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Join a Community Discussion on Hate Crimes in our area - Thursday, October 19 from 6-8 pm

10/12/2017

Dear Friends,

There is no doubt we live in tense and dangerous times. The rise of hate crimes and incidents has escalated to unprecedented levels.

Recent and ongoing events in Elk Grove have created fear and anxiety in many people, and it is upon us in the faith community to find ways to address these events, call upon authorities to take hate crimes and incidents seriously, and to end the hate where and when we can.
Please be invited to a community discussion and forum Thursday, October 19 from 6:00-8:00 p.m.

Speak Up and Out Against Racism and Injustice.
Elk Grove United Methodist Church
8986 Elk Grove Boulevard
Elk Grove CA 95624

Discussion leaders will be LaKenya Jordan, MPH and Addie Ellis, PhD, both experienced problem solvers and discussion facilitators within our community.

From vile messages and vandalism at an Elk Grove African American hair salon to racist graffiti scrawled on a local home, hate incidents and crimes have not mobilized the authorities to take action on these obvious hate crimes. Too often authorities have dismissed these hate crimes as acts of juveniles as if that makes a difference. It doesn’t.

Such acts are a warning – the canary in the coal mine – that tell us something is terribly wrong in our town. They too often are precursors to greater and more deadly violence. We cannot allow this to escalate! Our public safety officials and government leaders must take these incidents seriously!

Please join us even if you’re not from Elk Grove to lift voices of concern and possible solution to this danger that confronts us. Please also come to assure the victims they have our care.

This event is sponsored by California Council of Churches, Elk Grove UMC, Sacramento NAACP, and California Church IMPACT, and the South County African American Coalition. Please join us for this important community action.

Hope to see you there!

This is not over - faithful witness for a just America

8/16/2017

Dear Friends,

Charlottesville was not the end. It was the beginning.

The vicious hate we saw displayed last weekend began Friday night with events largely unmarked by media – groups of peaceful people of faith, standing in witness for justice and equality, were assaulted, spat on, jeered. A synagogue with Friday night celebrants, faced an armed group standing across the street, intentions unknown.

The events on Saturday repeated the violence. A death occurred – a hate crime as it is now being investigated – and two police officers died when their helicopter crashed while monitoring the events unfolding below. Both officers also died.

And into this yesterday we had our president affirm his acceptance of and support for this vicious display of racism, anti-Semitism, fascism.

This is not over. These are not normal times. This is not normal American politics.

We are being called on as rarely before to bear witness for American values of inclusion, equity, anti-fascism, and democracy. It is terribly scary since we tend not to be violent people and have scant knowledge of how to confront violence.

But we cannot be silent. We cannot turn away.

We turn to an excellent ecumenical statement from Called to Resist (calledtoresist.org) that laid out our role as people of faith:

As Martin Luther King Jr. put it, “The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state but rather the conscience of the state.”

Yes, Call to Resist is a direct critique of our president, but if we do not call out the perfidy of his dreadful racism, xenophobia, proto fascism, and other sins, then who will?

But we must remember he did not cause the racism – he is a manifestation of it. The sin of racism and hate of “the other” is as much a part of our history as is the dynamic of inclusive and loving change. Those exist, side-by-side and always have in America.

We are thus called to stand against the hate, the fear, the selfish greed that drives the rage against fully inclusive democracy.

You don’t have to put your body on the line to make a difference. You don’t have to be a part of a dangerous situation. You do have to speak out, make your views on loving inclusiveness manifest.

We recommend that an excellent guide from the best anti-racist, anti-hate group we know, the Southern Poverty Law Center, become part of your personal and congregational discussion on what to do and how to do it.

You can find the link here

We urge you to find your own voice and strength, however it works – from continued phone calls to care for victims of hate such as scrubbing off hateful graffiti, to quiet but forceful presence at city council and county meetings.

Whatever you do, however you do it – do something. Be silent no more. Our survival not just as a nation but as a nation of justice is at stake.

We need you. America needs you.

Thank you.

Join the Oakland Peace Center in celebrating Peace Sunday on September 17!

8/1/2017

In solidarity with those celebrating Peace Day all over the world, the Oakland Peace Center invites houses of worship to participate in Peace Sunday on September 17, 2017. Click HERE to sign up!

In this political moment, it is easy to despair, even for church folks. One of the greatest gifts the church has to offer, though, is hope, which is needed now more than ever.

International Day of Peace is September 21, and at the recommendation of one of our faithful supporters, the Oakland Peace Center (OPC) would like to invite you to participate in Peace Sunday on the Sunday before, September 17.

I'm writing to ask that you consider incorporating themes of peace into worship on September 17, and if you're able, share some information about the Oakland Peace Center and even consider taking a special offering. Here's the blog post describing Peace Sunday in a little more detail, and here's where you can sign up. If you are local and would like a speaker from the OPC, that is also an option. Also, please feel free to share with your church friends and colleagues. If you would like to learn more about the Oakland Peace Center (a collective of forty organizations working together to create equity, access and dignity as the means of creating peace), these videos capture a little of our story: the OPC emerged from First Christian Church of Oakland and in this political era we hold fast to the value of love over hate in some very concrete ways.

If this isn't interesting to you, there's another fun way to support peace and possibly the Oakland Peace Center in September: the Reading is Resistance Readathon happening all across the country! Click here for more details on that. Sign up is still in process. :)

With deep gratitude for the many ways you are working for peace in a time of war,

Sandhya Jha, director
the Oakland Peace Center

The International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”) is observed around the world each year on 21 September. Established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all humanity to commit to Peace above all differences and to contribute to building a Culture of Peace.

2017 Worldwide Theme: Together for Peace: Respect, Safety, and Dignity for All

The Oakland Peace Center, with St. Mary’s Center, will host a community gathering on September 21. Join the OPC email list for details.

Blessed Ramadan - download and print or buy a sign of affirmation

5/24/2017

Dear Friends:

With another horror of extremism in our midst, we are also coming up on the blessed season of Ramadan, the holiest time for our Muslim neighbors. Extremism is on the rise both globally and in our own human family as people use the acts of the few to target the many. Hate crimes and distrust of our Muslim allies and neighbors have increased over 1000%.

We need to show that not all of us hate. We need to offer support to our Muslim neighbors, even those unknown to us personally. Therefore we are sharing some of the work of our state ecumenical ally, the Minnesota Council of Churches who give us a simple way to do this. There is also a story attached from one of their clergy that shows how much such actions can change people's hearts and minds.

Ramadan begins at sunset this Friday night, May 26. Never was there a better moment to put love ahead of hate.

A #BlessedRamadan sign is a catalyst

"To our Muslim neighbors, Blessed Ramadan." It's just a lawn sign. Yet it is a door to so much more. Last year one person who posted a Blessed Ramadan sign in their front yard had a relationally transformative experience with his delivery man as a result. Read the story here. Learn how to acquire a sign here.

https://mncouncilofchurches.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/a-blessedramadan-conversation/

A Blog from the Minnesota Council of Churches

A #BlessedRamadan conversation
June 20, 2016

This story, stemming from a Blessed Ramadan sign, brought tears to audience members at a luncheon last week. It came to us from a metro area clergyperson:

Today I wasn’t home when our groceries were delivered. My husband was home.
When he answered the door, the delivery man asked, “Is that your sign?”
My husband said yes, although to be honest he most likely wouldn’t put up a sign if I weren’t here to ask him to because he likes his privacy and prefers not to draw attention.
My husband and the delivery man had a 20 minute discussion – with the delivery man first challenging the sign in light of what happened in Orlando over the weekend. My husband explained that our Muslim neighbors are as horrified as we all are by that act of hate and violence. He explained that his wife is a pastor and that in our family we focus on loving people, honoring that people believe different things, and being good neighbors. And none of our neighbors think it’s okay to kill 50 people.
By the time the man left to deliver the rest of the groceries in his truck, he asked my husband if at our church this weekend we would be talking about how to love people even when you are kind of afraid or confused. My husband said, probably since in some way we talk about that most weeks. The man asked where our church is and said maybe he’ll stop by. He said, “God bless you AND your neighbors,” as he walked away.
May God offer continued blessings on your ministry.
http://mnchurches.org/respectfulcommunities/interfaithprogramming/BlessedRamadanSigns.html

Blessed Ramadan is Back!
Now, more than ever, it is time to speak up. Join the Minnesota Council of Churches in showing respect for our Muslim neighbors, as we wish them a #BlessedRamadan.
Extend your goodwill with a #BlessedRamadan lawn sign.

How can I get a lawn sign?
Order or print your own lawn signs locally.
Download our design from the links above and send it to a local printer near you or do your own. They do best on 11 x 17 paper.

Order signs directly from Impact Printing in St. Paul, Minnesota.
The 18 x 24-inch signs are $8 each, including the accompanying metal stands, and the buyer can either pick up the signs directly or pay for shipping. Call Impact Printing at (651) 489-0803, or visit their website.

Fill out our online form to request signs and donate to the Minnesota Council of Churches today!
We suggest a donation of $16 for each sign (including the stand), plus $11 for the cost of shipping, if applicable. Signs are available for pick-up or delivery.
Are you requesting signs on behalf of a congregation or organization? Click on "Promotional Tips" on the sidebar for some helpful hints for your congregation.
Have questions? Maybe we already answered them--visit our Frequently Asked Question page to find out.
We at the California Council of Churches thank our Minnesota friends for sharing this information.

Please take advantage of this simple way to make a powerful statement of humanity.

Thank you!

Looking for a Congregational Study Guide on Interfaith Understanding for These Troubled Times?

2/2/2017

Many congregations are asking for resources to encourage open discussion of understanding and embracing diverse faith traditions in an environment designed to create fear, suspicion, and separation.

One resource you might consider is our Building Bridges of Understanding: An Interfaith Response to 9/11. While a little dated in some respects, it still presents a very good basic introduction into six major religious traditions that coexist in California.

You can download a PDF of the study guide here. Print copies and a VHS tape is available from our office. We are looking into finding to revise the study guide and to reissue the DVD version of the video resources. If you want information, or can help us with this project, please let us know!

Please Support Our Work for Justice

12/1/2016

Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All*

Please support our work! You can donate through PayPal, Network for Good, or print out a form here.

I am a Christmas nut. I love everything about it from the deepest meaning of the day to the cheesy decorations in the stores. I love Christmas music, especially antique carols but swoon when I hear Nat King Cole sing the Christmas Song. I watch every old Christmas-themed movie, I get Advent calendars, I bake, cook, and stuff the house with goodies to share with family and friends. Only thing that saves me from being one of those people with 13,000,000 watts of outdoor lights is a lack of time and money. My neighbors bless my inaction.

The main reason I love Christmas is the to-the-core sense of peace and hope. Ever since I was a child, the hush of Christmas Eve, the sense of waiting and wondering, has been palpable. Oh sure for Santa, but always more — the promise of good, a presence, a wonder. Christmas was always about reflection on the meaning of a baby and how his birth is made manifest as the in-gathering of friends, of sharing, of giving to others, of caring about them, and the joy of togetherness. It is peace-in-action, hope made real.

This nation has gone through dozens of really horrible times before. Even in times of war, hardship, and want, we’ve still found ways to find joy in the promise of Christmas. It is the most pure expression of our values, a baby born to a poor mother in rude circumstances yet the guidestar for so much of humankind. Hope. Promise. A call to be the best we can be.

In this season of Advent and Christmas, we face anger and discontent throughout the nation. We don’t have a civil war, but we certainly have a civility war, and there is even occasional violence attached to that discontent. Much of what we have worked for, what we accomplished will be challenged in the coming months and years as those with very different ideas about America take the reins of authority. We have anger and fear at this development — what will it mean to us? What are the effects to those in need, communities of color, women, and all our loved ones and neighbors who may be immigrants, Muslims, same-sex couples?

Please support our work! You can donate through PayPal, Network for Good, or print out a form here.

This Advent, far more than any we have seen in years, we are challenged to find the peace and hope of Christmas.

We at the Council of Churches are as challenged as any of you to keep the promise of what we are called to do. CCC has strong values about what we see as Christ’s teachings on right and wrong. We work to bring thoughtful discernment to issues that face us all in the secular world and struggle to filter our commitments to democracy through the prism of our faith values. Of course we want to be good at this work — and we fight the tendency to get angry, hostile, disrespectful of those who do not agree with us. And we hear from them! Oh boy, do we hear from them!

So we make this commitment to you: through the storm and strife of our national and state political discourse, we will continue to strive to uphold the meaning of Christmas year around.

We will try to provide insight, discernment, and analysis of our big issues with an eye to how we make them into positive affirmations not just cranky opposition. We will also, as have done around earlier crises, strive to be a foundation for peace and kindness as we educate our members on issues and mediate differences. CCC is needed more than ever to be a central part of loving Christianity, so please help us continue this role.

This holiday season, please consider a gift to help us to continue to fund our dedication to justice and equality for all.
Please support our work! You can donate through PayPal, Network for Good, or print out a form here.

Our work may sometimes be limited by resources, but our vision and energy for you is not. God created a universe of abundance and we know that in God’s universe, our success is far more about what we can imagine than what we know. Your past support has helped us make a big difference! We ask you to join us in imagining the world as God sees it. Please give generously out of the abundance with which you have been blessed.

Thank you in advance for your generosity and your partnership. Your investment in our mission and dedication will mean so much to the human community that we serve. We wish you a season of joy and blessing.

With vision and hope,

Elizabeth “Libby” Sholes
Director of Public Policy

* All means ALL — no exceptions

Please support our work! You can donate through PayPal, Network for Good, or print out a form here

The California Council of Churches is committed to being a good steward and serving faith communities to pursue justice, equity and fairness for all God’s children. If our work stirs your passion, please consider leaving a Legacy gift as you are making your estate plans. Please call the Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser at 916-488-7300 or email rick@calchurches.org.

A growing number of supporters are making monthly contributions by filling out the right-hand portion of the enclosed reply card. Can you afford to pledge $10 to $25 per month to keep us strong and effective throughout the year?

Activists Needed!!!!

California Church IMPACT and the California Council of Churches need you and your friends to become members. Your support allows us to continue and to expand our important work. Help us expand our activist base in every legislative district to continue and increase the effectiveness of our efforts to work to provide updates, training, and resources to help people of faith to be as effective and articulate advocates as possible. It is essential to our mission to be the advocacy voice for justice for our member denominations. Please send us the names and email addresses of activists in your community or share this letter with them and ask them to visit churchimpact.org/take-action.html

Like us on Facebook! facebook.com/CACouncilofChurches

The California Council of Churches is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, EIN 94-2780260. Contributions are tax deductible

FROM WHITE GUILT TO WHITE RESPONSIBILITY

7/7/2016

In the face of such egregious violence against people of color, it is easy for well-meaning members of the dominant culture to feel paralyzed and helpless. This article is form a year ago, but is still a very good piece describing how it is the the responsibility of those who benefit from the most privilege to also take responsibility for changing broken and unjust systems that dehumanize and terrorize God's children who do not enjoy the same privilege.

What's in your backpack?

www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/6153/from-white-guilt-to-white-responsibility

Join the Movement! Support the California Council of Churches

11/30/2015

Make Your Gift Today!

Dear Activist,

December 1, is #GivingTuesday.

Today, join others around the globe in playing a major role in coming together and make a gift to support the important work of the California Council of Churches. The spirit of giving is the pulse of who we are and what we do. Your gift will support our ongoing role of educating ALL communities to pursue justice, equity and fairness in the treatment of all people, in particular those most often get excluded. Your gift today sums up this quote by Teddy Kennedy: “For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

Gifts can vary in size, and every dollar will go toward our mission working for equality and justice for all. After mourning the materialism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, please join in the generosity of #GivingTuesday and give a gift that will help make things better for your sisters and brothers throughout California.

Please click here to make your tax-deductible gift today

Please click here to watch a short video by the President of our Board of Directors, the Rev. Dr. Alan Jones.

Thank you for your unwavering support. We still have work to do.

With deepest gratitude,

The Rev. Dr Rick Schlosser
Executive Director

P.S. Another way you can support our work is to help us build our activist list. Please forward this email to others you know who might support the work we do and invite them to join our activist list at http://www.churchimpact.org/take-action.html

Our #GivingTuesday team: Board President, the Rev. Dr. Alan Jones, Administrative Assistant Robert “Stefan” White, videographer Cameron Lewis, and Director of Development Kendra Lewis. Not pictured: Director of Public Policy Elizabeth “Libby” Sholes” and Executive Director Rev. Dr. Rick Schlosser.

Happy Thanksgiving!

11/25/2015

Dear Friends:

Americans are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving in commemoration of our nation’s first harsh days for those who came here as refugees. We cannot ignore the irony that our nation’s people are simultaneously discussing whether we should slam our borders shut to the current group of refugees from Syria.

We hope each and every one of you has a wonderful holiday this November. We hope also that you have been wisely following the information on the care our nation and the United Nations take in making sure refugees are people of true need, not violence.

We now fear for the safety of the petitioners as well as the existing 750,000 refugees admitted to our shores since 9/11. The voices of opposition to have begun scapegoating those from the Mid East and those who are Muslim no matter where they have come from.

This is entirely contrary to who we are as Americans. When we have given in to fear, we have been ashamed. We have no call to do that again. No concentration camps. No ships sent away. No exclusion acts. No “markers” to distinguish people’s religion. That is NOT who we are; it is not what we should ever do again.

This Thanksgiving, please remember the “lost and tempest tossed” who have found refuge here – our own families – and those desperate for safe haven today. We will ask you to raise your voices in support of them soon, but for now, have a blessed Thanksgiving with everyone you love including in your celebration both gratitude for what we all have and prayers for everyone still in need.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Refuse to Become Numb: Participate in National Gun Violence Prevention Sabbath Weekend

10/2/2015

Yesterday was a painful reminder of the work that remains for us to end gun violence. Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence, a coalition that NCC is a member of, provides an opportunity for you and your congregation to begin to act. Click here to add your congregation.

http://decembersabbath.org/

from our friends at the