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The Shaving Cream on Top
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by Patrick Cage
MACUCC Environmental Intern
 Roughly a fortnight into my time with the MACUCC, Conference Minister & President Jim Antal and I struck a deal. Should ten Massachusetts UCC churches take up new conversations about divestment, he would get pied at Super Saturday. Well, last week, our Pie Thermometer maxed out at "10!" (hopefully our global thermometer will not), and as a result Jim's fate is sealed.
"Throwing pies?" some might cry. "Perfectly good pies? Food justice is too serious an issue to take such flagrant food waste lightly, even if the stunt is 'for a good cause.'"
And I agree, absolutely. Some 49.1 million Americans are food insecure. And yet, 40% of the food produced in the United States wastes away in a landfill, enough to end hunger in our country some three times over. To acknowledge this inequality, our 'pies' will be made of shaving cream. Besides, ignoring food concerns when committing to climate action wouldn't just be narrow-sighted, it would be counterproductive.
Read Patrick's blog here
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A Vision of the Beloved:
Building Solidarity in the Age of Ferguson
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 Rev. Traci Blackmon will lead this critical conversation at Hope Central Church in Jamaica Plain on Sunday, April 12, at 4:30 p.m.
Rev. Blackmon is pastor of Christ the King, UCC in the Ferguson area. She is a nationally recognized preacher and speaker, ordained in the United Church of Christ and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and has been ministering on the front lines of the Ferguson demonstrations since the beginning. Her early and prominent response to racial tensions in the aftermath of the killing of Michael Brown earned her an appointment to the Ferguson Commission.
As people of faith we are called to love another as Christ has loved us. What does this mean for the church in the 21st century when the problem of the American democracy is still the color line?
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Next Chapter in the Struggle for Racial Justice
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by Rev. Geoffrey A. Black,
UCC General Minister and President
Is it the straw that broke the camel's back or the spark that ignited a forest fire? Any way you look at it, the events of August 9 in Ferguson, Mo., awakened many Americans to a reality too well known in communities of color throughout the nation. From New York City to Los Angeles, Cleveland, Cincinnati and - just this past weekend - Milwaukee, the story repeats itself: unarmed African- American male shot to death by police officer.
This is an issue that warrants further and even continuous attention, because it is a widespread malady. Not only the shooting death, but what usually rises to the surface is years and years of concern and resentment about and toward the police. A recent New York Times article cited that in the St. Louis region alone, Ferguson was only one of several municipalities where the justice department found clear evidence of racist policies and practices targeted at African Americans. In this article, titled 'Ferguson Became the Symbol, but Bias Knows No Border', Vanita Gupta, the Justice Department's top civil rights prosecutor, makes the point, saying, "Ferguson is one dot in the state, and there are many municipalities in the region engaged in the same practices a mile away."
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Take it from Noah...and NOAA...
Be Prepared for a Flood!
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by Estelle Margarones, MACUCC Disaster Resource Team
 Sunshine and milder temperatures lulled us into believing that spring weather would arrive with the season. We'd just begun to catch our breath from the relentless winter when skies turned grey and the dirty snowbanks were once again clothed in glorious record-setting white.
While it's possible that this 'winter of discontent' may soon be behind us, it's certain that effects will linger on.
March 16-20 is Flood Safety Awareness Week in Massachusetts. Below, you'll find thought-starters for church leadership as well as helpful information you may want to share with your congregation.
In addition, the MACUCC Disaster Resource Team encourages you to take a look back in order to look forward. What lessons did you learn from the season of storms?
Read more here
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Conference Churches Reach out to Immigrant Children; Backpacks and Duffles Needed!
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 Belinda McBride, assistant director of Refugio Phoenix, reports that donations have been made by two churches in the MA Conference. Refugio Phoenix is a program of Neighborhood Ministries (NM), a faith-based non-profit organization in Arizona designed to provide holistic care for unaccompanied minors age 12 and younger; they are housing many of the unaccom-panied immigrant children arriving from Central America and Mexico.
Does your church want to help? Consider donating a backpack or duffle bag and bringing it to the Justice & Witness marketplace table at Super Saturday in Ludlow this Saturday, March 21. Logo'd and gently used bags are ok. There is a particular need for these bags to serve as suitcases for the children as they move their belongings from Refugio Phoenix to their sponsor's home. New sneakers or sandals for older children (age 9-12) are also needed. Read more here. |
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Youth Without Homes Can't Wait
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 Help secure funding for youth housing/services
Last month, an a ct promoting housing and support services to unaccompanied homeless youths was approved by our state legislators. Now we need funding to implement this law, so that thousands of young people in Massachusetts can have a safe place to sleep and can access the services needed to develop as healthy, productive, housed adults.
The Mass Coalition for the Homeless has initiated a petition to urge our state legislators to fund this important initiative. If you'd like to show your support, you can access the on-line petition here.
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| Cyclone Pam Devastates Island Nation |
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by Zachary Wolgemuth
UCC Disaster Ministries Executive
 One of the strongest storms recorded in recent history slammed the small island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific over the weekend. Already one of the poorest nations in the region, Vanuatu suffered devastating damage and loss of life as Cyclone Pam, a Category 5 storm, made landfall. The president of Vanuatu is quoted as saying that all the infrastructure and development of the last several years has been completely destroyed and that the humanitarian need is immediate. Communications to and from the island nation have been disabled and relief efforts hampered due to the loss of infrastructure, power and communications. Damage assessments are still underway and the full scope of loss is yet to be realized.
Read more here.
Want to help? Donate to the International Emergency Relief Fund to help the residents of Vanuatu.
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Spiritual Companioning Workshop
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 An experiential workshop offered by the Rev. Elizabeth Magill and Desiree Bernard on April 18 will provide basic training and renewed experience in the sacred work of deep listening and spiritual care. It is especially appropriate for people engaging with people on the streets, at soup kitchens and food pantries, and in shelters. God loves and cares for each of us, and we can learn to sit with another of God's children, support their storytelling, and help them find the connection to God's story.
The workshop is designed to meet the needs of  anyone, lay or ordained, who wants to begin or expand skills for the work of spiritual care. As we cover the introductory skills there will be ample space for your personal experiences and questions about the companionship model of pastoral care.
Learn more and register here. Download a flyer.
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Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2015
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Breaking the Chains: Mass Incarceration & Systems of Exploitation ~ April 17-20, 2015
Doubletree Hotel, Crystal City, Washington D.C.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days is designed to educate and empower grassroots religious advocates to speak out to political leaders on policies that impact our world. More information and registration info is available here.
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Bread of Life: Building Community
through Faith-Based Food Programs
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Saturday, May 16 ~ 8:30-3
St. John's Episcopal Church ~ Boston
 Do you have a food ministry, thriving or struggling, that you want to bring to the next level? Bread of Life provides hands on experience developing your food ministry skills. Join in for an exploration of the cycle of mission giving and consider how to move your congregation through that cycle. Engage in experiential exercises that will help you to converse, share, and minister with the participants of your food program. Imagine, and develop concrete next steps for your particular program and find the support you need to move in new directions.
Designed for churches and community groups engaged in providing community meals, food banks, and other direct service ministries. No experience is necessary.
Download a flyer with more information here.
Endorsed by the Task Team to end Homelessness
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Inform to Reform: How you Can End Mass Incarceration in Massachusetts
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 by Susan Tordella, Co-founder
End Mass Incarceration Together
I began volunteering in prisons near my home in Ayer, Massachusetts in 2009, and co-founded 12 Toast-masters programs in eight institutions. I met scores of people in prison who wanted to improve their communication skills. They make up some of the 22,000 people we incarcerate in Massachusetts.
In 2012, a fellow member of our Council on Social Justice at First Church Unitarian in Littleton, said to me at coffee hour [doesn't everything happen at coffee hour?], "Susan, I heard Michelle Alexander speak at General Assembly [the UU annual convention]. You have to read her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness."
Reading The New Jim Crow made me so angry that I could only read it in sections before throwing it down, only to pick it up later, thinking, "What else has been happening in the dark in prisons, courtrooms, on streets where the poor, mentally ill, drug addicted, homeless, black and brown people are targeted by police?
Read more here.
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Poverty and Homelessness: Causes & Solutions
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The Southeast Area Mission and Community Concerns Committee will hold its Spring Forum on Saturday, April 11, at 9 a.m. at the First Congregational Church of Randolph, MA. Speakers will represent:
- The MACUCC Taskforce on Homelessness
- Interfaith Social Services (connects volunteers, donors and community partners in programs on hunger, mental health and emergency assistance)
- Friends of the Homeless South Shore (works directly with homeless families providing food, clothing, furniture, shelter, education, and advocacy)
- "Bridge of Hope" (organizing churches to fight homelessness and poverty)
- A Massachusetts Commonwealth program on homelessness
- Pilgrim Church Shelter (a ministry of the Pilgrim Trinitarian Congregational Church of Dorchester, MA)
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Kids as Peacemakers: April Vacation Camp
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 Kids as Peacemakers is offering a two-day leadership development camp for youth in grades 6-8 in the greater Newburyport community during the week of April vacation. The overnight program begins at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and concludes with a community service activity on Tuesday at 6:30 pm. Group building and leadership development activities will be provided by trained facilitators from the group On Earth Peace.
The event will take place at Central Congregational Church. The program and activities are secular and open to everyone in the Greater Newburyport
community, regardless of background.
Endorsed by the Justice and Witness Council.
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Who's at La Mesa? Intercultural Worship and Community Formation
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Who's at La Mesa?/Quien esta at the Table?Intercultural Worship and Community Formation
May 2-3, 2015 | Buffalo, NY
 Experience inclusive, bi-lingual and intercultural worship and community formation at Pilgrim - St. Luke's/El Nuevo Camino UCC in Buffalo, N.Y. and explore theological themes and practical tools used in its creation.
Still Speaking worship events are designed to connect United Church of Christ churches doing innovative worship practices with other United Church of Christ churches interested in developing these practices in their congregations. The learning format is experiential and reflective. For this event, attendees will participate in worship, reflect on what they have seen, heard and experienced with the worship leaders from the host church and leave with an understanding of how to transfer the foundational aspects of these worship practices to their home congregations.
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