Preparing the Way: Blessed are the Peacemakers

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Sojo.net

Jesus was a peacemaking, blessed child of God, but he also was an “other.” Reviled and persecuted, he was the paperless son of displaced immigrant parents. The prophetic iconoclast. That guy who hung out with those people, the type most modern leaders would not associate with, except for a photo opportunity at a Thanksgiving Day soup kitchen. Let us remember on Sunday when we celebrate his resurrection, that Jesus was crucified because he was an outsider whose way of doing things scared and angered the powers-that-be. [...]

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Letter to the Editor: On Pink Licenses

The proposed pink license design

Raleigh News & Observer

There’s no shortage of solutions in search of problems these days in Raleigh. One classic example is the proposed pink licenses for young immigrants who are granted Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The special licenses, approved by Gov. Pat McCrory, were neither requested by law enforcement nor designed to follow what other states have done. [...]

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Conference Explores Dimensions Of Food Justice

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By Eric Ginsburg, YES Weekly

Dozens of organizations and hundreds of people from throughout the area came together in Greensboro last week to talk about an issue central in everyone’s lives: food. The Come to the Table conference, held at UNCG, was designed to assemble people who are working on and concerned with food issues to learn, network and organize around food access and justice. [...]

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Faith and Weight Loss: NC Churches Encourage Members to be Healthy

Velma White_56

Public News Service – NC

Weight loss is the most popular New Year’s resolution being made by North Carolinians and people around the country, according to new data from the University of Scranton. The goal of being healthier is even making its way into churches around the state, through a program sponsored by the North Carolina Council of Churches. [...]

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Making Peace between a Planet and Its People

Baptist Peacemaker

Google “care for creation” and you’ll find it’s a panreligious movement. If nothing else, this demonstrates that all major religions—Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical and Baptist—all agree on at least one thing. Can I get an “amen” to that? It’s good that this is the case. Reconciliation between a planet needing stewardship and inhabitants who often refuse to see that need will require everything from global to grassroots activity. [...]

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CPR Less Likely in Low Income Neighborhoods

CPR less likely in low income neighborhoods

WFMY News 2HD

Ramsuer, NC – What if your chances of surviving a heart attack, or sudden cardiac arrest, depended on the neighborhood you lived in? According to a new study, it just may. The New England Journal of Medicine suggests CPR by a bystander is less likely in low-income areas. They go on to say there is a direct relationship between household income and the racial makeup of a neighborhood. [...]

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Mt. Zion Picked To Receive Life Saving Tools

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Winston-Salem Chronicle

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, the North Carolina Council of Churches, the American Red Cross and State Rep. Becky Carney have selected Winston-Salem’s Mt. Zion Baptist Church as one of 150 places of worship across the state to participate in Strive to Revive. [...]

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North Carolina UCC Receives Heart Defibrillator Through Health and Wellness Program

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UCC News

Parkway United Church of Christ is now ready to take action if someone in the building shows signs of a heart attack. Through the North Carolina Council of Churches’ Strive to Revive program, the Winston-Salem congregation qualified for a free automated external defibrillator (AED) and CPR training, and the Rev. Craig Schaub made sure his church took advantage of the opportunity. [...]

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Blue Cross Giving Churches The Tools to Treat Heart Attacks

defibrillator

Winston-Salem Journal

Placing defibrillators in houses of worship — including eight in Winston-Salem — is part of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of N.C.’s strategy for extending the reach of health care into community gathering places. The insurer and churches hope there will be a pay-it-forward element from the free CPR training that goes along with the automated external defibrillators. “Most people don’t want to be in a helpless place when they see someone having a cardiac arrest,” said Bruce Hayes, associate pastor at Reynolda Church. [...]

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BCBSNC Grant Funds Defibrillators, Training For Churches

Strong Heart

Durham-Herald Sun

DURHAM – Over the next three years, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will fund 150 Automated External Defibrillators and training for places of worship across the state, with 33 already lined up. BCBSNC President and CEO J. Bradley Wilson made the announcement Tuesday at First Calvary Baptist Church in Durham along with Strive to Revive partners the American Red Cross, the North Carolina Council of Churches and N.C. Rep. Becky Carney (D-Mecklenburg). [...]

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Program Aims To Put Defibrillators In Churches

Heart Health

WUNC 91.5 North Carolina Public Radio

Eric Hodge: Several state organizations are banding together give churches the tools to save lives. Gurnal Scott reports. Gurnal Scott: State Representative Becky Carney of Charlotte will never forget April 2nd, 2009..the day a portable defibrillator revived her after a near-fatal heart attack at the General Assembly Rep. Becky Carney: One story can propel a great movement within a community. [...]

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Racial Justice Act Supporters Push to Sustain Veto of New Bill

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The News & Observer

Death penalty opponents and advocates of the state’s Racial Justice Act have embarked on an intense petition drive, letter-writing and email campaign, targeting five Democrats in the state House of Representatives. The goal is to persuade the representatives to sustain the governor’s Thursday veto of the legislature’s overhaul of the Racial Justice Act. [...]

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Health On Earth

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The News & Observer

The N.C. Council of Churches rejoices in the ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act, affirming the decades-long concerns of the council for those without health care. [...]

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North Carolina: Don't Follow Arizona

Supreme Court, Ivone Guillen / Sojourners

Sojourners | God’s Politics

The recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court should put to rest any notion of North Carolina trying to enact an Arizona- or Alabama-style immigration bill. While we remain concerned that the ruling could leave the door open for legalized racial profiling, the Court has made clear that immigration policy and enforcement should be left up to the federal government. [...]

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Health Care for All God’s Children — ACA Upheld

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The NC Council of Churches rejoices in today’s ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which affirms the decades-long work and concerns of the NCCC for those without health care. This decision means that millions who had no health insurance and thus restricted health care will have their needs met. The ACA not only offers benefits to many people who need health care, but it addresses the moral concern of [...]

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