As our organization moves through the research process, many of our members are thinking about and dissecting the power dynamics in our area.  They are even considering how much power we have to make systemic change in the areas of youth unemployment and homelessness.  Kendall Clark Barker, pastor emeritus of First Congregation UCC in San Bernardino, CA says this about the power of churches:

As with every good gift, power can be abused or squandered through human sin.  But even a cursory exploration of the New Testament reveals that virtually every reference to power is positive.  The gospel is “the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16).  Christ is “the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:24).

 Community organizing also speaks openly and positively about power.  How real power is often hidden.   How power – our own, as well as that entrusted to public officials – must be held accountable.  How there are two kinds of power:  organized money and organized people.  It was clear which of these was more accessible to our congregation as we became powerful people of faith and more effective in our ministry and mission.

Pastor Baker says there is a hidden power embedded within our faith communities and specifically in our congregations’ justice ministry networks. They empower and build us up individually but also collectively as an organization with the intent of building a powerful sense of community.  Since 2007, our justice ministries have used their power of relationships within our congregations to remind them of the call to do justice, to seriously consider the injustices in our community and to reflect on the great strides our justice ministries have achieved.  Harnessing that power allows us to change the power dynamics and the status quo of how decisions are being made.  It may feel uncomfortable and daunting at times, but as people of faith we possess the Armor of God:

Ephesians 6:10-13 ESV

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

As people of faith we must put on the Armor of God that not only gives us power but the ability to withstand the negative powers of this world.  Standing together at our Nehemiah Actions allows us put on the armor of God as an organization, to show that we are powerful people of God that will “withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm.”  It will give us the confidence and assurance that God is with us in our communities and it allows us to stand proudly for our community.  We must always remember that “God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control”, 2 Timothy 1:7.

Check out the whole article:    CHURCH POWER! By Kendall Clark Baker, Sojourners, January 2013

The Very Rev. James Richardson
Rector, St. Paul’s Memorial Episcopal Church
Sermon for the Second Sunday of Epiphany

Readings:
Isaiah 62:1-5,
Psalm 36:5-10,
1 Corinthians 12:1-11,
John 2:1-11

+ + +

“They feast upon the abundance of your house; you give them drink from the river of your delights.

For with you is the well of life, and in your light we see light.”

Psalm 36:8-9

          Many years ago, Lori and I took our teenage youth group on a mission trip to an Indian reservation through an amazing organization called the Sierra Service Project.

We were camped at the Shoshone-Piute reservation in the middle of Nevada – and it is about as far from the comfortable suburbs where our kids lived as you can get.

We would fix houses by day and then in the evening we would have an educational program.

One evening, a Shoshone-Piute elder came to tell us stories of the tribe. These weren’t just any stories, but stories about how the Great Creator brought the people to this place to live.

Our universe was about to expand beyond our imagining.

He began each story this way – and I want you to hold onto this. Here is how he started each story:

“I don’t know if this happened exactly this way, but this is a true story.”

Let me say that again:

“I don’t know if this happened exactly this way, but this is a true story.”

This morning we hear the story of Jesus going to a wedding and turning water into wine.

I don’t know if this happened exactly this way, but this is a true story.

Cana is about a day’s walk east from Nazareth, in the hill country on the road that descends to the Sea of Galilee.

The story of the wedding feast appears only in the Gospel of John, and it is the first miracle story in John’s gospel.

Before you get too hung up on the chemistry – or alchemy – of turning water into wine, please hold this thought:

I don’t know if this happened exactly this way but this is a true story.

In the story, Jesus is at a wedding feast, and the guests have consumed all the wine. His mother, Mary, asks him to save the party by doing one of his miracles, so Jesus converts six large stone jars of water into wine.

Biblical scholars will tell you this story from the Gospel of John has many theological layers pointing to the meaning of the Eucharistic meal, and so it does.

But I want to point out two simple elements to this story that make it a true story:

First, it is a story about hospitality – the spiritual gift of hospitality; expansive enormous hospitality – about how God’s grace extends beyond the limits of our imagination.

It is a story of how God feeds us and sustains us even when we are at our lowest moments. It is about how our Great Creator will turn the water of our tears into the food that is wine that will carry and sustain us.

Second, Jesus gives the guests the good wine.

God is not cheap. God opens the best bottle, not the worst. God gives not the leftovers, but the first fruits.

And the guests notice this, and they are startled. They expect the cheap wine, but at this party, they get the finest. They expect stinginess, and they get a feast.

Here in Charlottesville, many of us enjoy a very high standard of living. We have schools and roads and health care. Many of us have enough money to take vacations and enjoy the best that life has to offer, and some us can afford to buy the good wine.

We have all that we need and more. We have a feast.

But there are many around us who don’t share in this feast. Twenty-percent of the population in Charlottesville lives below the poverty line.

We are called to share our feast, and not the cheap wine, but our first fruits. We are called to share the best of who are, and the finest gifts that we have, to bring God’s Kingdom alive in this world, and not just the next.

Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, and there is no better way to honor Dr. King than by sharing this feast in our community.

We can do no better to honor his memory by sharing the best of who are, as Dr. King did with us. We can do no better by bringing the best of who we are to neglected islands and hamlets of this earth.

We can open our hearts, open our hands, and open checkbooks and do what needs to be done.

We are doing that in many ways here at St. Paul’s. Many of you are involved in through PACEM providing emergency shelter for the homeless in the winter, and the Haven, a day center for those who live on the street that also provides counseling and other services.

Some of you work on one of our Salvation Army teams feeding those in need.

Our parish is involved in IMPACT, a coalition of 26 congregations here in Charlottesville working on systemic issues that hold people down. We’ve won funding for a dental clinic and transitional services for the mentally ill.

This year we are working on the knotty issues of solving homelessness and joblessness.

And look beyond Charlottesville by considering how we are called to turn our wine into water.

Turning wine into water is a miracle that happens every day. Here is how: Episcopal Relief and Development provides safe drinking water and sanitation in many rural impoverished countries. ERD suggests taking the money you might have spent on a bottle of wine and sending to ERD to buy water filters.

So here is my pledge: A bottle of Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley costs about $75. I will send that amount to ERD today. Will you join me? Write a check to St. Paul’s, put ERD on the memo line, and we will get it there.

My friends, the church is not a sanctified social club. It is a place to give thanks to God, to find sustenance for our souls, and then get up and get out and share our hospitality with the world as God gives us the spiritual gifts to do so.

The most important words we hear on Sunday morning might be these: Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.

In this new year, ask yourself: What is stirring in your heart that will make your faith come alive and change lives around you and far away? What spiritual gifts has God given you? How will you share yours?

What will expand your universe beyond your imagining?

I bring us back to the story of the wedding at Cana and our Eucharist – our Communion meal. The word “eucharist” means thanksgiving, and so it is that we give thanks this day by how we share our gifts.

So let us give thanks for all that we have, and give the best of who we are, and then get to work making our Lord’s prayer real: “thy will be done on earth as it is heaven.”

AMEN

Reflection for the 2011 Rally

Pastor Halliard Brown, Jr.

of Zion Baptist Church-North Garden, VA

February, 2011

To the executive board members, to the angel of the Church of Incarnation, to all my brothers and sisters in Faith, I greet you in the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

It is good to see so many of you here tonight and I want you to take the time to give yourselves a big hand…for we are doing a mighty work for God and the people of our respective communities. My question to you tonight is what are we come to do? And our answer should be “Make an IMPACT!” So whenever you are asked the question “what are you going to do?” your answer should be “Make an IMPACT!”

As I look back upon how IMPACT has influenced our church’s ministry at Zion Baptist North Garden, VA, I recall the first meeting that I attended which was actually the first big Nehemiah action of 2008 in Charlottesville. My daughter and son-in-law invited me as a guest for Union Run Baptist Church. I stopped by here tonight to let you know that to see justice ministry in action for myself, had a profound effect on me.

I had made it a goal when I became pastor to take a holistic approach to ministry and I thought I had all the bases covered. After experiencing the Nehemiah action I soon realized that I had not included justice ministry as part of the ministry plan. It also became plain to me after meeting the people involved and learning more of the workings of IMPACT that this organization would soon be an intricate part of our justice ministry at Zion Baptist.

Would the folk from Zion please stand so the people can see that you came tonight to make an IMPACT! We are few in number but filled with determination to do our part to grow, make our voices heard, and make an IMPACT. These are Zion’s Justice Network Members who are committed to bringing three persons each to the Nehemiah action.

All of you that are here tonight that are Justice Network Members and are committed to bringing three persons to the Nehemiah Action will you please stand tonight and be recognized. Let’s bless them tonight with a thunderous handclap. God bless you all. “Now, for those who have not made a commitment we challenge you tonight to get excited and make that commitment before you leave.”

God said something in Jeremiah 29:11 that stirred my spiritual juices in this justice ministry arena. He said

“For I know the plans I have for you…” “…They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

As I began to look around the community I began to see things that pertained to making living this everyday life more bearable not being attended to, and being taken for granted. This was an injustice to those involved. I heard folk talking about how they did not have transportation to and from work because the bus did not come to their areas or the scheduling of the buses did not accommodate their schedules.

I heard folk talk about how their schools were not meeting their children’s physical, nutritional and educational needs. As I told them of the recent accomplishments of the IMPACT organization I saw an expression of hope come on their faces. They had a hope that God’s plan is being implemented through this process.

At one of the Pastor’s meetings, which came out of our being part of IMPACT, Pastor White of Union Run said he compared IMPACT to washing clothes. When you put clothes into a washing machine they had to go through a washing cycle in order to become clean. You had to put in the proper ingredients and the machine began to agitate the clothes in order to get them clean. There had to be a shaking going on to get the desired results. I found out that this organization is likened unto that metaphor.

There has to be a shaken up of the powers to be in order to get justice done. Many times in the process of doing the business of justice you will run across some very nice folk that are council members or are members of the committees that we bring our issues to.

Yes, they are very nice folk but we have an agenda laid down by God that says yes we are our brother’s keepers. Sometimes you have to agitate, and aggravate, educate and sometimes irritate in order to adjudicate the problem at hand.

 And there has to be a unity of the people to make it happen. And there is no stronger connection to the area’s communities than the faith based community within them.

I am reminded of Nehemiah who is the biblical example for our justice ministry model and he shows us that sometimes we will come up against confrontations.

And when we face those moments of tension and confrontation we don’t need any more gripers, complainers, self-proclaimed prophets, and armchair quarterbacks. We need some folk who are going to get up off their rusty dusty and do something about the problem at hand.

Nehemiah saw a problem and was distressed. Instead of complaining or wallowing in self-pity and grief, he took action. Nehemiah knew that God wanted him to motivate the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls, so he left a responsible position in the Persian government to do what God wanted.

Nehemiah knew God could use his talents to get the job done. Just like God knows He can use your talents here today to get the job done.  From the moment Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, everyone knew who was in charge, and that’s how we at IMPACT have to be. Nehemiah organized, managed, supervised, encouraged, met opposition, confronted injustice, and kept going until the walls were built. Nehemiah was a man of action. What are you going to do? (“Make an IMPACT!”)

The concerns I had about having a holistic approach to ministry is now fulfilled through IMPACT. As children of God we are to have compassion for our fellow man and be the instruments in the earth to fulfill God’s plan for us. His plan is not for His people to live through one disaster after another all alone, but to have a hope and to have a future.

 God’s plan for His people is for all things to work together for their good. Jesus said in the gospel according to John 10:10b,

“…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

My brothers and sisters of IMPACT, we are called out soldiers in God’s army placed here to fight injustice so that all may have the abundant life Christ sacrificed for us to have.

 We are called out to fight injustice everywhere. As one great justice fighter put it, “If there is injustice anywhere, there is injustice everywhere.” We as called out fighters against injustice are to keep fighting until justice flow down like mighty rivers of water. Fight, until we have heard every concern of all the people! Fight until every concern is met.

Fight until every injustice has been rectified, fight until the people have been made whole and God has been glorified. Fight the good fight of faith until our Father’s work is done.

The apostle James said in his letter 2:26

“For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”

This body of IMPACT should never grow tired of working justice ministry. We have the faith in God, and the power of His Spirit, so now let’s produce the fruit with the power given to us from that faith.

Let’s fight together to rectify the injustice being done to our people in the community with mental health issues. Let’s stand together as one body in the Spirit of Almighty God to fight against injustice everywhere. So I ask the question again, “What are we going to do?” “Make an IMPACT!” What are we going to do?” “Make an IMPACT!” 

 I thank you IMPACT and all my brothers and sisters in faith for your works in justice ministry through the interfaith community. Let us not get weary in our well doing and let us thank Almighty God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit for keeping us in His Word, His will, and His way. God bless you all, and may heaven smile down upon you.

Reflection: MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail & the Creative Use of Tension

Tim Sams, Charlottesville Mennonite Church

IMPACT Rally

March, 2012

Here in this church are 32 congregations, hundreds of people, all of whom are gathered around a central premise: we are committed to working together for justice.

However, I believe if I were to poll each of you individually, I bet I would find that almost every person has a different idea of what it looks like to work for justice.

I know this is true for our church, Charlottesville Mennonite—we too have many ideas about how justice “should” be worked for in order to be consistent with our faith tradition.

Mennonites have traditionally been known for their stance on peace and their resistance to go to war. As well as their good cooking. But it goes a lot deeper than that.

Because we believe God is loving and just, Mennonites feel called to live lives that reflect this reality. We believe that peace and wholeness is a real possibility in time and space. It’s how God intends us to live here and now and we have been given all of the necessary tools to achieve this through our faith. Empowered by the transforming work our Lord, we’re committed to developing systems and practical applications for making this peace a reality and spreading this transformation.

We have worked extensively as leaders in the art of conflict resolution even on an international scale. Mennonites have worked side by side with differing groups or factions helping them build peace in places like East Africa, Northern Ireland and Central America. Mennonites have worked tirelessly in the area of offender-victim reconciliation programs in the United States and Canada, promoting restorative justice as a way of responding to criminal and antisocial activity.

For us, we’re active in this because this is who our God is: A God of Justice. The prophet Isaiah (in chapter 58) spoke God’s words by saying:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
⁸ Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
⁹ Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

So like all of you, we bring something to the table in this conversation about justice. However, like you, we also have a lot of views about the way to work for justice. And when you have hundreds of people who all have differing views about how to achieve a common goal, inevitably you may have division.

Beyond all else, I’m convinced that we must learn to work together—because frankly our community needs what IMPACT has to offer.

Tonight I’d like to reflect on a piece of civil rights history that I think speaks to the issues we face as an organization working for justice. Specifically I’d like to look at a few excerpts from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail and what it might have to say to us.

As you may recall, in that letter King addressed his fellow pastors—white pastors—who were concerned that King’s presence in Birmingham was ill-conceived and disruptive. They proclaimed that while his was a noble cause, it was “too soon,” and often led to violence and a disturbance of the peace. To me, as a white man from the South reading this today, I find the objections of these white clergy to be nothing short of obtuse and ridiculous.

However, King in his eloquence addressed their concerns forthright and with moving and powerful language that resonates for us today. It provides, I believe, some sobering commentary for where we’re sitting right now. And I want to focus on two aspects of King’s letter that apply to us:

The Creative Use of Tension and The Importance of Church Witness.

At the time, King’s critics urged him to slow down, to be patient, that the wounds of segregation would eventually go away and that in time, all people would be equals. Their worry was over the tension his movement created and the accompanying discord. King unapologetically rejected these calls as missing the point. Instead, he addressed this concern directly by identifying and naming the tension he was creating.

Tension is not something we naturally enjoy. We spend most of our lives working away from tension. But King’s believed that tension could be a tool for transformation.  It can lead to change and in King’s case, it offered the opportunity to open up dialogue where there was none before. He says in the letter:

“…I must confess that I am not afraid of the word “tension.” …there is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must see the need of having nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men to rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. So, the purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.”

For IMPACT, we too should not be afraid of tension but realize that the end goal is for transformation. Tension is not an end in itself, it always has a purpose. For King, tension was a given and he used it to highlight the injustice of segregation.

Now I’ve heard some say that invoking Martin Luther King Jr. as inspiration for social justice is a false comparison for us today. That segregation was a true evil—that today, we just don’t have these types of evils—not in our community, at least not to this degree.

But I believe these types of observations sorely miss the point.

It’s not that we need to compare who had the worst crisis of justice to tackle. Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t go looking for segregation. Segregation found Martin Luther King Jr. He could have likely lived his life as a very popular preacher in a large church, a prominent man in his community, possibly even become a successful business man. Instead, King chose to stand in the gap for something that was put in his face. This is where we find commonality and inspiration, ladies and gentlemen. By coming here with eyes wide open, we are opening ourselves up to the opportunity to stand in the gap—and possibly for an issue that will not affect us personally one bit. But stand in the gap we must.

Comparing levels of injustice is a ridiculous game. What we are here to do is to be faithful to what has been put in front of us—the calls of justice that are before us. We don’t need to compare the severity of injustices of each age in order to be inspired to be awake and to stand in the gap for the things we see in our community that cry out for someone to “do something”. That is our role and we must fulfill it.

Getting back to his letter, King addresses the calls for “why now?” After a long passage where he names with brutal specificity the words used to describe men and women of color and outlines the institutional, systematic removal of dignity for a person of color, he says:

“…when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodyness” — then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.”

Why must someone in Charlottesville wait for access to dental care? Why must someone wait for a bus line that will allow them to get to their job and support their family? Why on earth should our community have to wait for someone to come up with a program to address the issue of joblessness?

Why indeed. The issues are in front of us and we are beckoned to act. We have the resources and opportunity. IMPACT is involved in leveraging the creative tension necessary to bring about transformation which will lead to a solution. We must act now.

Finally, I’d like to talk about King’s hope for the church—and his disappointment.

As he approached Birmingham, his first thought was to go to the churches there because surely there he would find support for his fight for civil rights. He writes:

“…I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and with deep moral concern serve as the channel through which our just grievances could get to the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.”

He goes on to offer criticism, not as an outsider, but as a fellow member of the clergy, that,

“…the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor nor the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

Further, when looking for support for his cause, he found that

“The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s often vocal sanction of things as they are.”

And then he made this dire prediction:

“If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to hear these words from 1963 as prophetic for where we stand today. We are more than our creeds and our ideologies. More than our methods and ideas. We are more than our programs, our preaching, or our committees. The congregations we represent are more than just the “social clubs” that King found in Birmingham when he went there looking for partners for justice.

For our church, we’ve come to the conclusion that we’d rather be at the table where justice is talked about, than to stand apart, keeping our ideas to ourselves.

As Kristin Sancken from our church pointed out to me recently, this Micah 6:8 verse that IMPACT quotes all the time: “All that the Lord required of you is to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God”:  to some, the key word in that verse may be the word “justice.” But she said, “I don’t think it is.  I think the most important word in that verse is ‘with’.  We are doing this WITH God.  Not “for” God or “on behalf of” God or “because of” God, but “WITH” God.  God is doing these things already and he calls us to do them with him.”

My friends, we stand together today not because we all agree with the way things should be done, but because our conscience, our God or our faith compels us to move together with one voice, to not rubber stamp the status quo, but to stand firm and resolute that our work will bring justice to those who need it.

Together we form a powerful force—a work of God—who uses these collective actions as a means to bring justice to people who have no voice—and our community will not only be better for it, it will take notice.

Reflection on Catholic Social Teaching & IMPACT

Janie Eckman

Church of the Incarnation

November, 2012

Catholic social teaching and why it is a central and essential element of our faith.

Its roots are in the Hebrew prophets who announced God’s special love for the poor and called God’s people to a covenant of love and justice. It is a teaching founded on the life and words of Jesus Christ, who came

“to bring glad tidings to the poor . . . liberty to captives . . . recovery of sight to the blind”(Lk 4:18-19), and who identified himself with “the least of these,” the hungry and the stranger (cf. Mt 25:45).”

Catholic social teaching is built on a commitment to the poor and is inseparable from our understanding of human life and human dignity. Human dignity comes from God, not from any human quality or accomplishment.

The Church’s social teaching is a rich treasure of wisdom about building a just society and living lives of holiness amidst the challenges of modern society. It offers moral principles and coherent values that are badly needed in our time. In this time of widespread violence and diminished respect for human life and dignity in our country and around the world, the Gospel of life and the biblical call to justice need to be proclaimed and shared with new clarity, urgency, and energy.

There are seven Major Themes in Catholic Social Teaching:

1.  Life and Dignity of the Human Person

Our belief in the sanctity of human life and the inherent dignity of the human person is the foundation of all the principles of our social teaching.

2.  Call to Family, Community, and Participation

The family is the central social institution that must be supported and strengthened, not undermined. While our society often exalts individualism, the Catholic tradition teaches that human beings grow and achieve fulfillment in community. We believe people have a right and a duty to participate in society, seeking together the common good and well-being of all, especially the poor and vulnerable. Our Church teaches that the role of government and other institutions is to protect human life and human dignity and promote the common good.

3.  Rights and Responsibilities

The Catholic tradition teaches that human dignity can be protected and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and responsibilities are met. Corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities, to one another, to our families, and to the larger society.

4.  Option for the Poor and Vulnerable

In a world characterized by growing prosperity for some and pervasive poverty for others, Catholic teaching proclaims that a basic moral test is how our most vulnerable members are faring. In a society marred by deepening divisions between rich and poor, our tradition instructs us to put the needs of the poor and vulnerable first.

5.  The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers

We believe that the economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s creation. If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected, the right to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property, and to economic initiative. Respecting these rights promotes an economy that protects human life, defends human rights, and advances the well-being of all.

6.  Solidarity

Catholic social teaching proclaims that we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they live. We are one human family, whatever our national, racial, ethnic, economic, and ideological differences.

7.  Care for God’s Creation

We are called to protect people and the planet, living our faith in relationship with all of God’s creation. This environmental challenge has fundamental moral and ethical dimensions that cannot be ignored.

Catholic Social Teaching & IMPACT

Education is one of the most important forums for sharing and demonstrating our Church’s commitment to human dignity and social justice.  But the Catholic Church needs to integrate its social teachings more fully. I see one of the ways to do this is through our participation in IMPACT. Through IMPACT, we are being educated and we’re also given the opportunity to live our faith by working with other faith congregations to address problems related to issues of justice and fairness in our community.