Children's Sabbath

Celebrate Children’s Sabbath
to Work for Equity and Justice in Education

On Sunday, October 23, First Central will join with thousands of other congregations across the nation in the annual multi-faith National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths. Our children will be leading us in worship and incorporating some of the things they learned this summer when they studied worship and designed their own service in Grand Central Stations.

The National Observance of Children’s Sabbaths weekend is sponsored by the non-profit, non-partisan Children’s Defense Fund and supported by the United Church of Christ, Catholic Charities U.S.A., the Islamic Society of North America, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., the National Spiritual Assembly of Bahá’ís in the U.S., the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, the Union for Reform Judaism, the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, and more than 200 other religious organizations and denominations.

The 2011 Children’s Sabbath, “Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue:” Answering God’s Call to Protect Children, will focus on the education achievement gap that leaves too many children, especially poor and minority children, reading and doing math below grade level, leading to lower rates of school completion. Educational attainment is the greatest predictor of future income. The best poverty-prevention strategy we have is ensuring high levels of school completion—supporting children to complete high school and to go on to complete a four-year college education. Justice requires equitable and excellent education, especially for the most vulnerable children. When we work for excellent and equitable education, we not only protect children from current injustice but we protect their futures by putting them on the path to a promising and productive adulthood.

As people of faith we recognize the sacred responsibility to nurture and protect children and to work for the world God intends. On the Children’s Sabbath, we will remember the children in struggling schools and difficult circumstances, we will reflect on the teachings of our faith that lead us to respond, and we will commit to putting our faith into action to help all children learn and succeed.

All are invited. This will be a good time to invite other families or children to visit our congregation. For more information or to find out how you can help, contact Peg Peterson at ce@firstcentral.org.

Behind the Poverty Numbers: Real Lives, Real Pain

Like the following story reports, our neighbors in need are more than just numbers in Census data. Service to others is important in our faith community - it is part of our mission to put a face to the many issues our community is dealing with so that more people can join the human cause - to help a person in need.

Please read the following story from Yahoo News, Behind the Poverty Numbers: Real Lives, Real Pain by David Crary to learn more about the poverty crisis in our nation today.

Link to full story: http://news.yahoo.com/behind-poverty-numbers-real-lives-real-pain-151738270.html

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Growing Cities

First Central is one of the many faith communities that supports a return to the land, green living and expanding access to fresh fruit and veggies for all our city's residents. First Central partners with The Big Garden, a network of community gardens in metropolitan Omaha and southeast Nebraska. The Big Garden empowers neighbors to grow nutritious food, build community relationships, create safe neighborhood spaces, and develop healthy lifestyles. Behind our very church building neighbors and church members grow goodies for all to share in the bounty. We use the produce we grow to cook meals for the monthly Neighbors United Community Meal.

As a community of faith, we feel that it is important to promote our "green" resources and support similar efforts. Once such Omaha project is the Growing Cities Movie and Movement. Growing Cities is a feature-length documentary film about urban farming across America. It follows two Omaha native friends in their road trip across country as they meet with leaders in the urban farming movement and learn how cities are being revitalized one vegetable, bee, and chicken at a time.

We hope that you enjoy learning about what First Central Congregational Church United Church of Christ and other Omaha organizations are doing to better our community.

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So Sweet

Weddings are a wonderful blessing :-)

Gay and Lesbian Wedding Portrait Pictures from the NY Times Marriage Bureau.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/07/24/nyregion/20110724-gaymarriage-portraits.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

Have a great rest of your July everyone!

GLBTQ Inclusive Clergy and Churches

Heartlands Christians supporting LGBT equality now have a Proclamation and a website (and a Facebook page)! The Heartland Clergy for Inclusion will hold a press conference at 6pm tomorrow (6/15) to unveil everything on the banks of the Missouri River. Check out the beautiful website.

If you're Heartlands clergy, sign your name. If you're ANYONE, record a statement of support! www.heartlandproclamation.org

Holy Week and Easter

Happy Easter to our church community. We wish you a reflective and joyous holiday as we remember Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

Daily Wisdom

“Man is born broken. He lives by mending. The grace of God is glue.” ~ Eugene O’Neill (1926)

16.6 Percent of Households in Nebraska Unable to Afford Enough Food

New Survey Finds 16.6 Percent of Households in Nebraska Unable
to Afford Enough Food - Legislative Bill Poised to Address Hunger Issues

Source: Nebraska Appleseed

Lincoln, NE - In 2010, one in six respondents in Nebraska reported not having enough money to buy food that they or their family needed at some points during the prior twelve months, according to a new report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC).

This unique report provides data on food hardship - the inability to afford enough food - for every state and Congressional District and for the nation's 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs). The data was gathered by Gallup and analyzed by FRAC.

For Nebraska, it found that in 2010:

* 16.6 percent of responders in the state experienced food hardship.
* In the Omaha-Council Bluffs MSA, 18.8 percent of people experienced food hardship.
* Congressional Districts in Nebraska all experienced food hardship: 14.1 percent of residents in the 1st District, 17.9 percent in the 2nd District, and 14.6 percent in the 3rd District.

"This new data shows us just how much people are struggling in our communities, and underlines that far too many of them have found it a challenge to afford enough food for their families," said Rebecca Gould, Executive Director of Nebraska Appleseed. "Our nation's safety net must be strong so that when families and communities struggle, we can support them in moving forward."

A bill in the Nebraska Legislature would address hunger issues in the state. LB 543, introduced by Senator Tanya Cook of Omaha would take up a federal option to provide outreach activities for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps.) An amendment, AM 540 brought by Senator Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha, would also lift restrictive asset limits to allow people with emergency savings and other resources to qualify if they are low income and meet other requirements. The bill was voted on by the legislature today, and has moved to select file.
"These changes are an important step forward in addressing food hardship in Nebraska," states Gould, "they help get food assistance to those who need it."

"The data in this report shows that food hardship - running out of money to buy the food that families need - is a substantial challenge in every corner of this country," said Jim Weill, President of FRAC. "With persistently high unemployment and underemployment across the nation, we have to strengthen programs that benefit those who are struggling." Nebraska Appleseed joined FRAC in expressing deep concern about potential cuts to low-income assistance programs proposed by Congress for the FY 2011 budget. "This data clearly shows the need in our state, and our elected officials must take action to protect the well-being of Nebraska families," said Gould.

The full report is available at www.frac.org

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About This Report

This report is the latest in the Food Research and Action Center's (FRAC) series of analyses of survey data on food hardship collected by Gallup as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. It provides the most up-to-date examination of the struggle that very large numbers of American households are having affording enough food.

Nebraska Appleseed, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public interest law project, is a national leader in addressing social problems facing vulnerable children without loving and permanent homes, low-income families working hard to make ends meet, and new immigrants seeking a better life. Nebraska Appleseed's current year action plan and description of its six program areas, significant litigation and policy reform successes, and broad-based accomplishments can be found at neappleseed.org.

Nebraska Appleseed is a part of the Appleseed network of independent state-based public interest law centers working to identify and address social injustices. The Appleseed network seeks to build a just society through education, legal advocacy, community activism and policy expertise by addressing root causes and producing practical, systemic solutions with broad implication. For more information visit appleseednetwork.org.

Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest
941 O Street, Suite 920
Lincoln, NE 68508
www.neappleseed.org

Suggested Reading

During his sermon today Pastor Scott Jones quoted from a text by Brian McLaren. What was shared with the congregation really interested me, so I thought I'd share McLaren's website and the name of the book Pastor Jones mentioned.

Everything Must Change: Jesus, Global Crisis, and a Revolution of Hope (2007)

Please view his website for more information on his books and theological work: http://www.brianmclaren.net/

Happy Reading!

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Ambition is Over-rated

Excerpt from James 3:13-18
"But if you have bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not be boastful and false to the truth. Such wisdom does not come down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, devilish."

Reflection by Lillian Daniel
Back when I was in college, I would periodically get out a yellow legal pad and write the years ahead of me on each line, and then write next to each age exactly what I thought I would be doing. My future graduation was duly noted, as were plans for grad school, and even the years when I would be having children. I had decided that I would wait to have them, well into middle age, so that I could focus on my career as a lawyer in international business first. And naturally I would adopt, because, well, to be honest, it seemed more efficient, less painful and easier to schedule. As for a life partner, that never made it onto the pad.

Just a few years later, I was married, pregnant and about to be ordained a pastor at the age of 26. What had happened to that yellow legal plan version of my life? Well, it turns out that life, love and the holy spirit can’t be planned.

A recent article in the Economist revealed that happiness and age relate to one another like a giant U curve. We are happy young adults, but then get decidedly unhappier until our low point at age 46. After that, we start creeping up the curve toward more happiness as we age. But why?
One theory is that as we get older, we let go of some of those "selfish ambitions" that James was writing to the early church about. We let go of our legal pad life plans, probably written to impress someone else, and we come to appreciate who we are.

Godly ambition is not about impressing other people, but living into a purpose that is both good for you and good for the world. That’s the kind of ambition worth carrying forward. Let your old ambitions pass that test before you carry them with you into the future.

And remember, at least if you are over 46, it gets better.

Prayer
Dear God, search my ambitions within me, to see which of them are Godly and worth taking into the future, and which of them are worth leaving behind.

UCC Daily Devotional from February 4, 2011
Source: http://www.ucc.org/feed-your-spirit/daily-devotional/ambition-is-over-rated.html
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UCC Mission Moment

National UCC Mission Moment

Ecumenical Sunday
January 23, 2011
Third Sunday after the Epiphany

What IS Our Church’s Wider Mission, Anyway?
It’s a well-kept secret in a lot of places, but Our Church’s Wider Mission is, in a lot of ways, who we are in the United Church of Christ.

The God is still speaking campaign is attracting thousands of people to the United Church of Christ. For them, we are the kind of church they “never knew existed,” the kind of church that actively welcomes everyone and takes courageous stands on controversial issues—and all the while tends to the traditional basic mandates of the gospel to spread the Good News, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.

Our nearly 6,000 congregations contribute to Our Church’s Wider Mission, making us the kind of church so many people “never knew existed.”

Without Our Church’s Wider Mission . . .
We could not gather the great strengths of our congregations or make our voice heard in the public arena. We would not have missionaries in over 70 countries worldwide. We could not help small, struggling, or emerging new churches with support for pastors or buildings. We could not provide congregations with distinctively “UCC” resources: for worship, stewardship, leadership. Congregations would be entirely on their own when looking for a pastor. There would be no United Church of Christ presence at all in parts of the United States. Our Church’s Wider Mission: It’s who we are. Does your congregation contribute?

Source: http://www.ucc.org/stewardship/mission-moments/
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Violent Words

We hope the following article reminds us that this old saying is not true: "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

Arizona Shooting Reminds Us Our Words Are Swords by Sheldon C. Good, Assistant Editor, Mennonite Weekly Review. Posted on the Huffington Post on January 12th.

Article credit and source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheldon-c-good/ariz-shooting-reminds-us-_b_807064.html

God's heart broke just as ours did upon hearing of the victims in Tucson. It's a tragic reminder of how cyclical violence is and of how our words have consequences. Speculation is running rampant on why Jared Loughner allegedly "planned ahead" and ultimately carried out a shooting at a suburban Safeway supermarket, killing six people and wounding 14, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

Did vitriolic rhetoric lead to the shooting of innocent victims? Is it just another isolated incident from a psychologically unstable suspect? We may never know for sure. Loughner allegedly acted and planned with clear intention. But rather than assigning blame, we all must confess the places where violence creeps into our own lives. Regardless of why Loughner did what he did, the shooting reminds us all that violent communication is evil and only breeds more evil.

We all possess what the prophet Isaiah called mouths as sharp as swords. And so it seems that right now, as violence has once again strangled our nation's soul, the words of the Prince of Peace aptly remind us to put these swords back into their place -- "for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matt. 26:52).

We live daily with the choice to use our words to inspire hope or propagate fear. It's natural for people to disagree, but when disagreeing turns to demonizing, we must turn from such evil ways and put away our swords of words.

For too long, people of faith -- myself included -- have mirrored violence or the threat of violence in our language. Political opponents are "targeted." Athletic opponents must "kill" each other. The list goes on. Such words that vilify others have no place in our communication. Do we continually analyze our word choices?

Loughner was clearly upset with the state of politics. Though his increasingly odd behavior caused growing alarm, he had devised a plan, acquired the proper hardware and no one was going to stop him from carrying out his mission. It all sounds eerily similar to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Since then, it seems no event has generated as much attention regarding whether extremism, anti-government sentiment and political passion create a social climate that promotes violence.

We need to rediscover how to disagree without demonizing. As people of faith, we ask God to cleanse us of our violent ways, so that we may realign ourselves with God's reign on Earth as it is in heaven.

As we approach Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let us remember his words:
"We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness."

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Food for Thought & Social Change

I was scanning my facebook updates recently and a friend of mine posted a link to the following article. I found it to be thought provoking and extremely important in our day and age.

"Go Where? Sex, Gender and Toilets" by Marissa, a guest blogger. This story was posted on The Society Pages website.

It is high time we start a public discourse about this topic and make changes in our communities to be more accepting of gender differences and transgendered individuals. Hopefully, inclusive religious communities like First Central can help pave the way for positive social change.

Posted by Hanna W.