NCC Poverty Update - April 2002

PREACHING ABOUT POVERTY
'We All Get Healed'
A sermon by Jim Wallis, Convener and President of Call to Renewal, a national federation of churches, community development and other faith-based groups working together to overcome poverty. This message was delivered January 13, 2002, at First Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, Georgia.

Text: Isaiah 58
Let me begin with a story. It’s about a young man who was studying for the priesthood. He was nervous about his task, JimWallis.jpg (10213 bytes)

especially about the liturgy around that altar where he would have to do his parts and say things like, “The Lord be with you,” and the congregation responds, “And also with you.”

He was afraid he would get his parts wrong and they would get their parts wrong and the whole thing would fall apart and he would be a failure as a new minister. So on that Sunday morning, he approached the altar with great fear and trepidation. And then, he just panicked when he realized the microphone had gone dead. So they’re waiting like you are and here is this young priest tapping frantically on the microphone. He says, “Something is wrong with this microphone.” The congregation responded, “And also with you.”

Click here for the rest of the sermon . . .

NCC COMMUNIONS AT WORK:
United Methodists Field Multiple Strategies
With more than 8.3 million members in the United States and a strong and historic presence in communities nationwide, the United Methodist Church maintains important ongoing poverty-related programs. The outreach of the church, including its anti-poverty programs, "springs from the working of the Spirit" and implements a Social Creed that includes the right and duty of persons to work for "the elimination of economic and social distress." Current United Methodist programs include those dealing with Children and Poverty; Domestic Hunger/ Poverty and Economic Justice; Substance Abuse and Related Violence; and Ministries with Women, Children and Families. The denomination also helps connect several networks of local ministries across the nation. Click here for a more complete description of this spirited response to the challenge of poverty.

REGIONAL ECUMENICAL ACTION:
HUD Honors Oregon For Shared Housing
Last July, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave Shared Housing, a program of the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, one of its "best practices" awards for innovation in providing affordable housing. Shared Housing is a matching and referral service bringing together those who need housing with people who have homes and want help with rent, household chores or personal care. It helps many elderly, disabled and low-to-moderate income homeowners and renters who can stay in their homes by sharing the cost with those who require low rent or rent in exchange for work. For more details, see http://www.emoregon.org/shared.htm .

INFORMATION EXCHANGE:
Health Guide Offers
Denominational Links
A new "Combined Catalog of Health Ministries Resources of Denominations" offers invaluable contacts, resources and program ideas for congregations seeking to promote the well-being of the whole person. Contact Connie Gates -- conniegates@hotmail.com -- for a copy.

NCC PovertyUpdate
. . . appears each month on the NCC website, www.ncccusa.org. Please advise your colleagues and friends of this service, and if you have a website, please link to us. Suggestions for content are welcome: e-mail us at news@ncccusa.org.

Here are links to Poverty Updates for:

March 2002. . . April 2002 . . . May 2002 . . . June 2002 . . . July 2002 . . . August 2002 . . . September 2002 . . .October 2002 . . . November 2002 . . . December 2002 thru February 2003

American Christians of every background work together through the National Council of Churches, their denominations, regional and state councils of churches, and in ecumenical and interfaith settings on the local level on all kinds of cooperative ventures, including those to reduce the persistent presence of poverty in the richest nation on earth. Here, NCC Associate General Secretary for Public Policy Brenda Girton-Mitchell (left), Washington, D.C., and Peggy Eshelman, Coordinator of Formation and Justice Ministries for the United Methodist Church's Missouri Area, Columbia, Mo., join hands at worship during an NCC-sponsored consultation on welfare reauthorization, held March 13-15 in Washington, D.C.

APRIL DATES AND DEADLINES:
Saturday, April 13: 'From Poverty to Promise,' a conference sponsored by the Ohio Hunger Task Force, Bread for the World, and seven other state organizations. Speakers include Ed Cooney, President, Congressional Hunger Center, and David Beckman, President, Bread for the World. Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Columbus, Ohio, 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. For more information: contact Marilyn Sesler at sesler@ohtf.org

WHAT MINISTRY PARTNERS ARE DOING:
CROPWALKS Give All
A Way to Fight Hunger
Each year, some 2,000 communities across the United States sponsor CROPWALKS. The walks help to support the overall ministry of Church World Service, CWS Logo especially the grassroots, hunger-fighting development efforts of partner agencies in more than 80 countries. Each local CROPWALK can choose to return up to 25 percent of the funds it raises to hunger-fighting programs in its own community. This year CROPWALKS will share more than $3.5 million with food banks, pantries, community gardens, and other local efforts nationwide.

MOBILIZATION FACTBOOK:
Decline in Food Stamps
Mostly In Implementation
The number of people who received food stamps in 2001 decreased by over 10 million since 1994, a drop of over one-third in program participation. (USDA) The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that only 40 percent of the drop was due to a stronger economy. Other sources report that about 50 percent of the decline was due to problems implementing the 1996 welfare law, and as much as 8 percent to limits on eligibility established in the welfare law. (Bread for the World)

Hartford Study Shows
Churches Heavily Involved "Nearly 85 percent of all U.S. congregations are engaged with soup kitchens or food pantries, with emergency shelters and clothing and with financial help to persons in need," reports Prof. Carl Dudley of Hartford Institute for Religion Research, Hartford Seminary. U.S. churches provide "a massive safety net" he said, citing recent comprehensive research on Faith Communities Today (FACT). The Hartford Institute coordinated the research which was carried out by 41 religious groups and which was funded in part by the Lilly Endowment. Released amid continuing national discussion of President Bush's Faith-Based Initiative, the landmark survey also points to the fact that "congregations are already at work with governments at every level." For more information, go to http://fact.hartsem.edu/Press/mediaadvsry4.htm

Return to NCC Home Page

NCC MEMBER COMMUNIONS
African Methodist Episcopal Church
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Alliance of Baptists
American Baptist Churches in the USA
The Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
Diocese of the Armenian Church of America
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Church of the Brethren
The Coptic Orthodox Church in North America
The Episcopal Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Friends United Meeting
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Hungarian Reformed Church in America
International Council of Community Churches
Korean Presbyterian Church in America
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church
Mar Thoma Church
Moravian Church in America Northern Province and Southern Province
National Baptist Convention of America
National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc.
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America
Orthodox Church in America
Patriarchal Parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church in the USA
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Polish National Catholic Church of America
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc.
Reformed Church in America
Serbian Orthodox Church in the U.S.A. and Canada
The Swedenborgian Church
Syrian Orthodox Church of Antioch
Ukrainian Orthodox Church of America
United Church of Christ
The United Methodist Church

NCC MINISTRY PARTNERS
Bread for the World
Call to Renewal
Children's Defense Fund
Church World Service
Families USA
Good Schools Pennsylvania
Habitat for Humanity
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
National Jobs for All Coalition
National Religious Partnership for the Environment

Return to NCC Home Page

Produced by the Communication Department, National Council of Churches, 475 Riverside Drive, Suite 880, New York, NY 10115. Comments/ suggestions: 212-870-2227 or news@ncccusa.org. Copyright 2002 by National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.