The Council is partnering with Raise the Wage NC to encourage faith communities to hold a Labor Sabbath this Labor Day weekend, September 1-3. Faith leaders can adapt their holy day services in ways that reflect the importance of workers, the value of labor unions, and the need to raise the North Carolina minimum wage. Through Labor Sabbath, congregations have the opportunity to talk about faith, work, and justice. Across the state this year, we are focused on honoring labor and supporting the need for education to raise the minimum…
Raleigh Report — May 10, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net.] Newly Introduced Bills EDUCATION Three companion bills would impact food served in schools. H 891, Free Breakfast and Lunch in K-12 Public Schools, would provide funds ($200 million per year) to make free breakfast and free lunch available to all public school students who request it. It would also create a fund to which taxpayers could contribute through a…
Workers’ Memorial: Remembering Those Who Have Died
Remarks delivered at the Workers’ Memorial, April 28, at the Old Capitol Building, Raleigh Micah 7:1-4, 6:8 God has always had a preferential option for the marginalized and the down trodden of society, while also holding out hope that the dominant and powerful will see justice the way God sees it. Sometimes people in charge don’t see the injustice occurring to those who work beneath them; sometimes they don’t understand it when it happens; and sometimes they know exactly what they’re doing, but they do it anyway because they are…
Raleigh Report — April 26, 2017
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [The deadlines for the introduction of most new bills have now passed, and we are in Crossover Week. By the end of the week, most non-money bills (i.e., not taxes, fees, or appropriations) must have passed one house in order to remain alive for this session. There are exceptions, and those exceptions can sometimes be used creatively by legislative leaders to keep bills alive. For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to…
Do We Treat Workers as We Would Treat Jesus?
In this Easter season of the Christian church, we have just celebrated Resurrection Sunday and the joy we feel that Jesus overcame death. However, my preacher, the Rev. Betty Connette of West Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, noted in her Easter sermon that believing in the resurrection is not the important part. The important part is what we do with our belief in the resurrection. How do we live the resurrection? As Christians in a consumer-driven, corporate-dominated society, we must be as concerned as Jesus was about all people —…
Whispers and Shouts
Sometimes God whispers. Whether through hymns or homilies or kids dancing their way down the aisle to children’s chapel. Sometimes God shouts. Through the amplified suffering of others, known or strangers, all created in the same image. Or through the aftermath of a cataclysmic election. Lately, the lectionary readings have provided desperately needed whispers for me, reminders of what our faith promises. On the third Sunday after Epiphany we were offered Isaiah and the 27th Psalm, promising light and a faithful stand against fear. On the fourth Sunday, the Beatitudes….
Getting Back to Our Normal: Some Suggestions for the Long Haul
Our friend Rob Schofield over at Policy Watch wrote a column on Tuesday that was as vitally important in its truth-telling as it was hard to read for the future it forecasts. One of the crucial facts he offered — those of us opposed to the policies, personalities, and vicious rhetoric of the current administration must be prepared for the long haul. The reality is proving to be every bit as damaging as we thought it might. So what now? A couple of thoughts: Don’t accept the lies. Trust your brain,…
Let’s Keep Marching
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to shoulder with a half million others. But there I was, pink hat and all. I chose to be there because my grandmother cleaned other people’s homes and worked in food service in the promise that her two daughters, and then her three granddaughters, would all attend college. I chose to be there because I have raised three brown sons to…
A Letter to President Trump
Dear Mr. Trump, You ARE my president. I did not vote for you, but you were elected, and that makes you my president because I am a citizen of these United States. True, my ancestors tried to secede from the union in 1861, but the ancestors of others prevailed against them and kept us together. Not your ancestors, to be sure, because they immigrated long after the colonies declared independence and the southern states rebelled. But my ancestors were here for all of that and I have never lived anywhere…
Speak Out on Cabinet Nominees
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & Light, MomsRising, Faith in Public Life, and the National Council of Churches are just some of the organizations calling on people of conscience to speak out against nominees who have been described as: Representing and promoting “hateful ideals and policies.” (MomsRising) Having “questionable ties to foreign governments with anti-democratic leadership and human rights abuses.” (Interfaith Power & Light) Epitomizing “extremist,…
Advent Guide Focuses on Peace
The NC Council of Churches has never taken peace for granted. Indeed, along with our work in opposition to violence, there has long been the recognition that peace manifests itself in many ways – in how we relate to one another, in the policies our elected officials put in place, in who has enough. For this year’s Advent Lectionary Guide, the Council’s staff chose to focus on peace. The reasons may be obvious, but even in the absence of a soul-sucking political climate, our reality is that we need to…
Safety is Imperative to Worker Justice
Worker Memorial Day is April 28, a day when we remember workers who have lost their lives providing goods (buildings, roads, food, clothing, etc) and services (caring for our children, elderly and disabled, cleaning our spaces, mowing our lawns, cutting our hair etc) for “the rest of us.” What does God require of us to provide justice for workers? A living wage is critical, but safety for workers is imperative. Laws and regulations for worker safety and funding for inspectors to enforce those laws are key requirements for justice in…
Tenth Annual HKonJ is February 13
Join the NAACP, NC Council of Churches, and other coalition partners for the Tenth Annual Moral March on Raleigh. Historic Thousands on Jones Street 2016 takes place on Saturday, February 13; gather and rally is at 8:30 a.m. and the march begins at 10 a.m. Participants can meet across the street from Raleigh Memorial Auditorium at 2 East South Street. Since its beginnings, HKonJ has drawn together a broad cross-section of North Carolinians committed to justice for all in this state, especially the most vulnerable among us. This year’s march is…
Uncomplicating Justice
A lot of times in the work that we do at the Council we preface our comments, blogs or presentations with the words, “it’s complicated”. The Syrian refugee crisis is complicated. Immigration reform is complicated. Climate change is complicated. And it is. History is complicated and so are people’s motives and interpretations. However, often that becomes code for, “so I’m not going to do anything about it.” In a recent, tragic example the choice not to indict the officers who shot and killed 13-year-old Tamir Rice was described as a “difficult…
Shopping with Meaning
Pope Francis has offered us a message encouraging us to actions that reflects a commitment to dignity and respect for all workers. As the Advent season approaches, gift giving becomes a priority for those of us in the Christian community. There are many ways to shop with a conscience supporting values we hold dear. There are Fair Trade stores and alternative gift fairs encouraging donations to honor a relative or friend. And several cities in North Carolina have programs encouraging local employers to pay living wages. These communities certify and maintain…