Call for Just, Compassionate Immigration Reform

A couple years ago, legislation for immigration reform failed to pass in Congress. Since then people of many faiths have prayed that our broken immigration system might be healed.

Secretary Napolitano recently indicated that in early 2010 she will push for comprehensive immigration reform. Meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform is only achievable if it is compassionate and just. It must recognize that all people are of equal sacred worth. It must recognize the value of family. Our current system has created broken homes and broken families torn apart by distance. Representative Mike Honda recognizes these realities and has proposed changes that would move in this direction.

We can bring awareness to our congressional delegation of this important social issue by joining thousands of people of faith in sending them postcards. There are three simple steps to making this happen.

1. Get three postcards from Wesley. They were distributed at worship today. Remaining postcards are in the center office.
2. Add a personal message and sign each postcard. Address them to your U.S. senators and representative. If you are registered to vote in this district, then your congressional delegation is composed of:
   If you are registered to vote in this district, your congressional delegation is composed of
   • Sen. Roland Burris
     387 Russell Senate Office Building
     District of Columbia 20510-1305
   • Sen. Richard Durbin
     309 Hart Senate Office Building
     District of Columbia 20510-1304
   • Rep. Timothy Johnson
     1207 Longworth House Office Building
     District of Columbia 20515-1315
3. Return them to Wesley by December 20. We will send them to Interfaith Immigration Coalition, who will send a united collective voice to Congress.

Christmas Postcard Campaign

Wesley UMC is joining the UMC's General Board on Church and Society (GBCS), the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), and many others in an interfaith plea for comprehensive immigration reform sponsored by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition. The coalition supports:

1. Uphold family unity as a priority of all immigration policies
2. Create a process for undocumented immigrants to earn their legal status and eventual citizenship
3. Protect all workers and provide efficient channels of entry for new migrant workers
4. Facilitate immigrant integration
5. Restore due process protections and reform detention policies
6. Align the enforcement of immigration laws with humanitarian values

You can participate in the postcard campaign by filling out 3 postcards--one for each member of your congressional delegation--distributed in worship December 6, and returning them to CSAM by Dec. 20 through the offering plate or the collection point in the center office. Once sent to the Coalition, they will be combined with the other participants' voices to send a concentrated, collective call to action on immigration reform.

Spiritually-Centered Christmas Shopping

The family Thanksgiving feast is not yet a memory and already Christmas is on retailers' minds. Before running to the stores on an early shopping spree, consider saving some shopping for the Methodist Advent Fair Trade Agreement (MAFTA) Market, CSAM's annual fair trade market at Wesley UMC, Urbana. Items from 10,000 Villages, Heifer, Equal Exchange, and Susan Garner will be available on December 6 in the morning during coffee hour, after the second service, and in the evening during hanging of the greens.

You may also consider a couple other alternative shopping practices. First, shop at a craft market or on web sites like Etsy.com through which you can support creative individuals in an online craft market. If you were inspired by Jeff Hanson's story, then you may want to also check out his web site. Second, bless strangers as well as those closest to you. For example, for every $1 spent on Christmas presents, also spend $1 toward a charitable cause (an idea Pastor Howard shared with me).

Please join me in taking a justice-filled, spiritually disciplined approach to Christmas giving this holiday season. If you have ideas you would like to share, please leave them in the comments section below.

May this Advent be a time of creative preparation so that Christ will be felt present by all this Christmastide and the year to come.

Extravagant Generosity

My dad told me about a month-long book study on personal finance started at his church based on Rev. Adam Hamilton's book, Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity. Intrigued, I picked up a copy. The book is a crucial conversation on what the Bible might have to say to us, Christians in the U.S., and it challenges us to become extravagant in blessing others.

Rev. Hamilton shared several statistics, many you likely heard in a sermon recently. He shared ways that we as a nation have strayed from generosity to credit and consumerism. I felt convicted, but also gained some wisdom, even inspiration. Of the many stories shared in the book, the most inspiring centers on Jeff Hanson, a 15 year old student with neurofibromatosis attending KS School for the Blind.

“Jeff bakes and paints, sells his creations, and donates the money [$15,000 at book's writing] to the Children's Tumor Foundation,” writes Hamilton. When his wish to meet Elton John came true (made possible by Make a Wish Foundation while he was undergoing chemo), Jeff, age 12 at the time, handed Elton John $1,000 for Elton John's AIDS Foundation. Elton John later reciprocated with $5,000 check for the Tumor Foundation. Interested in hearing more about Jeff's story, Elton John flew Jeff and his family to Dubai for a concert.

Extravagant generosity opens doors to share the love of God in the world. This Advent, may we prayerfully ask how we are called to bless others as Jeff has with his gifts and graces.

Stand in Solidarity with the Graduate Employees' Organization

On November 2, 2009, the Christian Social Action Ministry pledged solidarity with the Graduate Employees' Organization.

The United Methodist Church has historic roots in support of the working class and has taken a strong stand in favor of workers through its social principles.

With respect to unions, the United Methodist Church supports "the right of public and private (including farm, government, institutional, and domestic) employees and employers to organize for collective bargaining into unions and other groups of their own choosing. Further, we support the right of both parties to protection in so doing and their responsibility to bargain in good faith within the framework of the public interest. In order that the rights of all members of the society may be maintained and promoted, we support innovative bargaining procedures that include representatives of the public interest in negotiation and settlement of labor-management contracts, including some that may lead to forms of judicial resolution of issues. We reject the use of violence by either party during collective bargaining or any labor/management disagreement. We likewise reject the permanent replacement of a worker who engages in a lawful strike."

With respect to the rights of workers, the United Methodist Church believes, "Every person has the right to a job at a living wage. ... We support social measures that ensure the physical and mental safety of workers, that provide for the equitable division of products and services, and that encourage an increasing freedom in the way individuals may use their leisure time."

In recognition and affirmation of the United Methodist Church's support for workers' rights, the Christian Social Action Ministry of Wesley United Methodist Church stands in solidarity with the Graduate Employees' Organization.

THE GRADUATE EMPLOYEES’ ORGANIZATION
ALLIED GROUPS STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY

The Wesley United Methodist Church Christian Social Action Ministry stands in solidarity with members of the Graduate Employees' Organization (GEO), AFT/IFT, Local 6300 in their efforts to secure a fair contract through negotiation with the University of Illinois administration. We believe that all campus workers deserve a Living Wage and, therefore, support the GEO's request that the minimum stipend be raised from $13,430 to $16,086. We also believe that one responsibility of the public higher education system is to ensure accessibility to all. We therefore support the GEO's request for tuition waivers to be guaranteed as a condition of employment. Accordingly, we urge the University’s Administration and the Board of Trustees to bargain in good faith and in the best interests of graduate employees and the University as a whole.

Organization: Wesley UMC Christian Social Action Ministry
Date: Monday, November 2, 2009

This Thursday from noon to 1:00pm, you have the opportunity to join CSAM in standing in solidarity with the GEO, which recently authorized to strike. Graduate students, undergraduates, faculty, campus workers, and community members are invited to join in a rally of solidarity with the Graduate Employees' Organization. Everyone will meet at the Quad side of the Illini Union, march to Swanlund Administration Bldg.

Inclusive and Available Health Care

Editor's Note: This is an expanded article published in the Spire in late September 2009.

Embedded in the Global Board of Church and Society principles for a just health care system—especially “inclusive” and “available”—is a commitment to the universal availability of insurance and care.

Young adults (40% of uninsured), the working poor (66% of uninsured), and immigrants (21% of uninsured, legal and illegal) are the most physically and financially vulnerable in our health care system.

It is a misconception, however, to assume young adults are healthy individuals who believe themselves invincible; rather, statistics show that the uninsured tend to be less healthy than those with health insurance. Those without health insurance receive less care, are less likely to see a doctor, and more likely to receive diagnoses of diseases in their late stages.

A thread through the Hebrew Bible is a call for a communal commitment to the most vulnerable in society. While I believe there are dangers in accepting a given Levitical commandment as a universal moral imperative, a thread of biblical references contend that citizens and immigrants alike should have the same expectations and protections with respect to ethical laws and humanitarian rights and aid (Lev. 19.33-34).

According to the National Coalition on Health Care report, there are adverse communal consequences to allowing a percentage of the population to be uninsured.

"First, family members, neighbors, and colleagues at work are adversely affected by the incapacities that befall the uninsured. Second, as the number … increases, so does the cost-shifting for uncompensated care built into the insurance premiums of those who purchase coverage. Third, the high incidence of uninsurance generates losses throughout the economy…. (“Building a Better Health Care System”, 9)"

We find from our tradition solid reasons to extend quality care to all. Let us see Christ in all and extend care to all (Matthew 25.44). The question remains, "So say we all?"

Bibliography

1. "Building a Better Health Care System" (PDF), National Coalition on Health Care
2. The 'Real' Uninsured, FactCheck.org

Your Prayers for Health Care

46 million Americans do not have health insurance, and 15 million more are underinsured. Our faith tells us that which harms a few affects the whole. As we continue the conversation about health care reform, the Christian Social Action Ministry would like to hear your questions, concerns, even stories regarding the state of health care in our country, the ways you see it working, and the ways you see it in need of change. You may comment below and comment here or you may drop it off in the CSAM mailbox in the center office by 6pm Thursday, September 24. Thanks for your participation in CSAM's continuing conversation on health care reform.

Health Care As a Human Right?

Kevin, a NC Christian chaplain blogger, has posted his thoughts on health care reform.

He addresses a simple truth: if we as a society believed health care is a human right, then such a claim by anyone in our current discourse on health care reform would be a moot point.

I believe most United Methodists and, indeed, most Americans would find the claim to be a moot point under certain conditions. Time and time again, I witness people respond with open hearts and all the gifts at their disposal to offer aid to people who have experienced calamity--from a friend who needs care or financial assistance after a life-threatening car crash to a stranger who is one of many who survived a flood.

Yet often the struggle for this seemingly moot point comes when individual strangers are hit by calamity or when there is no calamity--when preventative care is necessary. Do we believe these times are just as worthy of our concern for another's health and well being? Can we say unequivocally in unison with the United Methodist social principle that health care is a human right? Should all have equal access to the same quality care regardless of who you are or the possessions you have?

In a future post, we will delve into this question at greater length.

UMC of the Resurrection's Health Care Forum

On August 25, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS) held a forum on health care. Their web site provides video and audio of that conversation. The audio has been enclosed in this entry for your listening convenience.

More links to information about health care and its reform can be found on the right column of this blog.

Help Stop Hunger

A Service Opportunity for Students

Hunger is a pressing problem in the world and in our local community. Make a real difference.

1. Come by the Etc. Coffeehouse at Wesley Sunday, September 6 between 12:30 and 2:30pm and help us make 10000 Crosses.
2. Help us at our display on the Quad this Wednesday, September 9 (First 20 volunteers get T-shirts.)
   8-9a Setup the crosses on the Quad out in front of Lincoln Hall. Everyone is welcome to come plant the crosses.
   9-11a Host Table
   11a-1p Host Table
   1-3p Host Table
   3-5p Host Table
   4 Clean up

A number of Campus Ministries across the state of Illinois will be setting up displays on campus' highlighting how many persons die of hunger every day. Approximately 25,000 persons die of hunger and hunger related causes every day (Source: The State of Food Insecurity in the World, FAO). We will have a display set up on the quad with 9,000 little tombs (popsicle stick crosses, stars and crescents) representing the number of persons who died "Last Night as you were Sleeping." The goal of the display is three fold:

1. To raise awareness about the extent of hunger in the World, in the United States and in Champaign County.
2. To "Rethink" the root causes of hunger primarily war (international) and financial distress (US, often brought on by sudden job loss or medical crises.)
3. Invite students, faculty and staff to make positive steps to alleviate hunger.

We will be passing out fliers that on one side will share statistical information about hunger and its causes and on the other side will suggest practical steps that persons can take to make a real difference.

Still working on the list but it will be something like:

• Write your congressman or representative to support "The Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004" that will be up for renewal this coming session of congress AND sign up on Feeding America http://www.hungeractioncenter.org to support future hunger initiatives. Find your representatives at congress.org!
• Sponsor a child through an agency. Such as World Vision, Compassion International or Holt Child Services.
• Help at a local food pantry with contact information for Salt and Light, TIMES Center and Wesley Food Pantry.
• Volunteer information will be available for the Wesley Foundation Food Pantry on the 3rd Thursday each month (It's right on campus and serving over 1000 persons each month.
• Create a fund raiser to support a Food Pantry or Soup Kitchen.
• Or Volunteer or attend the Haunted House for Wesley Food Pantry
• MULTIPLY YOUR EFFECTIVENESS. AFTER YOU CHOOSE TO HELP IN SOME WAY RECRUIT AT LEAST TWO OTHER PERSONS TO HELP.

The list is still in process but I want real hands on things that students can commit to.

Conversations on Health Care Reform

The Christian Social Action Ministry (CSAM) has been following the public debate on health care reform. A few things are clear at this juncture. First, there is an immediate need for comprehensive health care reform. The United Methodist Social Principles state that “We believe Health Care is a basic human right. (¶162.V)” Yet, around 46 million Americans have no health insurance, limiting access to health care. Another 6-7 million are expected to lose coverage because of the recession. 18,000 people needlessly die each year because they do not have adequate access to health care.¹ Attuned to the present circumstances, the UMC General Board on Church and Society envisions a health care system that is:

• INCLUSIVE: Health care is a right and a shared responsibility that is grounded in our common humanity.
• AVAILABLE: Health care must contribute to the common good by being available to everyone, especially those who cannot afford it.
• ACCESSIBLE: All persons should have access to health services that provide necessary care and contribute to wellness.
• ACCOUNTABLE: Our health care system must be accountable, offering a quality, equitable and sustainable means of keeping us healthy as individuals and as a community.

Second, health care is a vast, complex subject that cannot be boiled down into a sound bite. Third, public statements that inaccurately represent the current state of health care and proposals for its reform cause confusion and inhibit citizens from making sound, educated opinions about health care reform, which in turn affects citizens’ lobby of their congressional delegation.

In light of these realities, CSAM plans to have an ongoing dialogue on health care reform. CSAM is sponsoring a community meeting on health care reform hosted by Champaign County Health Care Consumers to be held at the Champaign Public Library on Thursday, September 10 at 6:30pm. All are welcome to attend. Those from Wesley who attend are invited to meet for a discussion in the library’s coffee shop immediately after the meeting.

CSAM will host a subsequent panel discussion at Wesley to see health care reform through a variety of lenses, including care givers, theological perspectives, and social workers. More details about the meeting are forthcoming. You can stay updated on our conversation about health care reform and other CSAM concerns here on our revamped blog.

Journey toward Peace with Justice

The Christian Social Action Ministry (CSAM) provides opportunities for the congregation to join God as co-creators of a world of peace with justice, brought to life in our imaginations by the prophets in our scriptures and tradition.

Last spring, Wesley United Methodist Church and Foundation at UIUC completed its pilgrimage to Jerusalem and beyond. As United Methodists, we are mindful that we ought to make a lifelong pilgrimage toward a new creation, personally and globally. This blog follows the continuing pilgrimage for peace and justice. We are glad to have you along with us.