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As you slip a generous tip into the hand of the skycap who has taken your bags at the airport, you might think he or she is doing pretty well. But have you ever thought about the unseen baggage handlers who receive your bags from the skycap? How well are they doing? The Rev. William Campbell tells of Martha (not her real name), a baggage handler at Los Angeles International Airport. A few years ago, like her fellow baggage handlers, Martha was getting minimum wage for the job. But for this single parent with two children, minimum wage wasn't enough to take care of her family. So she worked a second job and consequently had very little time with her children. They were latchkey kids who had to fend for themselves. But all that's changed. The city of Los Angeles has adopted a "living wage" ordinance, which requires that any company doing business with the city must pay its employees enough so that they do not fall below the poverty level. Today Martha is working only one job and has time to make her kids dinner, help them with their homework and attend the occasional PTA meeting. Her kids are thriving and she herself is much happier. The Los Angeles living wage ordinance was passed in part through the efforts of an organization called Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice, or CLUE. William Campbell is outreach coordinator for this Los Angeles interfaith organization. He also recently was named a NEW LIFE missionary by National Ministries. Having won the living wage battle, Campbell and CLUE are going on to pursue other goals, such as preserving the right of workers to engage in collective bargaining and finding assistance for those who have been cut from welfare rolls. "Justice is a provision of God that grows out of God's righteousness and out of His provision of bounty to meet the needs of all," says Campbell. "Economic justice takes on poignancy in the light of a world where there are those who would accumulate in abundance for themselves at the expense of others having less than a sufficiency to meet their needs." Campbell is just one example of an American Baptist whose passion is to see that economic justice is done to all. Another example is Paul Chapman. Employment Justice in New York The Rev. Dr. Paul Chapman is an American Baptist home missionary working in New York City, where in 1994 he founded an organization called The Employment Project. Campbell and his codirector, Cathlin Siobhan Baker, follow a two-pronged approach: counseling unemployed individuals and advocating changes in the economic system. One of the individuals helped by The Employment Project is named Jim. Although Jim has a college degree and knows how to use a computer, he has had trouble keeping a job in the last three years. One time he got seasonal work-but that came to an end when Christmastime was over. Another time he worked as a customer service rep on Wall Street-but then the company moved and he lost his job. Throughout all this Jim has been participating in one of the support groups that are coordinated by The Employment Project and held in a variety of New York metropolitan churches. The group has been instrumental in keeping Jim's spirits up and giving him practical advice about finding work. Today Jim is working two part-time jobs that combine to meet his financial needs. He has been able to move out of the apartment of his sister and brother-in-law, where he had been living because of his straitened circumstances, and has rented his own apartment. A single man in his 30s, Jim for the first time thinks he may be financially stable enough to marry and start a family. When they're not helping people like Jim, Chapman and Baker seek to influence the thinking of Christians on economic issues. Real earnings are down while hours worked are up. The former unwritten contract of loyalty between employer and employee has been discarded. Unless Christians' eyes are opened to such issues in the nature of work today, says Chapman, they will be incapable of promoting needed changes in business and government. Addressing his fellow American Baptists, Chapman offered this comment: "Our tradition has a lot to say about how wealth is distributed, about how jobs are paid. Jesus frequently talked about wages. A lot of His parables have to do with daily work. The question of the economy and how money is used and how wealth is distributed and how the earth's resources are used is essential to our scriptural tradition." American Baptists such as William Campbell and Paul Chapman are encouraged by the National Ministries Office of Economic Justice. The director of economic justice is Larry Haynes. "I'm excited about the possibilities," says Haynes, "and I'm getting more and more excited as I travel about, meeting American Baptists who share the same interests I do. As people hear about the need for economic justice they're ready to take action, and that's exciting. I see the potential for the church coming to life around the issue of economic justice." "Still, there's a lot of work to done," he continues. "We have to create a vehicle for making people more aware of what's actually going on in the business world." He cites oil drilling that damages the environment and the use of slave labor to make apparel as two examples of unjust business practices going on in the world today. "There's a growing awareness of these kinds of issues among not just Baptists but all Christians," Haynes says. "But I think we have to do a better job of making them aware and helping to empower them in dealing with issues of economic justice." When Haynes talks about economic justice it's not just theory for him. He was an American Baptist home missionary and the executive director of the Tallahatchie Development League, Tutwiler, Miss., for ten years. This organization grew out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and originally focused on registering voters and helping African Americans who were making the transition out of menial agricultural jobs. Today its mission is much broader. An estimated 400 to 500 persons are touched by Tallahatchie Development League programs every year. Some are senior citizens who receive Meals-on-Wheels each day. Some are youth who receive counseling, attend Bible camps or find summer jobs. Some are low-income families who receive assistance in purchasing their first homes. Some are working-age men and women who get help in attracting financing to start a small business. Haynes reports that one of his goals is to improve networking among American Baptists who, like him, are engaged in economic justice ministries. On a larger scale he expects continued fruitful results from American Baptist membership in advocacy organizations, such as the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. What American Baptist Churches Can Do Larry Haynes likes to quote Micah 6:8: "What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God?" (NRSV). A concern for justice is one of the basic qualities that God looks for in His people, Haynes believes. "Economic justice is a vision of means for adequate food, shelter, clothing and health care for all people to live comfortably without creating a huge gap between the richest and the poorest," says Haynes. "It involves sharing the gifts of the Creator, being good stewards of the resources that He put us in charge of, and being just with those resources. This means building sustainable communities. It means confronting the powers that be with the power of God's love. It means remaking social institutions both locally and globally." The pursuit of economic justice should be a concern not just for some Christians but for all Christians. What practical steps can an American Baptist congregation that wants to "do justice," as Micah said, take today? Haynes suggests that a congregation begin with an assessment of local needs. What are the problems facing the disadvantaged in their hometown? How many are hungry? Unhoused? Unemployed? Next, Haynes says, a congregation should identify those existing needs that they can realistically address. This means taking stock of the congregation's resources and the passions to minister that God may have put on members' hearts. Getting started in practical ministry to the disadvantaged will help a congregation's members reassess and hone their ministry. Haynes also encourages congregations to become aware of national and international issues of economic justice. The new economy is a global economy. By learning about worldwide economic issues Christians can be ready when an opportunity arises to help correct a global injustice. With this kind of local/global perspective taking hold in congregations we all may yet see the fulfillment of Larry Haynes' vision of the church coming to life around the issue of economic justice. |
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