The great crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jesus' entrance into
For a second year, the PC(USA) is teaming up with Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services and the University of Minnesota to offer congregations the option of purchasing responsibly harvested eco-palm branches for Palm Sunday. The palms come from communities in
The Eco-Palm Project is part of the Enough for Everyone initiative. Read more . . .
Wednesdays February 6, 13, 20, 27 and March 6 and12Special for Lent—our Hunger Action Program offers an innovative Lenten Series that explores the way we eat and live. Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table aims to bring into dialog daily eating habits, the Christian faith, and the needs of the broader world through readings, action steps, and healthy eating tips. The title is a reminder that we can eat as an everyday activity or we can eat justly and explore the relationship between our food and our faith.
The curriculum will take us on a journey from the table of the Lord to the table of the world that will challenge, encourage, and enrich all who participate. Scripture, prayer, and stories from the local and global community are used to explore five key aspects of our relationship with food:
the health of our bodies;
the challenge of hunger;
the health of the earth that provides our food;
the ways we use food to extend hospitality and enrich relationships;
the opportunities for action, renewal, and transformation in our eating practices—as individuals and as faith communities.
Please register by phone at 201-910-7047 or email phylliszoon@gmail.com. A copy of the curriculum can be picked up at the Presbytery Center.
The Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) is a ministry of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that works to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes, responding with compassion and justice to poor and hungry people in local communities in the United States and internationally. (Read more about the PHP’s work and the five program areas.)Earlier this week, Andrew Kang Bartlett from the Presbyterian Hunger Program office in Louisville put out the question to the Hunger Action Enablers: About what do you hope? Which I think is a great question because I tend to get bogged down in problems and this question gave me food for thought and reminded me of some things from the old days at AT&T.
It used to be that when I told people where I worked, they would ask me if I was an operator (this was when they still had lots of operators and before Women’s Lib really took hold). Then I would explain that I worked with computers and data bases (anything more than that was too much information). Now, when I tell people I work on hunger, they ask me if I run a feeding program and I go into my 30 second elevator speech on the Presbyterian Hunger Program and how Direct Food Relief is just one of five program areas.
All of this reminded me of a saying we had at AT&T:
When you’re up to your “neck” in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your primary goal is to drain the swamp.
I think it’s the same way with working on hunger:
When we’re up to our necks in trying to alleviate hunger, it’s hard to remember the other goal: to eliminate its causes.
(For some interesting perspective on this, read Mark Winne's "When Handouts Keep Coming, the Foodlines Never End" in the November 18, 2007 Washington Post.)
So—for anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed with trying to do something about the problem of hunger—in your community, in NJ, in the USA, and around the world--it gives me hope that we are working to eliminate its causes and more and more folks are out there helping to drain the swamp.
Wishing you traveling mercies on your journey with Jesus—and watch those alligators!
The Cents-Ability Grants Committee (made up of representatives of participating congregations) has completed design of the process for applying for and receiving grants from our Presbytery’s Cents-Ability program. Cents-Ability is a strategy for raising hunger awareness and funds. Presbyteries throughout the U.S. have been “doing” Cents-Ability for many years; Monmouth Presbytery began the program in November 2006. Money raised through the program is used in a partnership model to fund hunger ministries near and far: 40% within the bounds of Monmouth Presbytery and 60% in the U.S. and around the world.
All congregations are encouraged to apply for a grant for their own hunger ministries or to invite organizations they support to apply (with endorsement by a local church session). Completed applications should be submitted by April 8, 2008 and will be considered at our meeting on May 6.
We are excited about Cents-Ability and its potential for raising funds and awareness in the fight against hunger. Awareness of hunger can and often does transform people, congregations, communities, and, of course, hungry people. It’s a mission that, with a little interpretation, people can feel really good about and be inspired to be generous toward. Good stories are coming out of congregations that are participating:
· Judy Ross, Jacksonville’s coordinator, reports that the Youth Group made bags of rice with this message: “This two ounces of rice represents the daily diet of 852 million in the world. More than half of these are children. Imagine that you have this small bag of rice as your only food for the day, and that you probably have to walk a distance to get the water in which to cook it.” After the children’s sermon the kids passed them out to everyone in church. Holding that small amount in their hand made a big impact in understanding the reality of hunger.
· Betty Taylor, Forked River’s Cents-Ability Grants Committee representative, reported hearing their Hunger Action Team leader saying, “Wow, last Sunday [when we received the monthly offering] we received over $400 again!”
If every member of every congregation in our Presbytery gave just 1 penny every meal, every day, and prayed for people who are hungry, we would raise over $150,000 per year—and only God knows how we ourselves would be transformed!
The Cents-Ability Grants Application form is on-line. For more information about the grants process or the program and how to promote it, please contact our Hunger Action Enabler, Rev. Phyllis Zoon, at 201-910-7047.
The Cents-Ability Grants Committee, made up of representatives of the eight participating congregations, has selected one domestic and one overseas project to receive the first Cents-Ability grants. The projects are The Friends of Jean Webster, Inc., Atlantic City; and The Lambi Fund, Haiti. Each of these will receive $750.To date, eight congregations have raised more than $2200.
The Lambi Fund is making a positive difference in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere where people must create their own opportunities for improving the lot of their families and communities. The fund supports small-scale economic development projects that give poor Haitians more control over their lives and resources. Their programs include alternative sustainable development, environment, organizational and leadership training, community micro-credit, and animal husbandry.
In the mid-1980’s when Jean Webster was working as a chef in an Atlantic City casino, she saw a man searching for food in a garbage can on a city street. She got him some fast food and told him to come to her house for a meal the next day. Then she invited him to bring others. In her prayers, she asked God what to do, and she heard God tell her to “feed my people.”
Since then Sister Jean has fed growing numbers of homeless and hungry people. Up to 350 people are fed each day, five days a week. About 85,000 meals are served in a year. But Sister Jean’s kitchen provides more than meals. She provides advice and counseling. Worship is available, as are clothing, blankets and holiday toys. Some guests are helped to find work, retraining, and housing. Many come to the kitchen for more than a meal—they come for hope.
The committee noted the enormous potential for raising funds and awareness in the fight against hunger. If every member of every congregation in our presbytery gave a penny a meal and prayed for people who are hungry we would raise over $150,000 in a year and who knows how God might transform us and the world around us in the process!
"The road to real democracy is a long one, but we have set our feet on that road, and we will not turn back!"
Just Eating? Practicing Our Faith at the Table works really well during Lent (and any other time). This series for adults and/or youth aims to bring into dialogue daily eating habits, the Christian faith, and the needs of the broader world through readings, action steps, and healthy eating tips. The title is a reminder that we can eat as an everyday activity or we can eat justly and explore the relationship between our food and our faith.
The curriculum takes participants on a journey from the table of the Lord to the table of the world that will challenge, encourage, and enrich all who participate. Scripture, prayer, and stories from the local and global community are used to explore five key aspects of our relationship with food:
For nearly sixty years, Presbyterians have joined with millions of other Christians through OGHS to share God’s love with people experiencing need. Our gifts support ministries of disaster response, refugee assistance and resettlement, and community development that help people find safe refuge, start new lives, and work together to strengthen their families and communities. The Presbyterian Hunger Program receives 36 percent of undesignated OGHS gifts; Self-Development of People and Presbyterian Disaster Assistance each receive 32 percent. Most congregations receive the offering on Easter Sunday, Palm Sunday, or both, while many receive it throughout Lent.This year, give a boost to your One Great Hour of Sharing Offering: mission and stewardship committees report that promoting this offering is fun and easy using children’s sermons, minutes for mission, skits, and other the material available from the PC(USA). I’m available to provide training in how to use them.
