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 December 2014
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#BlackLivesMatter
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by Jim Antal
Minister and President
America is at a crossroads. #BlackLivesMatter is trending strong on Twitter. Courageous non-violent protesters are in the streets. However, our system of "justice", our system of policing, our habits and patterns of friendship, and the openness of our hearts to embrace all God's children - all these need profound re-examination and reform. We need to examine as well the efforts of our congregations to fulfill our denomination's commitment to multi-racial, multi-cultural inclusivity.
Read Jim's entire statement here.
View race and justice resources and content here
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Martin Luther King Day of Service & Learning
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Saturday, January 17, 2015 ~ 9:30 AM-2:30 PM at various sites throughout Boston
 We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
City Mission Society is organizing the 8th Annual MLK Day of Service and Learning Celebration at sites throughout Boston; Celebration and lunch are at the 12th Baptist Church in Roxbury. Join in commemorating the life and vision of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through:
- Service projects
- Reflections
- Resources
- Service choir- led by Donnell Patterson & Tim Harbold
New this year: Resource Room - learn more about the life of Martin Luther King and how YOU can work for the fulfillment of his dream. The cost to participate is $20 per person. For more information or to RSVP, email animmo@cmsboston.org. Download a flyer here.
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| Homeless Youth Bill Passes House Vote | | |
 On Dec. 11, the Mass. House of Representa-tives passed the un-accompanied youth homeless bill, House Bill 4517. Now the bill will move on for a vote by the State Senate.
This vote came after the House Committee on Bills in the Third Reading made minor changes to the bill and gave its approval. On the floor of the House, the bill was further amended when a proposal by House Minority Leader Brad Jones was adopted. The bill, as amended, was passed to be engrossed.
Here are next steps in helping to ensure that the bill crosses the finish line and is signed into law by the Governor.
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Just Peace: Needed Now More Than Ever
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 Written by Rev. Michael Neuroth for the United Church of Christ
Given the recent grand jury ruling in the Michael Brown case in Ferguson, Mo. and the ongoing violence in Syria, Palestine, and other parts of the world, we enter this particular Advent season with a deeper sense of the darkness and distance between us and the coming Christ-child. Racism, sexism, classism, and homophobia remain prevalent in society, amongst friends and family, and even sometimes in us. Seemingly more than ever, acts of barbarism and violence pervade our nightly news, affecting our cities, families, and children in direct and indirect ways. As people of faith, the season of Advent, of darkness and expectant waiting, describes not only the weeks leading up to Christmas, but also our whole human experience.
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| UCC Leaders Applaud President's Immigrant Accountability Executive Action | |
 Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ and the UCC Immigration Taskforce applaud President Obama's "Immigration Accountability Executive Action" that will offer millions of our undocumented community members the opportunity to apply for temporary relief from deportation. Rev. Linda Jaramillo Executive Minister for the Justice and Witness Ministries responded saying, "Leaders from throughout the United Church of Christ have been working hard to change our broken immigration policies for years. We have advocated, held vigils, marched, fasted and joined in civil disobedience to stop the deportations and stop family separations. We are deeply heartened that the President's executive action reflects the call to hospitality and welcome that is at the heart of our faith traditions and is a core American value. We applaud the President for this historic move to do the morally right thing and provide relief from deportation for 5 million people". Read more here.
Related: MACUCC Immigration and Refugee Task Team urges collection for children. Read here.
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Ecumenical Advocacy Days
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Breaking the Chains: Mass Incarceration and Systems of Exploitation
Come to Washington, DC, April 17-20, 2015, for the 13th Annual National Gathering of Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice. Join more than 1,000 Christian advocates in building a movement to shake the foundations of systems of human exploitation (Acts 16:16-40), including a prison-industrial system that incarcerates millions of people in the U.S. and abroad.
A world that incarcerates so many and allows some to profit from the exploitation of slave, trafficked and forced labor remains far from the "beloved community" which we are all called to seek.
UCC young adult scholarships are available! Learn more.
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Progress on Child/Teen Gun Deaths has Stalled
| |  Latest from the Children's Defense Fund
According to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, progress made in reducing child and teen gun deaths in the second half of the 2000s ground to a near halt in 2011 and 2012. Between 2006 and 2010, gun deaths of children and teens ages 0-19 decreased an average of 123 deaths every year, for a total reduction of 490 fewer deaths in 2010, a 15 percent reduction. Since 2010, gun deaths in children and teens have decreased only by 18 deaths a year, an 85 percent reduction in the previous rate of decrease.
Guns remain the second leading cause of death among children and teens ages 1-19 and the number one cause among Black children and teens. Only motor vehicle accidents kill more children and teens every year.
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Worcester Fellowship Needs
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 With the cold winter months upon us, Worcester Fellowship - a UCC church among men and women without homes in Worcester - needs for its parishioners dark colored hats, scarves, and warm gloves; Dunkin Donuts cards of $10, $20, and $30 amounts to provide a warm drink to people in need; and white men's socks. If you have other clothing or coats, please consider giving them to The Corner Shop in Holden; they are willing to donate items to Worcester Fellowship members as needed.
If your church or other group would like to volunteer to serve lunch, or to bring prepared hot chocolate (or hot chocolate mix) with cups, please view info and available dates here.
Pastor Liz and Outreach Director Pastor Georgeanne are also available to preach and to visit with your youth or outreach team.
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Roots in the Ruins: Update from Elena Huegel
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 Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:As we say in the Pentecostal Church of Chile when we greet each other: ¡Qué Dios les bendiga! (May the Lord bless you!) Advent is here and Christmas is around the corner. Soon we will be in the midst of the rush of summer camps and activities at the Shalom Center, but I wanted to take a moment today to write to all of you and thank you for the many ways in which you have supported my ministry this year. This has been a year of challenges, blessings and changes. I continue my work as chaplain at the Shalom Center while traveling to several other countries to co-facilitate the trauma healing, resilience development and conflict transformation courses under the Roots in the Ruins: Hope in Trauma program. Read more from Elena here. |
Two Spaces Left in the 2015 Youth Spiritual Journey to Centro Shalom, Chile
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Trip Dates: Feb. 14 - 24, 2015
 The Chile Partnership Committee is looking for youths or adults to join the MACUCC youth delegation to Chile in February 2015. Ten individuals will leave Massachusetts on February 14 and return on February 24.
During their time in Chile students will stay at the rustic Shalom Center, a retreat center in the Andes Mountains. Massachusetts students will share the Shalom Center with participants from the Pentecostal Church of Chile in Rauco, combining a spiritual retreat with a cultural exchange. Delegates will also work to maintain and improve the Shalom Center by performing tasks such as trail and road maintenance and constructing a challenge course.
Learn more here.
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| Alternative Christmas Gifts | | |
 Still searching for the perfect gift? Here are last minute ideas that are likely more meaningful than anything found at the mall.
Church World Service "Best Gift": Seed packets, mosquito netting and more.
Global Ministries micro credit and rural development projects: help for our international partners
Heifer International: If you give someone an animal, you also give them a small business.
Council for American Indian Ministry: Become a CAIM "relative" and support this UCC gathering place for Indian people.
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