, and isolation make identifying victims doubly hard. Everyone – from a case manager to an emergency room nurse, a local law enforcement officer to a lay-person on the street - should be aware of clues that may indicate human trafficking. Some of these include:
- Evidence of being controlled or “managed” by third parties (particularly individuals who insist on answering questions or interpreting on a potential victim’s behalf )
- Having no English language facility
- Inability to leave a job or residence
- Physical signs of battering
- Tearfulness or signs of depression
- Being a recent arrival in the United States from Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin America, Canada, Africa or India
- Lacking passport, immigration, or other identification documents
- Inability to articulate where they are living or remember addresses
The U. S. Department of Health & Human Services’ has renamed and upgraded its hotline, the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, 1-888-3737-888. It aims to connect potential victims in need of rescue to first responders or non-governmental organizations that aid victims. The hotline also serves as an information & referral service for any human trafficking inquiry.
- Operators are answering phone calls 24/7, year-round, in multiple languages
- Staff members are regularly briefed on all available resources and new information, (e.g., local service providers, assisting child victims of trafficking, etc.)
- Access for anyone to the Resource Center staff via e-mail. All e-mails will receive a response within 48 hours or sooner and are available in multiple languages at the following addresses:
- Frequently Asked Questions on human trafficking are posted at the website and the staff responds to other questions posed through http://faq.acf.hhs.gov/cgi-bin/acfrightnow.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php.
Informational materials can be ordered from www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/form.htm.
For questions or comments, please contact Andrea Lange, Project Director, Lockheed Martin Aspen Systems Corporation at 301-519-5205 or Gil Ortiz, Project Manager, Covenant House of New York City at 212-727-4021.
Return to top
NEW LAW PROVIDES BENEFITS FOR 9/11 WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS
By Jonathan Bennett, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health
Thanks to a new law, most people who performed rescue, recovery or cleanup work after the collapse of the World Trade Center are now eligible to register with the Workers’ Compensation Board. Anyone who is registered who develops a 9/11-related illness at any time in the future will be eligible to file a workers’ compensation claim. Failure to register by August 14, 2007 will make it impossible to file a claim, even if the worker develops a 9/11-related illness.
“Now all those who did rescue, recovery or cleanup work after 9/11 have an opportunity to ensure that if they ever become ill as a result, their medical expenses will be covered one hundred percent,” said Joel Shufro, Executive Director of NYCOSH. “But for that to happen they need to register within a year. I urge anyone who did paid or unpaid work in Lower Manhattan after 9/11, whether sick or healthy, to find out about eligibility requirements and register. Working in partnership with the National Disaster Ministries of the United Church of Christ we have launched a major campaign to inform all workers and volunteers about the new program.”
The new law permits workers and volunteers who worked in lower Manhattan after the attack on the World Trade Center who are ill, and those who were exposed to toxic substances and may become ill in the future, until August 14, 2007 to register with the New York State Worker’s Compensation Board.
Some workers and volunteers have been prevented from getting compensation because they only began to become sick after the 2-year deadline for filing a claim. Others who were exposed to the toxic atmosphere in Lower Manhattan are healthy now, but may develop a 9/11-related disease in the future. Under the old rules, they would also have been prevented from receiving benefits.
The law applies to most people who did rescue, recovery or cleanup work (either paid or unpaid) in Lower Manhattan (south of Canal or Pike Streets) between Sept. 11, 2001 and Sept. 12, 2002. It also applies to rescue, recovery or cleanup workers who worked at the Staten Island landfill, the barge operation between Manhattan and Staten Island or the New York City morgue, and temporary morgues. The only workers not covered are those who are not in the workers’ compensation system: NYC uniformed services (firefighters, police, sanitation workers), NYC teachers and federal employees, but those workers are eligible if they performed any rescue, recovery or cleanup work off-duty as a volunteer.
Anyone who has already filed a claim for 9/11-related workers’ compensation and been turned down because the claim was filed after the 2-year filing deadline had passed can register and file a new claim under the new law.
Workers who have already filed for workers’ compensation for injuries suffered during the rescue, recovery or cleanup operation should register in case they develop a 9/11-related condition that is different from the basis of their established claim. An already-established claim does not cover the new condition.
The registration must be notarized and indicate the dates and locations of the rescue, recovery or cleanup work performed and the employer’s name, or the organization for whom the volunteer worked, if applicable.
For information about registering and filing claims, visit the NYCOSH website at http://www.nycosh.org/#911WC. Or call 212-227-6440 ext. 23 (for English) or 212-227-6440 ext. 24 (for Spanish)
Return to top
DID YOU KNOW?
- A new communion liturgy using music by the Irish rock band U2 is gaining in popularity in many congregations. Called the U2charist, it focuses on the Millennium Development Goals that U2 front man Bono is championing as part of his “ONE” campaign. For details, visit the Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation Web site, www.e4gr.org/pray/u2charists.html.
- The President of the Islamic Center of Long Island, Habeeb Ahmed, and Board Chair Faroque Khan both attended Christian schools in India. Habeeb was educated by Jesuits and Faroque by Irish nuns.
- The LICC’s audited financial statements are available on our Web site (under Reports) and we would be happy to snail mail them, too. It is a good idea to request one of these before giving money to any charity. We’d also be happy to send a brief annual report to any member church, denomination, etc. that would like one for their own publication or annual meeting. Call 516-565-0290 and let us know where you would like us to email, snail-mail, or fax these.
Return to top
SOUPER BOWL OF CARING February 4
Last winter more than 11,000 congregations from 50 denominations took part in the Souper Bowl of Caring. They asked each worshiper for $1 to feed the hungry on Super Bowl Sunday, raising more than $3 million dollars for soup kitchens and emergency food pantries, plus substantial donations of canned goods. In doing this, they also encouraged people to remember our neighbors in need even after the Christmas-Hanukkah-New Year’s Eve season has passed. Will your congregation take part in Souper Bowl this year? If so, please consider collecting money for the LICC’s pantries. Information on the Souper Bowl of Caring is available at 1-800-358-SOUP or www.souperbowl.org.
Return to top
NEEDED/OFFERED
Needed:
- Volunteers for Guatemala:
- Mt Sinai United Church of Christ's mission project in Guatemala is called Ripple of Hope and you are invited to be a part of the ripple. We are starting a six week study group this winter followed by a mission tour in the spring. If anyone is interested in finding out about this Central American country and traveling to see the mountain villages where we are building micro drip irrigation systems and future projects, you are invited! Contact the church office at 473-1582. We need your help! This is an ecumenical project. We work with the Guatemala equivalent of the LICC, CIEDEG, as well as Heifer Project International. You will be guided on tours of villages in the mountains of the country and can visit Guatemala City and the colonial city of Antigua. You will be guided in how you can involve your congregation and you will have a great time! Maybe you are ready to do more? Here is your opportunity for an ecumenical ministry of love and hope. Please join us!
- Girl Scout Cookies:
- Do you buy Girl Scout cookies each year to aid this worthy organization and then find that you have far more goodies around the house or your office than you need or probably is good for you? Why not donate them to the LICC or your local emergency food pantry? We would also be glad to take any fruitcake tins in your cupboard, fancy jellies and jams you received over the holidays, flavored coffees, cheese logs or nearly anything else edible that you most likely will never eat. There is lots of nutrition in some of these gifts, food our neighbors need. This is a good time to go through the canned goods and give away anything that you are not going to use that is not dented, many years old, or otherwise inedible. Donations can be dropped off at their Riverhead office (407 Osborne Avenue at Lincoln, opposite the Polish Town Civic Association, 631-727-2210), their Hempstead office (in Christ’s 1st Presbyterian Church at the village green on Nichol’s Court, 516-565-0290), or their Freeport Emergency Food Center (450 North Main Street, 516-868-4989), the LICC’s Annual Convocation (March 24 at 1st Baptist Church in Riverhead), or any LICC meeting.
- Group Looking For A Place To Meet:
- 12 step group based on AA Al-Anon principles applied to couple issues. Meetings are open to any couple that has a desire to stay together, improve their relationship, whether or not they are currently attending another 12 step recovery group or not. There is only one on Long Island right now but many across the country. We are a small group of 3 to 6 couples and can't afford our own insurance. We are looking for a church or hospital or school that has a room for us on Wednesday nights in the Riverhead area if possible. We can afford a small monthly donation. Email response to Lorrainedotmom@AOL.com.
Offered:
- Pump Organ:
- The Rev. Richard Bakker has a small pump organ in Wantagh, free for the taking, that he needs to give away by the end of March. Call him at 516-586-3914 if you are interested.
- Free Cancer Screening:
- Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow offers free screening for breast and cervical cancer to women who are uninsured or underinsured. They currently provide mammograms for women over 40 and pap smears for women over 18—and they will soon begin offering free cancer screening for men, too. Call 516-572-3300 for an appointment.
- Free Furniture:
- Hugh T. Herbert has good used furniture that he would like to donate to someone that is in need. The furniture consists of a crib set, including dresser and chest plus two easy chairs and other assorted items. Everything would have to be picked up in Shoreham. He can be reached at rthreesons@yahoo.com.
- Free Computers:
- St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Sea Cliff is offering two gently used computers, complete with CRT monitors, keyboards, and mice. Each one runs on an Intel Pentium 3, with a 4 GB hard drive. All data has been scrubbed from hard drives. If you're interested in either one, or both, phone 516-676-4222, Tues. through Sat., or e-mail Rector06@verizon.net.
- Help Managing the Post-Christmas Bills:
- Congregations tend to talk about money mostly during their annual budget/pledge campaign, but a growing number of churches are offering help to people who are struggling with post-Christmas bills. Managing money, credit, and debt is a spiritual issue as well as a financial one, and the LICC would be glad to present a personal finance seminar (or seminars) in your community. We can even do a whole series of programs in your congregation. We will be presenting four seminars, for example, at Harvest Christian Bible Church in Central Islip (295 Half Mile Road). The first of these is Saturday, Feb. 3, 10:00 to noon for their men’s group. It will focus on how to talk with your children about managing money and credit. All are invited!
- Health Fair at Memorial Presbyterian in Roosevelt Feb. 10:
- Memorial Presbyterian Church’s Women’s League is offering a free health fair on Saturday, Feb. 10, at 189 Babylon Turnpike in Roosevelt. There will be free blood pressure screening, health seminars on stroke, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, diabetes, counseling, and women’s health. They also are conducting a blood drive from 10 to 2, which will include some additional free screening. For further info, call Donna Stuart at 718-263-1456 or Tanya McCallum at 516-221-3972.
- Help Filing for Earned Income Tax Credit:
- Many of the taxpayers who are most in need of a tax refund do not know about the Earned Income Tax Credit or do not know how to get this money back from the government quickly without paying exorbitant fees for a “tax refund anticipation loan.” Individuals earning less than $12,120 in 2006 and families earning up to $38,348 may be able to file for the Earned Income Tax Credit, a refund of up to $535 for individuals and $5,896 for families. Those who are not required to file an income tax return because they make so little money — exactly the people who should get the most money back under the EITC - often fail to collect this refund. Further information is available at www.irs.gov. Help filing for the EITC is available at many Volunteer Income Tax Assistance sites, which can also file your tax return on-line to speed up your refund - and thus avoid some rip-off artist who charges you $70 to $700 for a “loan” against your refund. To find a VITA site near you, call 800-829-1040.
- Golden Rule Curriculum:
- Educators Brant Abrahamson and Fred Smith have written a curriculum for teaching the Golden Rule and its variants in many faiths and cultures. Their materials can be used in public schools without violating the First Amendment, and they could also be used in congregational religious education—or might provide some great sermon material. Print versions of the curriculum are available for $1 each (plus $1 for postage) from the Teachers’ Press. You can order it via email (teacherspr@aol.com) or fax (708-387-7057) or downloaded it free from www.scarboromissions.ca/Interfaith_dialogue/golden_rule_curriculum.php
- Directory of Long island Churches & Synagogues:
- We have mailed our new directory of the churches and synagogues of Long Island to all our member churches, the Friends of the LICC, those who have ordered a copy, and major donors. If you pay your 2007 dues, we’ll fire off a copy to you. This directory is the most comprehensive list of congregations in our region and includes Unitarian Universalist fellowships, contact people for local ecumenical and interfaith organizations, and rosters of chaplains and campus ministers. We can also email you the updated copy, which includes some changes in pastors since November. You can charge your purchase or your dues (which gets you a free copy) to your VISA or MasterCard if you call 516-565-0290 with the relevant information.
Return to top
GIVE BLOOD — SAVE A LIFE
Long Island is facing a serious blood shortage. If you can possibly donate, please do so at one of these drives organized by Long Island Blood Services or call them to schedule an appointment at 1-800-933-BLOOD (2566).
| Event Date | Site | Address | Start/End Time | Chairperson/Phone |
|---|
| 2/4/07 | Huntington United Methodist Church | 180 W. Neck Road
Huntington, 11743 | 9:00 AM
1:00 PM | Bette Jack
(631) 223-3606 |
| 2/5/07 | Nesconset Christian Church | 247 Smithtown Blvd.
Nesconset, 11767 | 5:00 PM
9:00 PM | Michael Cassara
(631) 265-2141 ext. 201 |
| 2/6/07 | Grace Lutheran Church | 240 Mastic Road
Mastic Beach, 11951 | 2:00 PM
7:30 PM | Donna Burns
(631) 281-8031 |
| 2/7/07 | St. Andrew's Lutheran Church | 30 Brooksite Drive
Smithtown, 11787 | 2:30 PM
8:00 PM | Michelle Earhart
(631) 297-8454 |
| 2/8/07 | St. John's Cold Spring Harbor | St. John's Church
Cold Spring Harbor, 11724 | 10:00 AM
8:00 PM | Bob Nostrand
(631) 692-5665 |
| 2/10/07 | Memorial Presbyterian Church | 189 Babylon Tpke
Roosevelt, 11575 | 10:00 AM
2:00 PM | Denise Goodman
(631) 842-7699 |
| 2/11/07 | Miracle Christian Center | 334 Fulton Avenue
Hempstead, 11550 | 12:00 PM
4:00 PM | Lorena Thompson
(516) 546-6778 |
| 2/12/07 | St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church | 36 East John Street
Lindenhurst, 11757 | 3:30 PM
9:00 PM | Grace Sougstad
(631) 888-8548 |
| 2/16/07 | First Baptist Church-Patchogue | 482 North Ocean Ave.
Patchogue, 11772 | 3:00 PM
8:30 PM | Elizabeth Porcelli
(631) 730-7751 |
| 2/25/07 | Allen AME Cathedral | 110-31 Merrick Blvd
Jamaica, 11433 | 8:30 AM
3:00 PM | Roosevelt Dixon
(917) 470-4813 |
| 2/26/07 | Community Reformed Church of Manhasset | 90 Plandome Road
Manhasset, 11030 | 3:00 PM
8:30 PM | Lillian Esposito
(917) 848-8927 |
| 2/27/07 | New Covenant Church | 757 Bellmore Ave.
East Meadow, 11554 | 3:00 PM
8:30 PM | Sandra Martinez
(516) 478-5103 |
| 2/27/07 | St. Paul's Lutheran Ch.-E. Northport | 106 Vernon Valley Rd
E. Northport, 11731 | 3:00 PM
8:30 PM | Alden Neal
(631) 757-7191 |
Return to top
ADVERTISING IN THE PRELUDE
Each month, 2700 copies of our newsletter The Prelude are mailed to both the clergy leaders and lay leaders of 1350 faith organizations. Filled with timely articles, news briefs, updates and notices affecting Long Island’s communities and churches and the wider world, The Prelude is a must read for all who would “work together to improve living on Long Island and promote interfaith understanding and cooperation.”
The LICC accepts paid sponsorship ads, display ads and simple listings (classifieds). Advertising in The Prelude is a great way to reach clergy, lay leaders, and volunteers in Long Island’s congregations. To receive a “media kit” with advertising rates, copy requirements, and copy deadlines, please call 516-565-0290 or email licchemp@aol.com. Congregations that join the LICC and groups that join the Friends of the LICC receive a free classified ad in thanks for paying their annual dues!
Return to top
ADS & ANNOUNCEMENTS:
JOB OPENINGS:
- Youth Director:
- 1st Congregational Church of Bay Shore is seeking a part-time Youth Director. Contact the Rev. Gary Gerth or Sandy at the church office (631-665-0091) for further information.
- Director of Christian Formation and Youth Ministry:
- The Cathedral of the Incarnation (Episcopal Diocese of Long Island) in Garden City is seeking a full-time Director of Christian Formation and Youth Ministry. For job description and position requirements, please visit www.dioceseli.org and click on "open position". Salary negotiable based on experience.
- Organist/Choir Director:
- Bethany Congregational Church in East Rockaway is seeking an organist/choir director for one Sunday morning service each week, occasion holiday services, and Lenten Wednesday evening services, beginning immediately. They have a pipe organ, piano, and a small choir. Call 516-599-5768 for further information or email resume to revlu@aol.com or fax to it 516-596-6233.
PARISH RESOURCE CENTER—ROCKY POINT
Lenten Workshop Faith-Imagination Prayer
Saturday, March 3, 9:00 am-12:00 pm
Leader: Rev. Yuri Ando
We are looking for a host church for this workshop.
Faith-imagination is a simple way of praying by which we invite God to enter into a specific content and setting of our attention. We do this in the faith that God sincerely wants to communicate with us and can come through to us in a way we can perceive God – seeing, hearing, sensing and understanding. We may invite Jesus or some other symbol of the Holy One into our painful or happy memories. We may bring some important questions to God. We may simply ask God to be with us as we express our feelings. Then we wait for God’s response being open and attentive to whatever happens next, trusting that the Holy Spirit can shape our attention and perception when we open ourselves to the Holy One.
In this workshop we will try to experience Faith-imagination prayer. My prayer is that we may learn to use Faith-imagination prayer in our prayer life and receive whatever God offers us - love, new understanding, forgiveness and healing. We will conclude with a worship service.
Member of a Subscribing Church, $5 w Member of a Non-Subscribing Church, $35
Return to top
The Long Island Council of Churches is a 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Long Island Council of Churches unites diverse Christians to work together in ministry with the poor and to promote interfaith understanding. All donations are tax-deductible and much appreciated.
The Rev. Thomas W. Goodhue
Executive Director
Long Island Council of Churches
1644 Denton Green
Hempstead, NY 11550
voice: 516-565-0290, ext. 206
fax: 516-565-0291
email:licchemp@aol.com
Web: www.ncccusa.org/ecmin/licc
|
