| Deep Listening Prayer, the Passage of HR4, and Make Good Trouble
NCC Newsletter August 27, 2021 |
| | | NCC Praises the Passage of H.R. 4 |
| You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. Deuteronomy 16:18 NRSV
August 27, 2021, Washington, DC - The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA (NCC) commends the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (H.R. 4), by the US House of Representatives earlier this week. This Act will restore and strengthen the right to vote by ensuring that any changes to state voting laws will not discriminate against voters based on race, ability, age, locale, or background due to a federal review process.
Our Christian faith teaches us that we are all created in God’s image and are of sacred worth and dignity. The right to vote in a democracy honors this worth and dignity in each of us. Our work to pursue a more just world hinges on all citizens having an equitable opportunity to vote within a functional democracy so that lawmakers are held accountable and all constituents trust that, through their ability to vote, they are represented in the decision-making process.
Since December 6, 1961, when the National Council of Churches’ General Assembly adopted its Human Rights Policy, we have boldly affirmed “the right to full participation of the person in political and civic life, including the opportunity: to vote by secret ballot…” In 2005, the NCC reaffirmed its commitment to the Voting Rights Act with a resolution that acknowledged continued voter inequities, disparities, and obstacles that demonstrated the ongoing need for the Voting Rights Act and its special provisions, stating, “Gerrymandering, improper redistricting, disenfranchising former inmates, inaccessible voting booths and flawed voting procedures are issues that must continue to be addressed to ensure the protection of the right to vote for all Americans.”
When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was abrogated by the Supreme Court - after being law for almost half a century - in the case Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, the Court ruled that the formula for deciding which states and localities have a history of voting discrimination was unconstitutional and the court recommended Congress create a new enforcement mechanism to insure federal review. We embrace the passage by the House of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act as the first step in reconciling the Supreme Court’s ruling.
“Unencumbered access to the vote is a core principle of a democratic government,” stated Rev. Aundreia Alexander, Esq., NCC Associate General Secretary, Action and Advocacy for Justice and Peace. “Our democracy was built on a shaky foundation at its birth when we excluded many of the people in our proclamation of “We the People.” The passage of the John Lewis Voting and Advancement Act is a good step towards repairing what has been broken and becoming a true democracy that is more faithful to its Constitutional promises. We encourage the U.S. Senate to bring this bill to a floor vote along with the For the People Act as we seek to live out the vision of being a government of the people, by the people, for the people. All the people must be included.”
The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act would restore the protections of the Voting Rights Act by establishing new review and approval criteria for preventing racial discrimination in voting and requiring federal review of specific voting practices known to discriminate against voters of color before they take effect. We herald the Act’s mandate for greater nationwide transparency of voting law and policy changes and restoration of a voters’ ability to challenge racial discrimination in court while compelling jurisdictions to provide documents to the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate voting rights violations.
The NCC calls for the immediate passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (S 4) by the U.S. Senate so that the Voting Rights Act can be fully restored, removing barriers to voting and insuring justice for all.
Previous Statements
The Urgent Need to Lift our Voice in Our Elections, October 22, 2018
https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/the-urgent-need-to-lift-our-voice-in-our-elections/
Resolution to Reaffirm Commitment to Voting Rights Act, Adopted by the General Assembly November 9, 2005
https://nationalcouncilofchurches.us/common-witness/2005/voting-rights.php
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| | | Tell the Senate to Protect Voting Rights |
| | You can support NCC's call for the Senate to protect voting rights by passing the For the People Act (S.1) and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2021 (S. 4) by sending a letter through NCC's Action Network group. |
| | | Join NCC to Make Good Trouble! |
| | The NCC invites you to join us at the Make Good Trouble Rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC on Saturday, August 28, 2021 from 10AM - 4PM.
Every generation has what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called its “fierce urgency of now” moment. This is our moment. The very core of our democratic system is under attack, voting rights are being eroded, the earth is groaning from the impact of climate change, our histories are being erased and systemic racism is ever present in every aspect of daily life. We have partnered with over 100 national and local organizations standing in solidarity to advocate for justice. In the spirit of the first March on Washington, we too have a list of demands.
MAKE GOOD TROUBLE will reignite the fight to:
- Restore Voting Rights
- Grant DC Statehood
- Remove the Filibuster
- Realize Reparations and Bring #HR40ToTheFloor
- Raise the Minimum Wage to $15, Invest in Workers and Cancel Student Debt
- Reimagine Public Safety and End Mass Incarceration
- Resolve to End Gun Violence and Fund Peace
We invite you to not just join but also engage. We are looking for volunteers to help assist with the day’s activities. They are in need of volunteers to support several areas: A) Load-in and Set Up B) Credentials + Check-In C) Crowd Control/Directional Assistance D) Production Assistance E) Restoration Crew. Please share this information with your networks, making the plea for support for such a critical time as this.
For more information and to sign up as a volunteer: Volunteer
In a final message to us the late Congressman John Lewis lovingly encouraged us all saying, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble”.
We look forward to seeing you at the rally and making good trouble together!
Additional information - see the links below:
For information about the rally’s activities, please visit: Make Good Trouble Rally Details
To make a donation to support the movement, please visit: Make a donation
For talking points and resources, please go to: Social Media Toolkit
For inspiration watch: John Lewis March on Washington Speech
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| | | This Month's Spiritual Practice is Deep Listening Prayer |
| | The Spiritual Practice of Deep Listening Prayer to Sustain Our Spirit-led Work for Justice with Dr. Susan E. Humble, PhD presented by the CEFFLD Convening Table of the National Council of Churches.
The spiritual practice of Deep Listening Prayer has become such an integral part of Dr. Humble's life. She begins and ends each day with this form of prayer. She currently serves as the Head of Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations for the Christian Science Church. She began to seriously engage in this work after completing her Doctoral Program in Religious and Theological Studies. She has served on the NCC CEFFLD Convening Table since 2016 and served as co-convener from 2018 until 2020.
What are the spiritual practices that strengthen you for the long haul in your work for justice? In this monthly series, the Christian Education, Faith Formation, and Leadership Development (CEFFLD) Convening Table of the NCC will share personal stories of practices that have nourished them for the long haul of justice ministries. Faithful action in our communities, regions, countries, and the world, is sustainable when we are spiritually fed by the same Spirit that prompts us to bring Christ's love and justice to bear in our world. Each monthly segment shares a testimony of how a specific practice has been helpful for the faith formation or leadership development of an individual or congregation. The series will share resources (e.g., books, website, articles, videos) that give readers/viewers a chance to learn more about the practice and to use these tools to move forward in faithful efforts toward justice.
We hope this series will show connections across faith traditions that have some similarities in practices, helping to build stronger bridges of understanding around commitments to shaping spiritual lives and communities to be agents of peace and justice in the world.
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| | | | Ending the Over-Criminalization of Fentanyl-Related Substances |
| | NCC joined with over 140 organizations to urge the Biden administration to let the previous administration’s temporary “classwide” emergency scheduling of fentanyl-related substances expire on October 22, 2021. The letter also requested that the administration engage in more stakeholder feedback with the interagency working group that is studying this topic before it finalizes its recommendation to Congress on the classwide scheduling issue.
From the letter: "The classwide scheduling policy must expire. Classwide scheduling would exacerbate pretrial detention, mass incarceration, and racial disparities in the prison system, doubling down on a fear-based, enforcement-first response to a public health challenge. The policy could also lead to over-criminalization and prosecutorial misconduct. Under the classwide control, any offense involving a “fentanyl-related substance” is subject to federal criminal prosecution, even if the substance in question is helpful or has no potential for abuse. Failure to define with specificity through our laws what is or is not illegal will lead to miscarriages of justice." |
| | | COVID-19 Pandemic Response: |
| | | The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has revamped its COVID-19 website.
Useful data for our local justice work is available under "Health Equity Data." The tool maps the percent of the population fully vaccinated by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), which is determined using U.S. Census data on categories such as "poverty, housing, and vehicle access to estimate a community’s ability to respond to and recover from disasters or disease outbreaks."
Also of use to churches is the information under "Your Community." After entering the name of a county, a complete picture of the local data is provided on one page - transmission rates, vaccination rates, deaths, hospital patients, etc. which can help individuals and churches determine the current level of risk from the COVID-19 pandemic in their local community.
Keep in mind that not all jurisdictions provide complete information to the CDC. In some instances the data has been scraped from the internet and not reported. |
| | | | | Clergy now qualify for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF). The challenge is that of those who qualified for PSLF in the last 18 months, 98% of the applications were rejected. The United Church of Christ (UCC) has been working to organize a unified ecumenical effort to stop the student loan debt trap and lessen the financial burden carried by clergy and countless others so that the “future and hope” God envisioned in Jeremiah 29:11 is fully realized. For more information, see the recent UCC News Digest article here for more information or click here to get go directly to the action alert for the PSLF program before September 24. If you would like to get involved in the continuous coalition efforts, contact Rev. Sekinah Hamlin, UCC Minister for Economic Justice at hamlins@ucc.org.
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| | | "How to help Afghans arriving in the US after fleeing the Taliban" |
| | Religion News Service has published an article outlining the faith communities response to resettling the Afghan refugees. The work of Episcopal Migration Ministries, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and Church World Service is featured. The overview explains each of their efforts and contains direct links to their calls for help. |
| | | | | | Raise Your Voice for a Just Recovery |
| | The NCC is a member of the Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC) and as such, we are encouraging individuals to participate in a new video advocacy project. Decision makers need to hear what existing anti-poverty programs, and the programs under consideration in the budget process (including paid family leave, access to housing and nutrition, expanded child tax credits, increased health care benefits, and more) mean to you and your community.
The American Rescue Plan included stimulus and economic impact payments to individuals and families, housing assistance, Emergency Rural Development Grants for Rural Health Care, money for education, U.S. Veterans' support, immediate relief to Native American families and Tribal businesses, transportation-related funding, community health centers, mental health- and substance abuse-related services, and other public health and healthcare-related investments, funding for child abuse prevention programs and for domestic violence and sexual assault services.
Here’s how to share:
- Record a short video, no longer than two minutes, describing how these vital anti-poverty programs make a difference to you and your neighbors. Note: Please hold your phone or camera in horizontal or landscape view.
- Upload your video.
This is an interfaith effort of the Washington Interreligious Staff Community. With your permission, your story will be shared across social media and with members of congress. We encourage everyone who knows the importance of any of these programs to lend their voice to this effort! |
| | | | REGISTRATION OPENS SOON!
NCC's annual Christian Unity Gathering (CUG) will be held virtually on October 11 - 12, 2021 with the theme, "In New Wineskins: From Pandemics to Possibilities to Promises," based on the scripture in Luke 5:37-39.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good."
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| | | Jim Winkler's column will return next week. |
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