2021: A Year in Review
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

NC Council of Churches

Strength in Unity, Peace through Justice

  • Voices
  • About
    • Overview
    • Staff
    • Members
    • Covenant Partners
    • Issue Statements
    • Governing Board
  • Programs
    • NC Interfaith Power & Light
      • NCIPL Overview
      • Faith in Action NCIPL
      • NCIPL Articles
      • NCIPL Resources
      • Upcoming Events for NCIPL
      • Contact NCIPL
    • Partners in Health & Wholeness
      • PHW Staff
      • Mini-Grants
      • PHW Collaborative Pledge
      • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
      • Mental Health Advocacy
      • BIPOC Mental Health Grant
      • Growing Communities of Inclusion: A Faithful Response to HIV
      • Citizen Science
      • PHW Articles
      • FAQs
  • Priorities
    • Racial Justice
    • The Overdose Crisis: The Faith Community Responds
    • Gun Violence Prevention
    • Criminal Justice
    • Immigrant Rights
    • Public Education
    • Farmworkers
    • Legislative Advocacy
    • Christian Unity
    • Peace
  • Events
  • Resources
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Publications & Reports
    • Raleigh Report
    • Lectionary
    • Sermons
  • Donate
  • Council Store
  • Show Search

Search NC Council of Churches

Hide Search

NC Council of Churches Supports National Groups to Assist the Less Fortunate

Sandy Irving, Volunteer Program Associate · April 23, 2013 · Leave a Comment

In keeping with its mission of supporting peace, unity and social justice, the Council recently has signed on to three letters involving issues being addressed at the federal level. We have spoken out for a faithful budget, for preserving low-income tax credits, and for gun violence prevention and school safety.

The call for a faithful FY 2014 budget demonstrates how federal budget choices can and must reflect America’s shared values. A prominent coalition of major national religious organizations and leaders support it as an expression of the faith community’s priorities that stand in stark contrast to the partisan budget proposals currently under consideration. The document is a set of comprehensive and compassionate budget principles that promotes values shared by diverse faiths: protection of the common good, the value of each individual, and lifting the burden on those living at the economic margins of society.

Faithful Budget

The Faithful Budget Campaign was spearheaded by some of the nation’s most well-known Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and other faith-based organizations which are united by their shared commitments to lifting up the most vulnerable and demonstrating that America is a better nation when we follow our faiths’ imperatives to promote the general welfare of all individuals.

Low-Income Tax Credits

The Council also joined signers of a letter to support low-income tax credits through a bill intended to make permanent several vital tax-code priorities for millions of low- to middle-income, working taxpayers and their families — priorities that are currently only temporary. These include:

• The Earned Income Tax Credit’s extra support for families with three or more children, as well as married couples’ relief from the EITC’s so-called “marriage penalty.”

• The Child Tax Credit’s lowered income-eligibility threshold.

• The entire American Opportunity Tax Credit, which helps families defray the costs of higher education.

These provisions were extended for only five years in the recent American Taxpayer Relief Act, even as other tax measures benefiting the wealthiest families were made permanent. Yet there is no good reason that working families should face the loss of these measures.

School Safety and Gun Violence

We also endorsed a letter to Senators supporting positive school safety and gun violence prevention, adding the Council’s voice to those urging all Senators to take action to protect children. Knowing we all are working hard on many child safety proposals, we joined with others from across the country to support proposals in three areas:

• Federal funding for increased positive school safety measures.

• A universal background check requirement that covers private gun sales as well as sales at licensed firearms dealers.

• A limit on high capacity ammunition magazines.

While a minority in the Senate refused to allow even such common-sense measures to move forward for consideration, faithful voices continue to be needed in the ongoing call for legislation to curb gun violence. Please speak out and stand up for the 2,694 children and teens (seven every day) whose voices were permanently silenced by gun violence in 2010 and the estimated 166,500 children and teens who have been killed by guns since 1963.

–Sandy Irving, Volunteer Program Associate

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Aging, Children & Youth, Economic Justice, Equality & Reconciliation, Food, Good Government, Gun Violence, Health, Housing, Immigration, Taxes

About Sandy Irving, Volunteer Program Associate

Health care reform, labor issues, member of NCCC peace, nominating and legislative committees. Activist for justice, grandmother of 6, Presbyterian and retired research associate from Biostatistics Dept, School of Public Health, UNC-CH. Currently on the board of NC Peace Action.

Reader Interactions

More Like This

Aging and Imago Dei
The Spirituality of Loneliness in Life’s Second Chapter
Senate May Still Vote on Health Care; Please Keep Calling

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Anonymous comments or comments that target individuals will not be posted (please include your first and last name). All comments must be on topic and respectful. Comments will not be posted until they have been reviewed by a moderator. Comments do not reflect the positions of the NC Council of Churches.

Footer

Contact

NC Council of Churches
27 Horne St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
(919) 828-6501
info@ncchurches.org

Facebook

Partners in Health and Wholeness

Featured

NC Council of Churches Supports National Groups to Assist the Less Fortunate

Latest Tweets

Your Vote is Your Voice! Learn more this morning with Blueprint NC’s Executive Director, Serena Sebring. We will hear about the political movement and how we can take action. Register for our #2022CriticalIssues at the link! bit.ly/3KZgi7z pic.twitter.com/OUND…

About a day ago

This morning! Join us with speakers @MarcusLFairley and @MarcusBassNC from @NCBlackAlliance at the #2022CriticalIssues where they will discuss the challenges of voter suppression and access to the polls. Register and join! google.com/url?q=htt… pic.twitter.com/qNcl…

About 2 days ago

RT @DanBlueNC We’re in crisis. Our kids are in crisis. Banning books isn’t the answer. We need to keep guns out of the hands of the wrong hands. We need to hire enough mental health providers to support students. We need to act #nced #ncpol

About 3 days ago

Happening all this week! There is still time to register for the event and attend every day at noon! #2022CriticalIssues ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/gOCi…

About 4 days ago

We continue to work on various issues in NC and we want to share with you even more information about the accomplishments you helped us achieve in 2021! We hope you will look for places you can join us on this faith-filled journey. ncchurches.org/resou…

About 4 days ago

Follow @ncchurches

Latest Tweets

Join us for Sacred Conversations: Older Adults - Fraud & Scams on Friday, June 24th from 11 AM to 12 PM and learn to recognize common scams targeted towards older adults and how to protect yourself and those in your faith communities. ncchurches.ourpowerb…

About 3 days ago

RT @FaithCompassWFU Consider becoming an HIV & Faith Ambassador! To learn more, plan to join us for a virtual information session on 05/18 at 2 PM, 06/30 at 2 PM, or on 07/20 at 11 AM, all EST. Register now: bit.ly/FaithAmbInfo #faithandHIV #faithcompassWFU #transformthestory pic.twitter.com/oZo7…

About 2 weeks ago

Join us now Attorney General Josh Stein for a virtual conversation, “A Faith-Based harm Reduction Approach to the Opioid Crisis.” youtube.com/watch?v=…

About 3 weeks ago

RT @NCAGO Join Attorney General @JoshStein_ today at 1 p.m. for a discussion on a faith-based harm reduction approach to the opioid crisis with representatives of Olive Branch Ministries. Register here: us06web.zoom.us/webi… pic.twitter.com/XB05…

About 3 weeks ago

Register here! #phw #MentalHealthAwareness ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/VTN7…

Last month

Follow @healthandfaith

Latest Tweets

RT @interfaithpower We believe elections are a referendum on the values that will shape our future. Join us June 9 for a conversation about our multi-issue Faithful Voter Reflection Guide. Register: ow.ly/PnPg50Jjz6h #FaithClimateJusticeVoter #Vote2022 #VoteReady

About a day ago

RT @ncchurches Happening all this week! There is still time to register for the event and attend every day at noon! #2022CriticalIssues ncchurches.ourpowerb… pic.twitter.com/gOCi…

About 3 days ago

RT @mocleanair Read our editorial in @GeorgiaRecorder. georgiarecorder.com/… @EnergyFdn @GCVoters @cleanenergyorg @GeorgiaIPL @gasierraclub @CleanAirMoms_GA @PSEquityMatters @SouthfaceInst @GAChapterAAP @CEHN @docsforclimate @enviRN @schoolnurses @uwomenfaith @eldersclimate @NCIPL @AlabamaPJC

Last week

RT @mocleanair Comments due in 3 days - if you haven't submitted one yet, do it today! For tips, read our blog about the different kinds of air pollution heavy duty vehicles make. #HealthyAirIsHealthCare #CleanAir @CEHN @TheOxygenProj @eldersclimate @uwomenfaith @GeorgiaIPL @AlabamaPJC @NCIPL twitter.com/mocleana…

Last week

RT @WECAN_INTL 📢Today, Indigenous women leaders & 200+ groups sent a letter calling on @USACEHQ to deny the permits for Line 5, conduct a federal EIS & respect Indigenous rights! To protect communities, water & our climate we must #StopLine5. Learn more👉bit.ly/3MBazW4 pic.twitter.com/FqeQ…

Last week

Follow @ncipl

Latest Tweets

Copyright © 2022 NC Council of Churches · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design · Hosted by WP Engine