Our social safety net is designed to serve as a trampoline of resilience that can elevate families out of poverty. It is meant to support basic public health, housing, nutrition, and education needs that give families the stability to actively contribute to society. Yet, with the federal budget sequester in place, that safety net is […]
Poverty News Round Up
To paraphrase Karl Barth, one should preach with a Bible in one hand, and a newspaper in the other. To make that easier, we’re continuing to bring you the top stories in poverty for the week, and we’ve added some brief commentary based on the Revised Common Lectionary for each week. As always, leave a […]
Frequent Flyers Move the Hearts of Congress.
Many have already begun to experience the harsh impacts of the foolish Budget Sequester that set in motion indiscriminate slashes to government funding on Friday, March 1, 2013. Budget experts said it would be very difficult to reverse the sequester, and most did not have insight into how to help the 600,000 women and young […]
How Wealth Inequality Hurts Churches
Have you seen the video on wealth inequality that went viral this week? The video is based on a study by Harvard Business professor Michael Norton. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here. Millions have been passing it around and dropping their jaws when they see the dramatic difference between the average […]
Peoples’ Budget Forum
Different church organizations across the country are finding creative ways to solve our federal budget and deficit puzzles as well as tell the stories of how the budget impacts everyday people. Here are some resources from The Church Council of Greater Seattle. They encourage others to replicate or adapt their story collecting model and use […]
Faithful Alternatives to Sequestration – A Message to Congress
This message was sent to Congress today on behalf of the Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs. It is with great concern over the effects of the sequester that I write to you today. These budget cuts will harm real people; they are not an academic exercise and this is no laboratory for testing […]
Please Sign Religious Leaders’ Pastoral Letter to President and Congress
On Friday, if Congress allows the Sequester to set in, children and families living in poverty will be among those most hurt. There is a need for people of faith, particularly clergy and religious leaders, to bring a moral and compassionate voice of reason to Washington. That’s why yesterday morning, more than 100 religious leaders […]
Ask Congress to Consider Matthew 6:21: Put Our Treasure Where Our Hearts Lie.
Click here to send a message letting your U.S. Senators and Representatives know you treasure God’s children and struggling families, and so should our Federal Budget. In the past two years’ budget and deficit struggles, we have repeated the wisdom of Matthew 6:21: “where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also.” If we treasure […]
Faithful Budget Stories – California
This series looks at how the sequester, or any poorly conceived deficit reduction strategy that drastically cuts programs vital to the health and wellbeing of our nation’s most vulnerable, will impact church communities. The California Council of Churches mobilizes 1.5 million members statewide and has long supported policy and education efforts to nurture good health. […]
NCC Leadership on the Fiscal Cliff
“Poverty is the real-life fiscal cliff facing 46 million Americans every day. As people of faith, let us raise our voices to demand that our leaders return to the table not for the sake of elusive bi-partisanship, but for the common good.” ~Kathryn Mary Lohre “In a time of difficult budget negotiations, we believe the […]
