JUSTICE AND SOCIAL CONCERNS MINISTRIES TEAM

URGENT NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES ARE ALL AROUND US! He has told you, O Mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8

This team was formed in 2007 because of many social justice concerns that demand our response as Christians.

2009 - 2010 ACTIVITIES

Border Justice: The Justice and Social Concerns Ministry team is hosted a lunch and presentation following worship by Ann and Larry Barber on Sunday, November 21st. They talked about the struggle for justice at the border between Mexico and Texas and their personal experiences during their trip this last February. They gave us an update about the important work of the Methodist Church in Texas and Mexico helping those caught in the crossfire of controversy. Once again, the Barbers remind us of the important work by the Methodist church and our congregation outside our walls of our church building.

350.org: On October 24th, Bill Mckibben implored churches around the world to ring their church bells 350 times to symbolically speak out for positive societal change and to unite faith communities in support of the 350.org movement, an urgent call to lower greenhouse gas emissions. We gathered for prayer and then rang the bell with other churches throughout Burlington. We had several church members helping and a few people whom came in to our church to help. We took turns diligently keeping track of the strikes of the bell. It was a powerful symbol of how people of faith can unite to help enact change. Russell Chase held our 350.org sign during church on Sunday so that he could spread the message.

Children learn about Creation Care: In September, Mark Jacunski offered the team a chance to teach a unit on caring for the earth.. The theme for the month was Creation. Through the use of homemade play dough the children made a replica of the earth and talked about God calling us to care for the earth and all that it contains. The children also drew a picture of the earth and each contributed different parts of creation. There was good discussion and the children had much to say about recycling and their habits at home that help take care of their world.

Offering of Letters: Our members of our church participated in an Offering of Letters on Sunday, January 24th to encourage Congress to support a bill promoted by “Bread for the World”, a Christian hunger and poverty advocacy group. The bill, “The Foreign Assistance Revitalization and Accountability Act of 2009” is a bipartisan effort to strengthen the capacity, transparency and accountability of United States foreign assistance programs. A Bread for the World “Offering of Letters”, letters to our Congressional delegation, was an effective way to promote public policy that best helped address the root causes of hunger and poverty. The following Sunday, we sent postcards to our U.S. Senators, Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders, asking them to cosponsor Senate bill S.1524. We wrote Rep. Peter Welch, thanking him for already cosponsoring bill H.R. 2139, the House version of the bill. We provided postcards, and postage and chocolate for an additional incentive. We sent one hundred plus post cards and received responses from these senators and representatives. This message of christian responsibility was also included in the message that Sunday.

Health Care: We hosted a potluck dinner on Februray 6th, and watched Sick Around the World a one-hour PBS Frontline documentary which shows health care systems in a number of nations, including Japan, the UK, Taiwan, and Germany. With health care reform bills under consideration on both the Federal and State levels, we had a discussion about what our current health care issues are and how they are being addressed. Interfaith Power and Light: On March 7th, we had a presentation from Vermont Interfaith Power and Light. We had a light lunch, took donations for their organization, and saw a short film, Lighten Up, which features Interfaith Power and Light founder Sally Bingham. Betsy Hardy did the presentation and talked about their mission. We were able to raise 40.00 and made a commitment to support their organization for fifty dollars a year.