By Patricia A. Watts
Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill
It all started with the reading of Jim Wallis' book, "God's Politics." Two summers ago the participants of the discussion group expressed concerns about the underlying public policy issues of those in need in our midst and around the world and wondered how our congregation might be engaged in advocacy efforts.
Mary Getz, from the Episcopal Public Policy Network in Washington, DC, was invited in January 2006 to lead a convocation-wide event where she led us through advocacy training and passed out copies of "Engage God's Mission: Policy for Action" (The Social Policies of the Episcopal Church, U.S.A.), which includes a multitude of policy positions from domestic issues to the Millennium Development Goals.
Our parish has committees and projects which disburse an abundance of outreach funds, send folks on mission trips, teach us about global warming and climate change and the vestry has designated 0.7% of the budget toward the MDGs - all incredibly important endeavors. And yet, our group yearned for more - we wanted to offer opportunities to learn about Episcopal views and official stances on social justice plus we wanted to provide opportunities for parishioners to act on their convictions.
We began with an Adult Education offering: a study of "What Can One Person Do?: Faith to Heal a Broken World." We learned about the MDGs - what they are and how to energetically address them as Episcopalians are called to do.
Then, the Micah Planning Team formed to plan activities, develop goals and create a structure for engagement and action. The congregation was invited to the first Micah Group gathering last October with a follow up meeting in November. The full Micah Group does not have regularly scheduled meetings but forms the nucleus for parish wide events.
At our first meeting we created a vision for our work as the Micah Group. Since the prophet Micah (6:8) implores us to, "act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God," our mission statement reads: Striving for justice and peace among all peoples, the Micah Group seeks to educate and engage our congregation in meaningful advocacy. We are guided by the Episcopal Church¿s stances on issues of social justice, including but not limited to the Millennium Development Goals.
Last fall, we assisted in the Intergenerational Event on hunger which focused on Goal #1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger - participants made dry soup mix for the community food pantry, learned about the targets for eradicating worldwide hunger, looked at maps, created banners and artwork, and discussed the issue in small groups. Our children produced amazing artwork and profound ideas.
Early in 2007 Adult Education presented the first session of "Mission & Ministry through the MDGs," a resource study developed by the Rev. Leon Spencer. The class focused on encouraging reflection about God's mission on earth and upon God's calling to us. This step back helped us understand the meaning of "mission", our understanding of mission and what our personal calling might be. We regret not planning to work through the entire study guide and recommend that others do so.
This spring another book study guided us through fellow Episcopalian Lallie Lloyd's "Eradicating Global Poverty," published by the National Council of Churches. Lallie participated in the first session by sharing her commitment and depth of knowledge. Then, as the second session began one of our participants introduced her son (a former acolyte at COTC) who is now a physician practicing at a rural hospital in Rwanda. The group sat mesmerized as someone on the front lines of improving maternal health, saving babies, and treating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other terrible diseases shared the story of his young family's call to make their home in a third world country.
On Mother's Day (it is the mothers, after all, who feed the children) we used Bread for the World materials to write letters to our Members of Congress in support of specific inclusions in the 2007 Farm Bill which will help farmers in developing countries. During the Offertory the following Sunday, 63 letters were carried to the altar and then mailed to Washington, DC.
Parishioners are encouraged to respond to social justice legislative alerts from the Episcopal Public Policy Network and the Episcopal ONE Campaign. We ask ourselves, do our public policies undercut Christ's teachings? Each year Congress considers hundreds of bills that impact the mission of the Church. As Episcopalians, we have a perspective of public policy that, we believe, our nation's leaders need to hear.
We are also asking our congregation to prayerfully consider a 0.7% pledge of their personal income as modeled by our parish, our diocese and our national church. Our Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori has said "...the MDGs can only be met by governmental generosity, and it will be here that the next work of the MDGs is going to have to focus. You and I as Episcopalians, and all the other like-minded folks we can muster, of whatever faith or denomination or none are now going to have to lobby our government to raise the level of aid we give to 1 percent of the annual budget." If we have made our own pledges, we can then prove to our Members of Congress just how essential the achievement of the MDGs is to people of faith.
Each event brings in a few more parishioners seeking to learn and become engaged with the Millennium Development Goals. We are deepening our understanding of the problems families in developing countries face everyday and we are equipping ourselves for the next half of this journey. Educate and advocate - that's what we do!
