NCC Poverty Update

PREACHING ABOUT POVERTY
'Celebrating Our
IN-dependence'
A sermon by Dr. Leigh Bond, senior minister of Beargrass Christian Church (Disciples), Louisville, Kentucky.

Text: Mark 6:1-13

This week many of us will be celebrating Independence Day. We'll be gathering up blankets and lawn chairs to go out and watch fireworks displays. We'll be getting together with family and friends for picnics and barbecues and parties. We may venture out to the mall to take advantage of special 4th of July sales.

And hopefully, sometime during the holiday, we will take some time to relect upon the reason that we have a holiday.

Robert Orben says that the essence of life in America can be summed up in this exchange between a parent and child: A father told his son that all Americans belong to a privileged class. The son said, "I disagree." The father replied, "That's the privilege." Click here for the rest of the sermon . . .

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REGIONAL ECUMENICAL ACTION:
State, Local Projects
Reveal Ideas, Energy
A recent National Council of Churches survey of state, local and regional ecumenical organizations by Erika McCullough yielded an exciting array of good ideas and a high level of energy and commitment fighting poverty:

St. Paul, Minnesota:
Project Home provides overnight shelter in area churches for families without homes. There are two shelter sites each month and each church volunteers space, facilities, and provides volunteers. Project Home itself provides resources that churches can't provide, such as beds, laundry services, and emergency staff and volunteer training. For details, click here.

Cary, North Carolina:
Project Jubilee is designed to educate and organize North Carolina churches around the issue of welfare reform and how legislation affects economically struggling families in the state, and to work with religious groups to provide support to those most affected. For details, click here.

Portland, Oregon:
NE Emergency Food Program provides day’s worth of nutritionally balanced meals to families in critical situations. Their goal, along with other organizations, is to increase food security in Oregon. For details, click here.

Bridgeport, Connecticut:
The Council of Churches of Greater Bridgeport, Inc is in partnership with the Janus House. The Youth in Crisis program gives support to underprivileged youth on the brink of homelessness. The program includes 24-hour hotline, host homes, and a youth shelter. For details, click here.

Austin, Texas:
Texas Conference of Churches has agreed to work on the priorities of living wage, affordable housing, and health care for all Texans. Educational materials and suggestions on implementation to judicatories and their constituent congregation in order to carry out this commitment will be provided. To read the TCC's resolution, click here.

Above: Families USA unites concerns about health care costs around the needs of the poor.

NCC PARTNERS AT WORK:
'Bitter Pill' is Families USA Report on Senior Drug Bills
NCC partner ministry Families USA, which focuses on healthcare issues and the poor, has produced a 24-page report on the rising prices of prescription drugs for older Americans. You can read, download and print the entire report, entitled "Bitter Pill," by clicking here. (Adobe Acrobat is required for reading this report. If you don't already have Acrobat installed on your computer, you can quickly download it free of charge: click here.)

FOUNDATION INITIATIVES:
California Churches Assist Poor with High Energy Cost
More than five million Californians fall below Federal Poverty Guidelines. High-energy costs have forced many low-income families to choose between paying their utility bills, their rent or mortgage, buying groceries or paying for badly needed medical expenses.

In response, the Hewlett Foundation has funded the California Interfaith Energy Assistance Project (CIEAP) through the California Council of Churches and Catholic Charities of California. CIEAP will work with local churches, temples, mosques, religious organizations, community based organizations and utility companies to reach as many potential energy assistance recipients in nine focus counties as possible over the course of the grant. Systems will be designed that will allow the activities to continue after the termination of the grant period.

JULY DATEBOOK:
Child Advocacy Institute
Is July 15-19 in Tennessee
Children's Defense Fund will offer its 8th annual Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry July 15-19 at the Alex Haley Farm near Knoxville, Tennessee. Speakers include William Sloane Coffin and Bishop Leontine T. C. Kelly. For registration info, email or phone Jacquelyn King at 865-457-6466.

MOBILIZATION RESOURCES:
'Faith in Neighborhoods' Book Based on Experience
As Mayor of Indianapolis, Stephen Goldsmith saw firsthand that urban renewal begins with residents claiming responsibility for the future of their neighborhoods. In Putting Faith in Neighborhoods, Goldsmith explains how Indianapolis invented a national model for creating vibrant urban centers through encouraging citizenship and engaging of faith-based organizations. He argues that social pathologies are best confronted not by large programs administered by government, but by citizens actively engaged in making their communities safer, more compassionate and more productive. Click link above to order a copy.

NCC PovertyUpdate
. . . appears each month on the NCC website, www.ncccusa.org. Please tell your colleagues and friends about this service, and if you have a website, please link to us. Suggestions for content? E-mail 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

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

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