Saint Andrew's-in-the Valley
"Thursday MEMO"
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Services for this coming Sunday, May 22nd and the Fifth Sunday of Easter, will be at 8 and 10, with coffee hour following both services and child care available at 10.
We have now entered into the "Garden Flowers as Altar Flowers" season. If you have blossoms (or greens) that you would like to offer for our altar, please make it known by signing up on the flower chart which is posted in the Parish Hall on the closet door to the left of our parish bulletin board and by filing out an information form which should then be left on Debra's desk in the office. While not necessary, please consider offering them with a special intention -- in memory, in thanksgiving, or in honor of someone or some event. Many thanks for enriching our worship in this simple and beautiful way!
As food for thought and action, I offer the following message from Bonnie Anderson, President of the Episcopal Church's House of Deputies...
I went to Capitol Hill to talk with legislators last week, and came away with the first two lines of William Cowper's famous hymn running through my mind: "God moves in a mysterious way; His wonders to perform."
The Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations scheduled seven meetings for me with legislators and legislative staff. I wanted to talk about poverty and women's issues, but found that all that the legislators and their staffs wanted to talk about was the 2012 federal budget. As it turned out, however, our interests were one and the same; many of the programs that affect the most vulnerable Americans-the poor, women, children, and the elderly-are encompassed in approximately three trillion dollars worth of cuts that the House of Representatives proposes to make over the next 10 years in programs that help low-income individuals and their families.
In March, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church passed a resolution that "urges all Episcopalians in the United States to engage in advocacy for a responsible federal budget that expresses the shared moral priorities of the nation." After my visits on Capitol Hill, I am more committed to this work than ever, and hope you will consider joining me. We have a significant moral priority as Episcopalians, as Christians, to bear witness on behalf of the poor, the vulnerable, and the marginalized. The baptismal promise to strive for justice and peace among all people makes the choice between cutting programs for the poor and elderly or raising taxes an easy one.
Consider that the House Budget Committee's FY2012 budget resolution would make at least two-thirds of its cuts from low-income programs, including a 20% reduction in Medicaid, a nearly 19% reduction in education programs, and devastating reductions in food stamps and housing assistance. It would also eliminate funding for health care reform provisions, thereby keeping health insurance out of reach for millions of people.
It is tempting to believe that a church with our membership cannot influence the course of legislation. Those who disagree with our political choices say so all of the time. But last week a legislative assistant told me that he loves it when faith-based organizations come to Capitol Hill. "It brings us good luck," he said. Well, I don't think it is luck. I think that what the Episcopal Church and other faith-based organizations bring is moral courage. We reinforce the notion that it is essential to speak up with passion and commitment for all of those neighbors whom we, as followers of Jesus, promise to love as deeply as we love ourselves. Three of the people I met with on the Hill spoke to me about their faith, and one was a preacher's son. I saw a lot of people with heart in those Capitol Hill offices, but they need encouragement. I met people who are bringing all that they are, and giving everything they've got, to the task at hand. They need to see the rest of us doing the same. The soul of America is at stake in this budget. The People of God need to speak up, now.
The Episcopal Church gives us a way to lift our voices on Capitol Hill. The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPM), a program of the church's Office of Government Relations, will connect you via email to your legislators in Washington and keep you updated on the federal budget and other issues on which our General Convention and Executive Council have taken a stand. To take action on the budget visit EPPN now at: http://episcopal.grassroots.com/issues/budget_action. You will find a sample letter and an "action page" that make it easy to contact your legislators. EPPN has also compiled additional resources about the budget and Episcopal Church policies. Please join me in this advocacy.
While I was in Washington, I visited my own Congressional representative from Michigan's ninth district. He told me that the budget is the most important concern on the Hill right now, and that all of the other issues in which I am interested, like the education and women's issues, are "somewhat on hold." Some of those issues hang in the budget balance, and others won't see the light of a legislative day until Congress has resolved the budget and moves on to other matters.
We have, in this budget debate, a huge dilemma, and one that in which I believe God is mysteriously moving. Right now, a big dose of God's wonder is just what Capitol Hill needs, and our prayers and voices can help deliver it.
My question for each of us is ... How might we as a parish support each other in advocacy for a responsible federal budget that expresses the moral priorities that we as followers of Jesus are called to support? How might this dove-tail with our commitments to social justice and mission outreach? Let's talk!
See you in church!
Blessings,
Heidi+
