Dear Friends,
 
Never have I started an alert writing “Dear Friends” with more heartfelt truth. 
 
I have been here at the California Council of Churches and Church IMPACT for 17 years as of next Tuesday, January 15, 2019.  During those years, we have waded the deep waters of budget crises, of health care reform, of fighting for racial justice and for immigrant rights, for full equality for women, justice for our Muslim neighbors, for LGBTQ brothers and sisters, for honest government, fair redistricting, and meaningful elections among many other issues.
 
Occasionally I still meet staff members at the Capitol with whom I’ve never worked. They all know who we are.  Why? Because our organizational voice is amplified millions of times over by you. I discovered fairly early in my tenure here that when I’d send out alerts, you’d take action in your district about which I often didn’t even know for months.  Legislators heard from you, and it made my presence meaningful. Without you I’m just one person. With you we are legend!
 
However, after all these wonderful years with you, it is now time for me to move on. 
 
At the risk of sounding like a discredited politician, I really do want to “spend more time with my family”.  I have terminated my lobby registration and am cleaning out my incredibly messy desk.  I have 17 years’ worth of calendars to save or throw away - can’t make up my mind – a lifetime of work, joy, frustration, fury, happiness, and accomplishment. If the paper gets recycled, the memories will stay. They are mostly about all of you.
 
I want to wake up without an alarm for a time, and I want to garden (I’m bad at it), cook things slowly instead of in a rush, read more, play the piano again, and go back to the Y to take classes that are always in the daytime hours. i want to find out if the "Churchlady" can Zumba. 

I will also take time to listen to my inner spiritual self about what are my “next steps”.
 
I will miss all of you, friends through virtual reality and face-to-face. I am in awe of your creativity, your dedication to justice, your kindness. Your energies, devotion to advocacy and activism, your insights, and your love, humor, and wisdom have sustained me every step of the way.
 
This is adieu not good-bye. After a breathing period, I will write for our Blog and help with grant proposals, but we will have to rely mostly on you to “speak truth to power”. I will still have my email address for now and will answer questions, which I can do from home, so that you can take action, call for accounting, and move issues with clarity and authority. 
 
We have every faith in you. You have worked wonders and given comfort to those who cannot speak for themselves. You have made California and America a better place.  It has been my honor to work with you all these many years.  You are all truly in my heart.

Elizabeth Sholes, Director of Public Policy
 ​

If you are looking for a meaningful last-minute gift, please consider making a gift in your loved one's honor to a worthy nonprofit!  This guide from our friends at the California Association of Nonprofits, makes some great suggestions for gifts that reflect your values and also some important cautions about online giving.

Of course, we would be thrilled if you would choose to honor someone with a contribution to the California Council of Churches here, or California Church IMPACT here; but we urge you to support the nonprofit that most reflects your values.

Thank you!

Black Lives Matter Madonna (Copyright: Bromickeymcgrath)

Art by Mickey McGrath, O.S.F.S,: We need images of the Black Madonna now more than ever






​A powerful reimagining of The Magnificat by our dear friend, the Rev. Jim Burklo, Senior Associate Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California.  You can read more in his blog, musings, here.








God in the Belly 
 
Full of God, full to birthing,
Mary howls: head back, hair tossed,
Hands skyward with joy
That wrongs are about to be righted,
Salvation's about to be sighted.
No more groveling for crumbs of charity:
She pronounces justice with crystal clarity.
She's done waiting for the concentrated wealth of the 1%
To trickle down magically to the other 99.
The Santa System is stuck in the chimney;
And she won't be burned by it again!
A new kind of Christmas is coming -
To undo the dogma of domination,
Snap out of blame-the-victim hypnosis,
Chase money-changers out of the temple,
Redistribute the common wealth,
Restore power to the people,
And send the Religious Right empty away.
With one magnificent rhetorical swing,
Mary bats the political center into left field.
Pundits fumble, talk-show hosts mutter,
Super-PAC donors quiver, campaign strategists stutter:
Mary out-Magnificats them all.
So let's get in her line and carry her sign
And holler and act as if we, too,
Have God in our bellies!

From our friends at Faithful America:

The Trump administration is pursuing felony criminal charges against a volunteer with a church group that provides water, food, socks, blankets, and emergency first-aid treatments to migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Scott Warren volunteers with No More Deaths—a ministry of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tucson—and he’s on trial for “harboring” two undocumented immigrants.

Warren’s legal team is arguing his actions should be protected under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act. But while Jeff Sessions has no problem with religious freedom being invoked to excuse discrimination against LGBT people, DOJ lawyers are arguing that aiding migrants "is not required by his beliefs.”

The case is receiving national media attention, showing how a crackdown on church ministries to the most vulnerable is a genuine threat to religious freedom.
​
Sign the petition:
The Department of Justice must immediately drop all charges against Scott Warren and respect the right of No More Deaths volunteers to freely practice their faith by caring for migrants on the border.

​It is clear that this federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act is being used to condone the discriminatory behavior by right-wing religious groups, but was never intended to protect work for justice-seeking people faith.  Please sign this petition to support Scott Warren living out his faith commitments and to enable him and others to continue working to protect and aid asylum seekers.

Dear Friends,

The deadline to register for the November 6 general election in California is October 22.  To check your registration status, please go here.    

If you or friends need to register or re-register, please visit the Secretary of State sites.  
For general voter registration information, please see here. 
To register or re-register, find the online forms here. 

Can you host a voter registration table at your congregation or community organization?  You may download and print the registration application and help people fill it out, sign it, and return it by mail.  It must be postmarked October 22 by midnight or earlier.

If you are interested in the IMPACT ballot guide, recommendations on the propositions by our sister organization, please find them here. 

If you wish to continue in a language other than English, please select your language below.

• Español Spanish
• 中文 Chinese
• हिन्दी Hindi
• 日本語 Japanese
• ខ្មែរ Khmer
• 한국어 Korean
• Tagalog
• ภาษาไทย Thai
• Tiếng Việt Vietnamese

The upcoming election is important on all matters.  Please make sure you are registered and then vote on or before November 6. 
​
Your vote is how democracy thrives!

Thank you!

Let our friends at CAIR help you at a Naturalization Fair!!

Can you help us spread the word to those in need (including your families, friends and neighbors) and bring in more volunteers? We want to serve as many people in need of naturalization/citizenship help as possible! 

We need interpreters, law clerks, pro-bono attorneys and more at the event.
If you can lend a hand, please email mzahriya@cair.com! 
If You Go
WHAT: CAIR-SV Naturalization Fair offering free legal help with U.S. citizenship.
WHEN: July 26; registration from 8:30-8:55 a.m., event from 9-4 p.m.
WHERE: CAIR Sacramento Valley headquarters, 1122 Del Paso Blvd.
MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER*: Call 916-441-6269; email mzahriya@cair.com; visit the event on our website.
* Advance registration is required.