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SC Christian Action Council Newsletter Christian Action
November 2005

As the only statewide ecumenical agency in South Carolina, SC Christian Action Council respresents a partnership of 16 denominations and 21 regional judicatories, including 4,500 congregations.

The Council serves as a catalyst for:

  • Social justice through public policy advocacy;
  • Christian Unity and inter-religious dialogue through relationships, collaborations and events;
  • Racial and cultural healing by building bridges of trust and understanding.

In this issue:
  • Across My Desk...
  • Help the Council Earn $5,000 Challenge
  • A Case for Clemency--Shawn Humphries and the 1000th Execution in America
  • Community News and Events
  • TEAM ornaments available

  • Help the Council Earn $5,000 Challenge

    SC Christian Action Council is pleased to announce that several generous Council supporters have offered to match--dollar for dollar--all new and increased gifts to SC Christian Action Council through December 31, 2005!

    Your tax-deductible donations mean even more this year. The Council will receive up to $5,000 in matching money for every new or increased gift!

    Here's more good news:

    The Katrina Emergency Relief Act of 2005, signed into law Sept. 23, provides the opportunity for a taxpayer to claim, as an income tax deduction, qualified charitable contributions of cash made from Aug. 28, 2005, to Dec. 31, 2005, up to 100 percent of the taxpayer’s adjusted gross income.

    This law even applies to gifts made to most non- Katrina-related charitable organizations, such as SC Christian Action Council. For more about this new law, please contact your legal or tax advisor.

    Although the Council did not receive additional funding for ministry to evacuees, the Council helped to coordinate pastoral care for thousands of people who fled the Gulf Coast in the wake of the hurricanes.

    According to Senate Finance Committee chair Charles E. Grassley (R-IA), the bill was intended to increase donations, particularly for organizations not involved in disaster relief. "My hope in passing this provision," said Grassley, "is that Americans' generosity for those harmed by Hurricane Katrina won't mean a trade-off for other important charitable work in this country."

    To make a gift of stock or securities, or to discuss deferred giving options, please contact Julia Sibley-Jones at 803.931.0105 or [email protected].

    Thank you for supporting the work and ministry of South Carolina Christian Action Council. You help to proclaim Christian Unity in South Carolina.


    A Case for Clemency--Shawn Humphries and the 1000th Execution in America

    We regret that the timing of our newsletter releases and the necessity of quick event planning did not allow us to advertise these events sooner.

    Read Brenda Kneece's Case for Clemency in the State newspaper.

    Please visit www.SCEJA.org to learn about the case of Shawn Humphries, scheduled for execution in South Carolina on December 2, 2005. Please use the information at www.SCEJA.org to CONTACT GOVERNOR SANFORD IMMEDIATELY. Please ask others to take this action, and if you have a web page or a blog, please link to www.SCEJA.org.

    As the United States approaches its 1000th execution since the resumption of executions in 1977, more and more people understand that the death penalty makes mistakes, disproportionately affects the poor and people of color, doesn't deter crime, and is expensive, arbitrary, and immoral.

    For more information and ways to get involved, please visit 1000 Executions.

    ALSO: In conjunction with the anticipated execution of Humphries and the 1000th execution in the US since 1977, the Center for Capital Litigation is sponsoring the "Voices of Experience" Tour, featuring:

    Death Row Survivor Shujaa Graham; Murder Victim Family Member SueZann Bosler; Death Penalty Juror Kathleen Hawk Norman; Death Penalty Attorney Teresa Norris.

    For information on each speaker and schedule of the tour, please visit Voices of Experience. Events will be held in Columbia, Charleston and Greenville.


    Community News and Events

    The following two events are part of the annual international day of action on HIV and AIDS which takes place every year on December 1st. The aim of World AIDS Day is to bring to people's attention the challenges and consequences of HIV/AIDS in order to create change.

    December 1: 6:00 World AIDS Day, Coker College, Hartsville. Hosted by Care Innovations, featuring author Brenda Stone Browder. For more information, call 843.857.0111.

    December 8: 7:00 Service for the Healing of HIV/AIDS in our Community and the World, Cathedral of St. Luke and St. Paul, Charleston. Featuring the Rev. Joseph Darby, the Rt. Rev. William Skilton and Dr. Trevor Weston with a reception following. Please contact [email protected] for more information.

    December 1: 6:30 Prayer Vigil, St. Thomas Moore Chapel, USC.If his death sentence is not commuted to life without parole, there will be a vigil for Shawn Humphries. Immediately following will be a candlelight vigil at the Governor's mansion.

    December 2: 4:30 Silent Vigil, Broad River Correctional Facility, Columbia. The execution is scheduled for 6:00. Please join us at the prison for this witness.

    December 19 - January 2: Host Soldiers During the Holidays. Soldiers in training at Fort Jackson may go home during this Block Leave, though many remain in Columbia. Churches interested in hosting a soldier for a day, please contact Chaplain Roger Heath, (803) 429-5088 or [email protected].

    Have other South Carolina community news? Let us know at [email protected].


    TEAM ornaments available

    Here's a way you can support The Ecumenical AIDS Ministry (TEAM) of SC Christian Action Council and brighten your Christmas tree at the same time.

    Purchase TEAM ornaments for friends and family.

    Only 24 ornaments left! $14.95 each, with discounts for 5 or more.

    You can pick up ornaments at our offices, or we can post them to you for a small shipping cost. Call Doris for more information: 803.786.7115. Thank you for supporting this vital ministry.


    Across My Desk...
    Ship

    Some days I just want to crawl under my desk.

    The knee and foot space under the desk look . . . Quiet. Undemanding. Sort-of dark and comforting. Protected. Safe.

    On top of the desk are mounds of journals and newsletters, correspondences and notes, a computer waiting to flash hundreds of emails and a ringing telephone, and, always, the inexhaustible "to do" list. The top of the desk looks anything but safe or comforting.

    Yet, the top of the desk represents the work that remains. Where light strives to overcome darkness. Where sacrifice is expected. Where I'm reminded that servanthood is a Christian's comfortable place--not personal comfort, but sacrificial servanthood.

    Instead of crawling under the desk or retreating to personal comfort zones, many people of faith find courage to confront that which demeans, dehumanizes, and destroys ourselves, neighbors and fellow world citizens. They have learned that all people are literally in the same boat and that which harms one harms all. However, there are not nearly enough social justice Advocates in the face of the injustice that surrounds us.

    In SC this Friday, December 2nd, an execution is scheduled. Read the information in the responding and hyperlinked articles. Please pray for Dickie Smith's family and the pain and grief they have known since his death. Pray for the family of Shawn Humphries and the pain and grief they have known and will know in his death. Pray personally for Holy Spirit's guidance. Then make a personal request to Gov. Sanford that he grant clemency for Shawn Humphries. Act quickly for time is short.

    No time to spend under the desk now...too much work yet remains.

    ...and that’s the view across my desk.

    Brenda Kneece Executive Minister



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