World Day of Prayers for Peace

Here is the take action from the UCC.  Pray for peace at all times.
Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative.

Violence is all around us. Images of violence, intolerance and extremism surround us and all too many people experience violence first hand. Many of our churches and communities have recently been shaken by the shootings in Aurora, CO, and the attack on the Sikh Gurdwara in Oak Creek, WI.  Many of our families are strained by domestic violence or continue to bear the brunt of the decade long war in Afghanistan. Around the world, we see countries like Libya, Syria, Colombia, and elsewhere experiencing extreme violence and in need our support and prayers.

On September 21st, thousands of people of faith around the world will join in prayer for peace under the theme: “Pray for Ceasefire.” Will you be one of them?

Our prayers will be lifted up as part of the International Day of Prayer for Peace, an event organized by the World Council of Churches that parallels the International Peace Day hosted by the United Nations. We invite you to lift up a prayer on this day as part of our witness as a Just Peace Church. 

Ceasefire- can we imagine it? In a world in which violence seems so pervasive, lifting up prayers for peace and a vision of “ceasefire” is an act of Christian hope. Share your prayers.

Lambi Fund of Haiti

While on the Haiti theme I decided to post the information from the Lambi Fund of Haiti which the Board of World Fellowship supports.  I was wondering if Christ Church did anything in Haiti like we do for Nicaragua.  We have not sent a mission there, humm this is a suggestion, but we do support programs in Haiti through our general support for UCC and the Lambi Fund.  Bre Reiber the former wife of Rev Tom Martinez used to be the US representative to Haiti for the Lambi Fund.  She is the one who brought this group to our attention, I beleive.
Here is the information about the Credit Program in Haiti.

Bonjou Jeannette, Here at the Lambi Fund of Haiti we are incredibly proud of the 27 current projects we are working on in partnership with grassroots organizations throughout Haiti. Each of these projects has key elements that we believe help foster self-sufficiency and communities empowered to envision and implement changes that will improve their futures. Community credit funds play a critical role in many of Lambi Fund’s projects. So, what exactly is a community credit fund and how do they make an impact in Haitians’ lives? A community credit fund is a pool of money that community organizations use to issue low interest loans (1-5%) to its members. Why are they important? Access to affordable credit in Haiti is incredibly difficult. Traditional banks in Haiti charge high interest rates and will not issue the small loans that impoverished Haitians want and need. Hard-working Haitians use these loans to make investments in agriculture – to buy more seeds, fertilizers and tools needed to increase crop outputs and women merchants buy supplies needed to grow their small businesses. How do they work? In partnership with a local organization, Lambi Fund provides the initial funding needed to launch a community credit fund. Lambi Fund then trains members on credit fund management, bookkeeping, the issuing of loans and repayment scheduling. The community organization forms management and oversight committees which are responsible for overseeing the fund and issuing loans. Once the training is complete, the organization then issues affordable loans to members so that they can make investments that will grow their incomes Why is a community credit fund unique? As opposed to the popularized method of microcredit loans, community credit funds inject capital into the local economy and it stays in the community. The community organization is responsible for managing and maintaining the fund. When members repay the loan, it is repaid to the community credit fund – not Lambi Fund or a bank. The interest made on these loans contributes to growing the fund, so that even more affordable loans can be made to members in the future. Take the Youth Association of Sel (AJS) for instance, they issued 50 small loans this spring and all of the scheduled payments have been paid on time. The fund is growing so well, that AJS plans to issue 19 more loans to farmers this fall for the planting season. At Lambi Fund, we believe wholeheartedly that providing communities with the credit they need along with the tools and capacity to manage it wisely is a significant step in working to eradicate poverty and improving livelihoods in communities throughout Haiti. To cultivating a better tomorrow, The Lambi Fund of Haiti team   .

Jeannette Brown

UCC Representative

UCC in Haiti

Haiti has had a series of disasters and we tend to forget about them.  They are one of the poorest nations in the world.  The world seems to forget about them until they have some sort of disaster and then there is a big rush to help and then it is forgotten.
Today's Missionary e-mail features Haiti since Sunday September 23 is pray for Haiti Day.  Here is the information:

Pray for Haiti on Sunday, September 23, 2012

September 23, 2012

Lectionary Selection: Mark 9: 30 -37 New International Version (NIV)
Prayers for Haiti:
Oh God our God how excellent is your name in all the earth. We, the people of Haiti love and adore you. We know there is no other like you. We know it is you, God, that keeps us going day after day, even through disasters. We know it is the strength that only you can provide that helps us get up and start a new day. So that we are not praying selfishly, we pray for all our sisters and brothers all over the world that suffer from natural disasters and from unjust systems that promote unjust daily living environments. We pray for leaders all over the world that they will have a transformed mind and an open heart for those on the margins of life. We seek strength and peace. Therefore we pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to empower our sometimes weak mind, spirit and body so that we, like Jesus will rise again and again.
Mission Stewardship Moment from Haiti:
Another storm disrupted an already challenging life in Haiti. Winds blew strong, tents that provided shelter for those suffering from the 2010 earthquake were destroyed, trees were uprooted, roofs were blown off, street signs for direction and advertisement were destroyed and a few are grieving the loss of loved ones. One could easily say, “Haiti is down again.” However, the construction work on the new school building was not affected by the storm. With the help of our DOC and UCC partnership and mission work, CONASPEH continues to rise. Since the earthquake, the College St. Andre School for kindergarten, elementary and secondary grades, has been meeting under tents on the CONASPEH grounds.
During the spring and the summer break, the CONASPEH community has been busy with construction work to finish the new school building for the opening of school this Fall season (October). The building has two floors of classrooms with a student capacity of 1300. It will include a library, laboratories for languages, physics, chemistry, and computer science. The building includes an open-air auditorium to seat 1,000 people which will be used for programs such as training of seminarians, graduations, conferences, and other events as well as being available to CONASPEH churches when they have an event. It will also include a water reservoir and restrooms.
Mark 9: 31b says, “They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” What a powerful analogy of hope, strength and a “come-back better than before spirit.” With the continued help of our mission partners--Rise CONASPEH, Rise!

(Prayer and Mission Moment by Jeannette Salley)

 

Below is an interview with Jeannette Salley Current Missionary to Haiti and a song about the poverty

in Haiti.

 

Video Resources about Haiti:
Interview with missionary Jeannette Salley:
http://globalministries.org/resources/multimedia-resources/videos/video-mission-moments/jeanette-salley.html
Music video about Haiti and the US:
http://globalministries.org/resources/multimedia-resources/videos/video-mission-moments/bryan-sirchio.html


Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative

 

9 /11 Eleven Years Later

OK. It happened 11 years ago.  What was I doing when it happened?  I was still working at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and I was drinking my morning coffee and watching TV before I left for work.  I always left late so that I would not have to drive with the sun in my face on I 78.  I stayed late in the office for the same reason.

 

While drinking coffee and watching TV I heard the announcer say that a plane had hit the World Trade Tower.  I put down my coffee and glued my eyes to the TV.  Later in the day I called Chuck to see if he had news of any Christ Church members.  When the TV went black because the tower was gone I switched to the Cable TV stations.

 

The next day when when I was at the Y I looked up in the sky and there were no planes flying in the air.  It was weird.

 

Today I chose not to watch the reading of the names because it makes me cry.  I wonder how long we will continue to do that.  Will it be like the Holocaust Remembrance and go on forever?  I did hear the end of the program with the young people chorus singing.  They were great!  It was nice but I wish they were singing one of Mark Miller's pieces like I Believe

Here are Eleven Meditations for 9/11 from the UCC. 

 

Below I have attached today's UCC Prayer which speaks about looking up in the air.

 

Jeannette Brown

UCC Representative.

Looking Up

Isaiah 45:8
Shower, you heavens, from above, and let the skies rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation may spring up, and righteousness also.

Reflection by Mary Luti
Before the 11th day of September, 2001, if something fell from the sky, it was snow, rain, or hail. If in the night we caught a flare at the corner of our eye, it was a shooting star, and we felt lucky to see it. If we noticed a silver glint above us, it was only a jet, and we might have wished we were on it, escaping for a rest.

In the days before 9/11, we did not think that planes could slice into offices, nor that looking up we would see souls hurtling a hundred stories to the dust of collapsed futures. We didn't know that the sky could rain a million memos, a pair of shoes, a menu with the specials of the day, a man we met on Monday for a drink.

It's not Advent yet, but it might help us today to remember that on the last Sunday of that season, our ancient forebears raised their eyes and sang to their own sorrowful sky (for there is no time without sorrow) this urgent and insistent prayer: Rorate caeli de super, et nubes pluant Justum - You heavens, open from above, that clouds may rain the Just One!

So many awful things fell down on 9/11 that for a long time afterwards we might not have dared look up, as these scriptures imply we must. Yet this is faith's posture - heads lifted, eyes on the high horizon, hands outstretched, hearts open. This is the world's most needed gesture - to point to every cloud of sorrow and declare, despite all evidence to the contrary, that from such skies, even from these, the longed - for healing comes.

So pray today that God will give us a new sky under which all creatures may live without fear of falling objects. Pray that what falls from the sky from now on will be only the grace of our Savior, in whom are joined the hopes and fears of all the years. Pray that under God's new, safe sky we who are witnesses to sorrow and to mercy will co - create with God a new, safe, just, and holy earth.

Prayer

You heavens, open from above, and let clouds rain down sweet healing and peace, for us and all the nations. Amen.

About the Author Mary Luti is Visiting Professor of Worship and Preaching at Andover Newton Theological School.

Education Follow up

I received an e-mail from Rev Jan Resseger today about the Chicago Teachers Strike.  It is unfortunate that teachers had to strike to make their point.  It leaves many parents and students searching for what to do.  Especially in a large urban area like Chicago the students should not lose a day of school  The schools opened for half the day in order to house and feed the students.  Students in urban district get a lot of their nutrition from school.

 But the teachers point it is not just about finance but working conditions.  Class size is important.  Any teacher will tell you that the smaller the class size the better the learning and teaching.  I found this out when I was working as a Statewide Representative for the Improvement of the Teaching of Math and Science. 

I have attached Rev Resseger's e-mail about the subject:

 

Jeannette Brown

UCC Representative

Today school teachers in Chicago went out on strike, because months’ of negotiations have broken down.  Here is a piece, featured on the website of the National Education Policy Center, by a Chicago teacher.  He explains what’s at stake from his point of view as a teacher.  http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/whats-stake .  It is important to remember that union contracts are not merely about salaries but also about things like class size and working conditions.  All these affect the school climate that children experience each day.

 

And here, related in a deep kind of way, is a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities:  New School Year Brings More Cuts in State Funding for Schools. http://www.cbpp.org/files/9-4-12sfp.pdf  The numbers are pretty shocking. This is a 14 page report, and while you may not want to get into the details, I urge you at least to read the beginning pages and look through the graphs. 

 

--Jan 

 

 

Ms. Jan Resseger
Minister for Public Education and Witness
Justice and Witness Ministries
700 Prospect, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
216-736-3711
http://www.ucc.org/justice/public-education

"That all citizens will be given an equal start through a sound education is one of the most basic, promised rights of our democracy.  Our chronic refusal as a nation to guarantee that right for all children.... is rooted in a kind of moral blindness, or at least a failure of moral imagination....  It is a failure which threatens our future as a nation of citizens called to a common purpose... tied to one another by a common bond."   —Senator Paul Wellstone, March 31, 2000

The UCC and Public Education.

Since this is the first week of school for most children and teachers I thought I would discuss public education.  The UCC is the only religious group that has a full time minister devoted to public education.  Her name is Jan Ressinger and she is my friend.  We have talked every time I see her at Synod and I will have lunch with her when I go to Cleveland next month for another conference.

Below is the information about Public Education for this year.  She is appalled at the growth of the number of charter schools which are public private partnerships.  Since children are assigned by lottery not all children can get into these schools which leaves some children behind in failing schools so in that respect she is right to condemn those schools.  But charter schools give some children, such as my cousin, a chance for a great education which they might not have had in the urban school.  So I guess I wish  that all children had the same chance to get a good education.

Jeannette Brown

UCC Representative.

PS, I will down load and print the resource and put it on the information table in the Atrium.

2013 Justice & Witness Ministries Message on Public Education

Every fall, as the school year begins, Justice & Witness Ministries publishes a resource to comment from the point of view of the church on the conditions in public schools and public school reform. This resource is designed not only to inform but also to stimulate conversation in a justice committee, a women's group, or an adult Sunday School class.

This year's 2013 Message on Public Education, The Public Purpose of Public Education, explores the implications for America's poorest children of the rush to privatize public schools, the institution our society has valued for more than 200 years as the foundation of our democracy. Most of us imagine that what is happening in our own city is a local phenomenon. In fact the trend is connected from place to place by federal policy, trends in state school funding, and growing segregation by income inequality.
This resource is free to download (available online only).

Download Resource

Senate Anti Human Trafficking Bill

Here is a take action from the UCC.  I hope that when you read this you will take action.  I intend to do so later this year.  Of course both of our Senators will probably be at the Democratic Convention but you can talk to staff members who do the work anyway.

Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative

The Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) is a comprehensive piece of legislation which underwrites U.S. efforts to end all forms of human trafficking. First passed by Congress in 2000, it has been unanimously reauthorized – and strengthened – in 2003, 2005, and 2008. When the TVPRA (S. 1301) was introduced in Congress more than a year ago, partisan politics blocked reauthorization and the TVPA expired on October 11, 2011. S. 1301 is now moving again through the Senate, thanks to advocacy from people like you. Join the National Call-In Day to advocate support for the Trafficking in Persons Reauthorization Act (S 1301) on September 4. The TVPRA (S 1301) was introduced into Congress over a year ago but partisan politics and inaction have resulted in its expiration on October 11, 2011. It is critical that this significant legislation be reauthorized. The TVPA has provided support around the country to put in place protections for victims of human trafficking, coordination among various law enforcement and social services, educational programs to train officials, business owners and the public to recognize the signs of trafficking, and much more. As a result, a growing number of UCC churches are engaged in their own communities to stop modern-day slavery, promote slavery-free products, and support advocacy efforts aimed at stopping these violations of human rights. The TVPA has helped the U.S. become a global leader in addressing trafficking in persons which has become one of the most lucrative illegal businesses in the world. It ranks in the top three such enterprises along with the illegal small arms and drug operations. More than anything, poverty and lack of opportunity to make a sustainable living are the driving forces behind the exploitation of persons. Get more info on Human Trafficking The failure of Congress to reauthorize the TVPA is shameful and dangerous, especially for those victimized by such exploitation. Join the National Call-In Day on Tuesday, September 4th and ask your Senators to support the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (S 1301). They need to hear from you!

Make a call to Senator (D-New Jersey) Frank R. Lautenberg's Office Phone: (202) 224-3224 District Phone: (973) 639-8700 Log a call to Senator (D-New Jersey) Frank R. Lautenberg's Office Make a call to Senator (D-New Jersey) Robert 'Bob' Menendez's Office Phone: (202) 224-4744 District Phone: (973) 645-3030 Log a call to Senator (D-New Jersey) Robert 'Bob' Menendez's Office

Call script to Senators: Hello, my name is __________ and I am a member of the United Church of Christ in [your city/town]. As a person of faith, I am very concerned about the exploitation of human beings which occurs in our country and around the world in the form of human trafficking. I am proud that the United States has become a leader in the efforts to end modern-day slavery. The Trafficking Victims Protection Act, passed by Congress in 2000 and reauthorized unanimously three times since then, is an essential piece of legislation to address and end human trafficking. I am very concerned that the current Congress has not reauthorized the TVPA and I am asking Senator ______ to please support S 1301 now. We cannot wait anymore. This is not an issue for partisan politics – it is an urgent issue of human rights. Thank you.

Send yourself an email message of this page with a link to log your call.

Justice for workers

Here is a copy of the UCC devotional for Labor Day. It is about a boycott of a hotel because of abuse of the workers.

I don't know what you do, but when I stay at a hotel I make sure to tip the workers well and leave money for the people who clean my room and make my bed. I appreciate what they do for me and remember that both my mother and father worked in a hotel. In fact that is where they met working in a hotel in Atlantic City New Jersey.

So I give this to you for you to think about as you travel and even when you are home and have workers work for you. Remember they have families and bills too and you should pay them well for their service to you.

I am back and hope to keep up with this blog.

Jeannette Brown
UCC Representative


An ethicist, a Bible scholar and a preacher walk into a hotel...

Psalm 128:2
"For you shall eat the labor of your hands: happy shall you be, and it shall be well with you."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel
An ethicist, a Bible scholar and a preacher walk into a hotel that is being boycotted at the request of its own workers. It's like the punch line of a joke. Except it's not funny, but very serious.

Serious to the workers at the Hyatt hotels who have taken the drastic step of asking people not to stay, meet or eat at the establishments that employ them. And serious to the thousands of religious scholars in the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion who are to meet at a Hyatt in Chicago this November. They alerted members, moved room blocks and heard stories with biblical themes: the exploitation of immigrants, the abuse of housekeepers, the callousness of the rich to the poor who serve, cook and clean for them. I recall an incident last summer in Chicago when, during a 100 degree heat wave, Hyatt management turned heat lamps on striking workers. That led to an interfaith outcry that continues today, through Interfaith Worker Justice and the UCC.

Back when I was a young student at divinity school preparing to be a minister, it was scholars like these who taught me about the cost of discipleship. They warned us that our faith and ethics would make life harder, not easier.

There are all kinds of reasons to ignore a boycott, but most of them begin with a concern with the self. I do not want to be inconvenienced. I do not want to lose money. I do not want to put myself out. My own lofty project matters more than the concerns of the housekeepers who make my bed.

Instead, these religious scholars are living with the inconvenience, the cost, and the understanding that it is not all about them. They will also, no doubt, have to live with those who criticize their position. Sounds like a pretty good metaphor for the life of faith to me.

Prayer

Almighty God, this Labor Day, give bread to those who have none and a hunger and thirst for justice to those who have plenty. Amen.

About the Author Lillian Daniel is the senior minister of the First Congregational Church, UCC, Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She is the author, with Martin Copenhaver, of This Odd and Wondrous Calling: the Public and Private Lives of Two Ministers.