National Council of Churches Poverty Initiative

June 2012 Newsletter

News

U.S. Families Lift their Voices this Summer. God is doing something big among everyday families in the U.S. this July. Two major national gatherings are happening at the exact same time with the goal of lifting up voices of struggling families. While the Children's Defense Fund will host a conference geared toward collective action in Cincinnati, NCC staff will be attending the Equal Voice conference in Los Angeles. NCC staff anticipate bringing back ideas to share from July's Equal Voice convening. Faith community participation will be high at both events. Click here to read more about the Equal Voice network, and watch the embedded video below to learn about the Children's Defense Fund convening.

Catholic Sisters Embark on a "Nuns on the Bus" Tour to Call for a Faithful Budget, and Call Attention to the Injustice of the U.S. House of Representatives' Budget. Check out their website.

Religious Leaders Release Faithful Budget, an alternative vision for our nation's federal budget. Read about the Faithful Budget here.

World Council of Churches Hosts Poverty, Wealth, and Ecology Forum of 100 Faith Leaders. Read more.

Episcopal Church Hosts Forum on the Intersection of Poverty and Environment Issues. Access their webcast and materials here.

Why Food Stamps Matter: A Profile of Vernell Livingston. Read the story.

Rhode Island Council of Churches Hosts Anti-Poverty Conference with Top Leaders from Christian, Jewish and Muslim Organizations. Read more here.

Two Hour Poverty Simulation Impacts Participants at United Methodist Church General Conference. Click here for the story.

National Council of Churches Works to Remove Racial Disparities in Maternal Health. Click here to read more.

Former NCC Poverty Intern Youngest Delegate at Democratic National Convention. Learn Kevin's story.

Hurricane Issac Prompts Churches' Response. After the storm passed, Church World Service, Children's Disaster Services of Church of the Brethren, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, and Week of Compassion have continued to help out.

Labor Day is remembered in the Pulpit with Interfaith Worker Justice. Read one church's story about it here.

Events

Children's Defense Fund Conference. July 22-25 in Cincinnati, OH. Click here for details.

Save the Date: Fighting Poverty with Faith mobilization 2012 will focus on affordable housing and will be November 8-18. Click here to sign up for more information.

Get Involved

Ask President Obama to Re-commit to Poverty Reduction Goals. Let's make ending poverty a priority now in the election conversations and all our public discourse. Click here to ask president Obama to re-commit to cutting poverty in half from 2010-2020.

Join Jubilee USA in Breaking the Chains of Debt. Read about how to stop doubling of student loan interest rates before July 1 and download this free action packet today.

Ask the Senate for a Just Farm Bill. Click here to take action.

Submit a story about how the safety net builds economic security for you and your community. Click here to read stories or submit a story to Half in Ten and the Coalition on Human Needs.

Faith-Based Education Resources
New Justice Hymn By Carolyn Gilette. Click here to download the hymn from the Church World Service website.

Download "Our Faith, Our Vote" Resources from the United Church of Christ for Engaging Your Faith Community in the 2012 Presidential Election. Click here to access congregational resources.

Justice Unbound: An Interactive Journal of Christian Social Justice. Check out the latest edition of Justice Unbound: "Inside Agitators: Seminarians for Justice."

Download the NCC's "Eradicating Poverty: the Call of the Church." This NCC Poverty Initiative resource "Eradicating Poverty: The Call of the Church" is available for free download. The resource includes educational materials, sermon starters, a Bible study, a bulletin insert, and a worship tool for congregational use.

Book Club: The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett Recommended by Dr. Tim Ready, Director of the Lewis Walker Institute for Race and Ethnic Relations.

As epidemiologists, the authors meticulously document how various indicators of health and well-being are worse in places with the greatest income inequality.As expected, the negative consequences of inequality fall most heavily upon the poor. What is more surprising is the authors documentation of how even the affluent in the most unequal societies are worse off in many ways than their counterparts in more equitable societies.

While not explicitly religious, the core message of The Spirit Level is indeed spiritual. Societies that are structured to respect human dignity by promoting something akin to Martin Luther King’s Beloved Community are healthier and even happier than those that tolerate the marginalization of their citizens. This is what the authors are referring to as the spirit level. In addition to reading this important book, you can learn more at http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/resource/the-spirit-level

A special note about this book: NETWORK Catholic Social Justice Lobby staff read this book together in 2011 and were inspired to create a great campaign called “Mind the Gap.” It offers free curricula for teaching about inequality in the United States.

Click here to start a discussion about this book on the blog.

Join our Network The NCC Poverty Initiative's role in raising the awareness and will of Christians to act to reduce poverty is more crucial than ever. Please consider how God might be calling you and your church to join together with the NCC in the work to end poverty.

We're on and ... Check us out!

Join our network to receive updates and action alerts. Got a story for our next newsletter or our website? Tell us about how your church is alleviating poverty.

If you would like to donate to the NCC Poverty Initiative, click here.

Click here to go to the NCC Poverty Initiative home page.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 36 member faith groups -- from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches -- include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.