NC Policy Watch
It’s no wonder why our political leaders are scrambling to find solutions, even while bumping heads in the process. Both sides want what’s best for America, but the process through which we work to achieve that has become increasingly contentious and politically charged. And I can’t help but believe that our own personal experiences and beliefs, not the persuasive views of political pundits, ultimately determine on which side of an issue we fall and what we deem worth fighting for. Let me share a story. [...]
Continue reading Safety Net Programs: They’re Worth Fighting For
NC Policy Watch
I can certainly understand that the nation is clearly frustrated with Congress’ dysfunction, partisan gridlock, and seeming inability to deal rationally with the many major policy issues facing our communities. I am too. And immigration reform is now seen as one of the most challenging political battlegrounds, thanks in large part to partisan wrangling. Now a handful of conservative legislators are using fear and misinformation to position immigration as a political wedge issue, cashing in on Washington’s inaction and the down economy to pursue a fierce anti-immigrant agenda [...]
Continue reading The Spread of Toxic Immigration Laws
As the “Super Committee” begins to negotiate a deal to cut $1.5 trillion from our national budget, the faith community wants to be sure that our North Carolina congressional delegation – Sens. Richard Burr and Kay Hagan as well as our 13 representatives – remember the calling of the God of all creation to provide for the common good. As the Rev. Dr. James Forbes, a native North Carolinian and senior pastor emeritus of New York’s Riverside Church reminds us, budgets are moral documents that determine who eats and who starves. [...]
Continue reading Budget with conscience
In a recent edition of Please Note, Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina interviewed Dr. Kathy Shea about her work as director of NC Interfaith Power & Light. [...]
Continue reading Bishop Curry Interviews Dr. Kathy Shea about NC IPL
Durham Herald-Sun
Jimmy Creech spent his career as an ordained United Methodist pastor until the church took his credentials away as punishment for conducting same sex commitment ceremonies in Omaha and Chapel Hill. He was not convicted at a trial in Nebraska in 1998, but he lost his church assignment and the stage was set for a second trial in 1999 after he officiated a ceremony at United Church of Chapel Hill. Since then he has been a leader of LGBT justice issues, retired to Raleigh and travels the country speaking. He also has written an account of the upheaval, “Adam’s Gift: A Memoir of a Pastor’s Calling to Defy the Church’s Persecution of Lesbians and Gays.” He’ll speak about it Saturday at the Durham County Library Main Branch downtown. [...]
Continue reading A Pastor’s Calling to WORK for LGBT Inclusion
USA Today
DURHAM, N.C. — It’s summer. It’s hot. It’s the South. That must mean it’s time for an old-fashioned camp meeting. Starting Thursday, the bygone staple of the tent revival will be reincarnated on a bucolic North Carolina farm as The Wild Goose Festival. Nearly 10 years in the making, the festival is an attempt to reimagine Christianity for the 21st century under a bigger, wider more inclusive tent. [...]
Continue reading Left-leaning Christians to rally around ‘Wild Goose’
North Carolina Medical Journal
The NCMJ features Dr. Kathy Shea, Executive Director of North Carolina Interfaith Power & Light, on page 87 of its March/April 2011 edition. [...]
Continue reading Tarheel Footprints in Health Care
Qué Pasa Media Network
Winston-Salem – Las detenciones y deportaciones arbitrarias y el tráfico de personas, fueron los principales temas tratados durante un taller de trabajo sobre inmigración, que tuvo lugar en Saint Paul Episcopal Church de esta ciudad, bajo el auspicio del Consejo de Iglesias de Carolina del Norte. [...]
Continue reading Enseñan las opciones legales
NC Policy Watch
In a hyper-partisan era characterized by failures of leadership across the board, perhaps no single issue illustrates government gridlock better than immigration. Everyone knows that our current immigration system is broken. Year after year, proposals to help fix the system have been introduced in Washington, only to die without ever taking effect. Understandably, many states feel they have been left no choice but to take action themselves. [...]
Continue reading Immigration & Arizona: Making a Problem Worse
Eastern Wake News
Poverty afflicts thousands in eastern Wake County – not just those without a job or some other source of income, but even those so-called working poor who live from paycheck to paycheck hoping to avoid a single disaster that could turn their worlds upside down. Ever since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society aimed the nation’s attention on the plight of the poor in the 1960s, there’s been debate about the best way to raise up those who have less than they need to lead a normal life. [...]
Continue reading Reducing Poverty in Eastern Wake a Complex Battle
The News & Observer
All the conflict raging about the Wake schools for the past year and a half came spilling out Wednesday night when a panel of federal civil rights investigators heard testimony – often heated – in an East Raleigh church. The hearing concerned a complaint against Wake Public Schools, filed with the federal education department by the state NAACP. An estimated 200 people nearly filled the fellowship hall at Martin Street Baptist Church, with speakers making emphatic points on both sides of the issues. [...]
Continue reading Civil Rights Panel Gets an Earful on Wake Schools
Washington Daily News
The Rev. Charles Smith, a longtime member of the North Carolina Council of Churches, received its 2011 Distinguished Service Award earlier this month at Duke University. George Reed, the council’s executive director, said the honor recognizes Smith’s commitment to the council’s twin goals of social justice and ecumenism. The council represents 18 Christian denominations. [...]
Continue reading Smith Honored by Council of Churches
Bishop Michael Curry of the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina recently interviewed George Reed about the current legislative session and about the Council’s upcoming Legislative Seminar. Their conversation is an excellent reminder of why people of faith need to become involved in social justice issues.
The News & Observer
On Wednesday, we celebrate the one-year anniversary of passing the Affordable Health Care Act. While this legislation is not perfect, it is a crucial step toward improving our current health care system. The N.C. Council of Churches and most mainline denominations have long advocated universal health coverage, where each person receives health, wholeness and human dignity. [...]
Continue reading Churches’ Goals
ENCToday.com
Lenoir County is the first county in the state to receive grant awards through the “Spark Plug” program, an initiative of the Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation to promote healthy activity and nutrition. Ten organizations and government entities in Pink Hill, Grifton and Kinston each received a $3,000 award for projects that inspired physical activity or greater nutrition in the community. “If every county has spark plugs in it like Lenoir County does, this is going to be a huge success,” Danielle Breslin, vice president of operations for the BCBSNC Foundation, said of the program. [...]
Continue reading Grants to Create Healthier Communities
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