CARING FOR THE LEAST OF THESE

Many United Church of Christ congregations in Michigan provide soup kitchens, food pantries, job-training programs, child care centers and more.  These services truly make a difference in many people's lives. Yet there is a second step in our call to minister to the "last, the least and the lost."  That is the call of public policy advocacy.  Advocacy works to find out what is causing people to lose their job, their homes, their capacity to put food on the table for their children.  Then, advocates take action to try and change these systems. In our conference, the group charged with advocating for "the last, the least, and the lost" is the Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team, PI-MAT for short.

            At present, we are working on several issues. We have a group, The Dream of Justice team (DOJ), working to end mass incarceration here in our state. DOJ was inspired by Michelle Alexander's book, "The New Jim Crow". At this point, DOJ is primarily trying to get the word out about the racial discrimination and injustice inherent in our legal system. They have developed a workshop surrounding these issues. The group would like to present this workshop to as many churches as possible in the state. If you would like to learn more about this workshop and/or schedule one for your church contact Walt Kemnitz. Walt's e-mail address is wkemnitzjr@yahoo.com.

           We have people who are working to stop the water shut-offs in Detroit. In case you didn't know, the City of Detroit has decided to shut-off water to those people who haven't paid their bill. The issue is that the shut-offs are not of the commercial accounts with the greatest debt - sometimes into the thousands of dollars. Rather the city has decided to cut-off residential accounts often of the poor and indigent. Without water, sanitation and health quickly become an issue. If you would like to help, contact Dr. Paul Van Oeyen (ptvo@aol.com) who is the Facilitator of DMA's Social Justice Committee.   

         PI-MAT is also asking that you write the governor and state legislators about a recent ruling by the Michigan Supreme Court. A law has been passed in the state that juveniles tried as an adult could not be sentenced to life without parole. The Supreme Court earlier this month decided that the law would not be applied retroactively. This ruling means 363 individuals who had received, as juveniles, life sentences without parole prior to the law being passed would remain in prison for the rest of their lives. 

        PI-MAT is always looking for new members both lay and clergy. If doing public policy advocacy work is something you feel called to do, we would invite you to join us. We typically meet every other month.  Most generally, we schedule our meetings on the third Saturday of the month. The group usually meets in East Lansing at the conference office. We meet in East Lansing because it is equally inconvenient for people on both sides of the state. If you are interested in joining our team or have a suggestion for the team please contact me, Rev. R.J. Hronek (hronrj3@yahoo.com). Even if you don't join us, prayers are always appreciated!  

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. RJ Hronek

Facilitator

Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team

Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ

Dear Colleagues,

The Annual Meeting of the Michigan Conference United Church of Christ will be October 10th & 11th 2014 at The People's Church of East Lansing. The Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team is charged with the task of calling for resolutions. They may be submitted for consideration at the Conference Meeting by a local church, an Association, a voting delegate or the Board of Directors. In compliance with our bylaws, please find attached a copy of the Michigan Conference United Church of Christ 2014 Guidelines for Resolutions. The deadline for submitting a resolution is July 25, 2014.

Be sure to mark the date on your calendar and, if you have not already done so, now would be a good time to recruit the delegation from your local congregation. Ordained and Commissioned Ministers with standing in one of the six Associations of the Michigan Conference, as well as Licensed Ministers who have been given voting privileges by one of the six Associations of the Michigan Conference, are considered delegates.  Additionally, every local church is entitled to be represented by two lay delegates plus one youth delegate (younger than 22 years old).      

Blessings for the Journey,

Rev. RJ Hronek

Facilitator, Prophetic Integrity Mission Area Team

Call for Resolutions (Copy ready)

RESOLUTION GUIDELINES

Welcoming Central American Refugee Children

Rev. Cheryl Burke

Our daughter, Adrienne, is ¾ Mexican and ¼ Salvadoran.  How do I tell her about the hatred that people are spewing toward children coming here from Central America?  How do I protect her and prepare her for such hatred in her life? These are of course questions of a privileged white person, who doesn't think that "our" children should have to know about or experience such things. People on the margins always have to ask such questions.

This week I attended a press conference of faith leaders calling on the city of Lansing to declare Lansing a welcoming city for Central American refugee children.  In our staff meeting we also read a devotional from Michael Piazza about the children coming to the United States.  Please read the attached documents and pray and preach and speak and witness and act as the Spirit moves.

Michael Piazza: Liberating Word

Top Ten Things to know about the situation of children at the border

The Covenant Association of the Michigan Conference United Church of Christ invites applications for grants that advocate for the support of students in Higher Education settings.  Please submit a 1-2 page description of the plans for ministry in a specific setting.  How will the funds be used? If you have received a grant within the last year, please include an additional page indicating how ministry was impacted in that setting by the gift. Be sure to include the ways outreach includes ecumenical diversity and specific UCC involvement of students, faculty and staff.

Grant applications must be submitted to the Higher Education Advocate, Rev. Dr. Julie J. Kilmer at jj_kilmer@msn.com by September 1, 2014. Please note that grants are limited to one gift per setting per year. Amounts of each grant will vary, depending upon number of applications,  need and previous funding patterns. Amounts generally range from $500-$3,000.