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What’s New in Faith In Action

The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.

— Center for Action and Contemplation


Join October and November Prayer Vigils Urging Congress to Protect the Poor

The recent Budget Control Act (BCA) created a new committee, aka the "Super Committee," to find at least $1.2 trillion in new savings in the federal budget. This committee has jurisdiction over the entire federal budget, including programs that help the poor both in the U.S. and around the world. When deficit reduction is attempted primarily through cuts in spending (as it was in the BCA), low-income families are hurt the most because they rely on government supports (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, EITC, CTC, Head Start, child care, foreign assistance, among many) more than wealthier Americans. To help push the Super Committee to protect low-income individuals and families in their deliberations, our friends at Faith Reform and Health Care (FRHC) are helping organize prayer vigils this fall in support of a moral and compassionate approach to deficit reduction. Following up on the great success of the first vigil in September, FRHC and its partners will also host vigils on October 12 and Novermber 9 at 12:00 pm ET. These 20-minute vigils will take place via conference call where you can join in prayer by phone from your home, office, or community of faith. Consider getting a group together to participate around a speakerphone. The vigil will end with a call to action. To RSVP for the vigil, go to Faithful Reform's Sign-up Page (you must RSVP no later than noon the day before each vigil). Read more about this campaign on the Faithful Reform website.

DHN Has New Website

The Interreligious Working Group on Domestic Human Needs (DHN), which is a coalition of faith-based advocacy groups, has a new website: http://www.domestichumanneeds.org/. DHN is a great resource for faith advocates and faith communities who want to engage in public policy around human needs issues. For example, watch this informative DHN webinar on the impact of the recent debt ceiling deal, the Budget Control Act.

RESULTS “Turning the Ship” Faith-Based Curriculum Materials (Updated)

RESULTS “Turning the Ship” faith-based curriculum is a multi-week study focused on social justice, advocacy and religion. Created in 2008, "Turning the Ship " is based on the RESULTS core values and provides an excellent resource for congregations looking to get more involved in advocacy around hunger and poverty. This study can also serve as a great tool for outreach to faith communities about RESULTS and our work. Volunteers and groups that have used the curriculum have found it very inspiring, helpful, and effective.

The "Turning the Ship" curriculum was a great way to more effectively and systematically get people at my church aware of and interested in RESULTS. Attendees in the class included mostly members of our church’s Outreach Committee, and I pulled in a couple other attendees, making for more of a diverse group. It worked out just great. Most of the class even signed up to receive action alerts after the class finished. The curriculum and resources were VERY helpful, and I plan to offer the class again in the fall.

                                                                                                                        — Frances C Moore, St. James UMC, Bellevue, NE

We recently updated each version of the curriculum and anyone is welcomed to download one or more of the versions below to use in your local congregations. If you have any questions, please contact the Faith in Action Team: Jos Linn, Lisa Marchal and Crickett Nicovich. (Please note: These downloads are all MS Word documents.)

FIA Action Inserts

The RESULTS Faith in Action Team will be posting action items here for you to use. Actions listed below are the most current actions needed. Faith communities are free to copy and paste them or download a Word version for use in newsletters and bulletins.

GENERATE MEDIA ON MAINTAINING HEAD START AND CHILD CARE SERVICES

There is no greater treasure nor worthy investment than our children, and ensuring that they grow up to realize their full potential must be our top priority as a society. Children who participate in preschool early learning programs like Head Start, Early Head Start, and child care are provided the foundation to help them succeed. These programs also give parents the freedom to work knowing that their children are in a safe, nurturing environment.

In the last few years, increased investments in Head Start, Early Head Start and child care programs have given thousands of new children to receive the benefits these programs provide. However, Congress is now looking to erase these gains by cutting billions of dollars from early learning programs.

Every community of faith strives to create a better world for all of us, especially our children. Cutting programs that provide a bright future for thousands of at-risk children is walking down the wrong path. Do you part to help set things straight.

TAKE ACTION: Write a letter to the editor to your local paper urging your members of Congress to believe in America’s future. Tell them that we must protect that future by sustaining funding levels for Head Start, Early Head Start and the Child Care Development Block Grant in FY 2012.  See our RESULTS Domestic Action for details and talking points.

HELP ENGAGE OTHERS IN PROTECTING "THE LEAST OF THESE"

Do you know someone who has with a passion for international affairs or wants to affect public policy in a way that reflects compassion and a desire for justice for the poor?

Starting in July we will host monthly introductory calls to RESULTS, a grassroots advocacy group committed to ending hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. RESULTS is a faith-friendly organization who welcomes people of all faiths (or none) who wish to get involved in social justice advocacy and put hunger into the history books.

Our August call will be held on Tuesday, August 30th at 9 pm ET. The calls will last about 30 minutes and will allow people to get a short and sweet taste of who RESULTS is, what they do, and why they do it. To RSVP for this call, go to http://tinyurl.com/RESULTSIntroCall.

If you have questions, contact Mary Peterson, Global Grassroots Associate for Expansion, at mpeterson@results.org.

Download MS Word versions of FIA Action Inserts

See our Faith in Action Resources page for previous FIA Action Inserts