Join the UCC Coalition for LGBT Concerns to celebrate 25 years of the Open and Affirming Process. Representatives will come together at the Coalition’s National Gathering, “Any Body, Everybody, Christ’s Body,” in San Diego, July 14-17, 2010.  San Diego’s renowned Gay Pride Festival takes place on July 17-18 just a short cab ride from the conference hotel. Register now.

Querida Familia UCC,

By now we have all heard about the atrocious and racist anti-immigration bill (SB1070) signed into law by the Governor of Arizona.  My first reaction was—aw, hell naw!  This is unreal!  Can this really be happening in 2010?  In the “land of the free?”

Then I pictured my dad’s brown face and could hear his still thick accent and I thank God he lives in Ohio.  I watched as my Belizean in-laws played with my grandson and I thank God they live in Illinois.

Yet even as I offer gratitude for the “safety” of my loved ones, I know in my heart that as a Latina—todos los Latinos y todas las Hispanas son mi gente—my people!  I know in my gut that once given enough power, evil spreads and it grows— there is no city far enough away and no one is safe, no one is unaffected, no one goes untouched.  I know in my spirit that we are called to “be courageous! [and] fight bravely to save our people and the cities of our God” (1 Chronicles 19:13, New Living Translation).

No matter where we were born.  No matter where we live.  No matter our immigration status. No matter our accent, the color of our skin, the slant of our eyes, the texture of our hair—we are all God’s people, created in God’s image, and beloved by God.  We belong to God.

My response is still “Aw, hell naw! as I add my voice to the cries of opposition and work with others in taking bold steps to dismantle this unjust, oppressive, irresponsible and unreasonable act of fear and prejudice.

Te invito que me acompañes.

If you haven’t yet signed the pledge of non-compliance with SB 1070 www.1070ipledge.net do so right now!  If Arizona elected leaders have not heard from you yet www.azleg.gov the time is now!  If your Conference, Association or Local Church has not put forth a resolution in support of the Southwest Conference http://www.ucc.org/news/uccs-southwest-conference.html it is not too late!  Tell President Obama that the time for just, comprehensive immigration reform is now http://immigration.change.org/petitions/view/tell_congress_we_need_comprehensive_immigration_reform_this_year

This fight is OUR fight!  God’s love, justice and grace will prevail!

Tú hermana en Cristo y en la lucha,

Marilyn

Rev. Marilyn Pagán-Banks

National President, Council of Hispanic Ministries UCC

In the Broken Arrow home of Connie and Armin, the CoM meets with Ben via Skype.

The new Stillspeaking internet ad, “The Language of God,” launches today. It is a video message that seeks to represent the United Church of Christ in praise of God. It is a UCC ode of joy to the Stillspeaking God.

We offer this praise because we cannot remain silent about the many, many ways God speaks. Here is a God big enough to welcome all people. Here is a God that speaks through human families and relationships of all shapes. Here is a God that speaks through a young person on a skateboard defying the laws of gravity and displaying heart. Here is a God that speaks the language of protest and poetry and presence. Here is a God that speaks through song and dance, hugs and kisses, hopes, laughter and joy. Here is a God that speaks through prayers and choirs and preachers and those who held and hold dreams, still.

There in the light streaming through a church door, God’s voice is heard. There in the march for justice, God says, “presente.”

We hope to be present today as the churches, pastors, members and friends of the UCC, with fingers dancing on computer keyboards, forward this praise for the Stillspeaking God and invite folks into a deeper reflection on the mystery of the language of God. Within minutes we can reach tens, hundreds, thousands, and even millions. View and share the United Church of Christ’s new video message at 9 a.m. (ET) today at www.ucc.org. Let us sing and dance, UCC!

Prayer

O God, may our soul praise you and not be silent. Amen.

Joint Mission Trip to India

JANUARY 2011

Rev. Peter Luckey reports that there are five or six from Plymouth Church planning to take the trip and we hope that several more from the Conference are interested in joining this mission.
 
Cost will be around $3,000 depending upon how much fundraising churches of the Conference are able

to do.
 
Itinerary includes: staying at the Church of South India in Kottayam, Kerala, India; visits to schools and churches; a sightseeing trip into the mountains and the famous backwaters of Karakoram; and overnight train trip to visit our UCC Global Ministries-sponsored orphanage, the Family Village Farm.
 
For more information contact Rev. Peter Luckey at 

peterluckey@sunflower.com or call 785-843-3220.

 A report by Timothy Beauchamp

 I was blessed to attend the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, DC from March 19 to March 22nd as a UCC scholarship recipient.  Before I continue to describe this incredible event, I must thank Karen Spradlin, Justice & Witness Organizer, Kansas/Oklahoma Conference, Sandy Sorensen, minister for communications and media advocacy, and Michael Fisher Jr., intern for policy advocacy, for all their help to those of us visiting and advocating for positive change.  I would have been lost without Michael’s guidance and constant updates.  Karen provided me a lot of helpful information and support getting to and from the conference.
 
I am fortunate to be a founding member of two UCC churches in the Tulsa area, the UCC Community of Hope in Tulsa, founded by Reverend Leslie Penrose and currently pastored by the Reverend Bob Lawrence, and UCC Open Table, a sister church founded by Reverend Melinda Foster in Owasso, OK. Both churches are experiencing a lot of challenges dealing with the broken immigration system, and we have been searching for ways to alleviate the suffering of those who are victims by our nation’s unfair and inequitable system.  Ecumenical Advocacy Days had some wonderful workshops dealing with those very issues.
 
As a child, I lived on a temporary basis for several years in the Dominican Republic as my father was the late major league professional baseball player and coach, Jim Beauchamp.  Dominican Republic shares the same island of Hispaniola as Haiti and, although the Spanish colonized side of the island is a little better off than the French Haitian side, it is a third world nation.  I’ve often said, “Dominican Republic is definitely third world and if there was such a thing as fourth world then Haiti would be it.”  Some of my earliest memories are of playing in the sugar cane fields there and coming upon deplorable scenes of abject poverty stricken villages of “camposinos” (country workers) that would rival those of “Save the Children” commercials.  In fact, I befriended many poor children, played with them, and we developed our own “Spanglish” language to communicate.  This early exposure sensitized me to the plight of the poor.  Children can not rationalize or develop justifications for why some can eat, have shelter and other’s can not.  Adults can not adequately explain to children why their little friends have to suffer, and are unable to prevent the seed of the just idea from being planted that if some suffer so much while others enjoy prosperity then the system is inherently wrong, unfair, and unsustainable.  I consider it a blessing I experienced those things at such an early age because it has made me an advocate for the poor, and drawn me to the social justice ministries of the United Church of Christ.  For those interested, a very interesting history of Hispaniola can be found here.

  
It is always important to note the history of a place when considering why we have collective responsibility to our brother’s and sister’s in far away places, not to mention it is just the right attitude to have period.  For instance, I often used the scourge of slavery to explain to some who have objected to our nation’s responsibility to the people of the island of Hispaniola.  Many of the people, living on that island today, would not be there if their ancestors had not been brought there, against their will, because of the evil institution of slavery. ”Our nation has collective culpability and the responsibility in directly allaying the problems of people who still experience the negative consequences from that unjust and evil institution.  Sure, slavery existed before the United States, but our nation exacerbated the problem and Hispaniola made a convenient way station for slaves to be shipped to our shores.
 
The Community of Hopeis involved in ministries in Nicaragua and is plugged directly into the move

to have our nation reform its Monroe Doctrine approach and change its unfair economic policies that feed the problem rather than create solutions for our neighbors.  The UCC Open Table in Owasso is a startup church, but we’ve already been discussing and attempting to reach consensus on our future mission work.  One of the ideas that is very popular is doing HIV mission work in Africa! 
 
I attended the “Latin America” track, and as a member of the LGBT community, I chose to attend the optional “Intersection of Human Rights, Immigration Policy and the Lives of LGBTQ People.  UCC Rev. Michael Schuenemeyer gave the “Welcome, Introductions and Opening Prayer.”  Geronimo Desumala provided some great information on the “Uniting American Families Act” and all of the speakers offered ways in which we could assist in helping to ensure LGBT families are included in immigration reform.
 
There was so much good information at the conference, it is hard to condense it down to one article but I was especially grateful for the focus on the drug war in Columbia and its negative consequences.

Coming from a state where our legislators are known, not only for their political conservatism, but also their supposed focus on fiscal responsibility the facts we were armed with to support arguments in favor of immigration reform that appealed to that focus was invaluable.  Did you know:
 
- “Last year the government used almost $2 billion of U.S. taxpayer dollars to detain over 340,000 immigrants in a patchwork of privately run jails, federal facilities and county cells.”
 
- “There is broad agreement that the system needs to be changed.  2/3 of Americans support a path to citizenship for 12 million ‘undocumented’ workers”
 
- “Faith communities all over the map are calling for reform:  UCC, UMC, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Roman Catholics, Evangelicals, state councils of churches around the country.”
 
- “The current system allows unethical employers to take advantage of hard working, undocumented workers.”  This causes the undercutting of workers who have already immigrated via legal channels.
 
- “The congressional budget office estimates $66 billion new income and payroll taxes if we had dealt with this in 2006.”
 
- “Aside from the untold cost to find, round up and deport the 12 million undocumented workers, A Perryman Group study showed that mass deportation would shock local economies resulting in  $1.8 trillion in annual lost spending.  These are folks who are earning and spending here in the US.”
 
The system is broken and it is time for us, as faith communities, to act and continue to ask our legislators in Washington, DC to do the right thing.  We need to be the change we want to see in the world.  It is the right thing to do and I urge my brothers and sisters in the United Church of Christ to focus their attention to this very important issue.
 
Another exciting opportunity was to hear the keynote speaker, Sister Helen Prejean, of “Dead Man Walking”. I purchased BOTH of her books, and there was a very small line in order to get her to sign our books.  I pretended to think she was Susan Sarandon and she replied in her deep Southern drawl, “Oh, honey, you men are ALL the same… if you ever met Susan Sarandon, you’d melt like ‘buttuh!’”  Her keynote words deeply inspired me to continue to focus on those less fortunate with the idea that it is in their brothers and sisters in Christ where they will truly find the Kin-dom of God!
 
Thank you, UCC for the opportunity to attend such a phenomenal event.  Unfortunately, I’ve already received a disappointing letter from one of my legislators regarding the advocacy I’ve done on this issue but I know it is a journey and I refuse to be disappointed.  I will gather up my truth and continue to work and march forward in working towards a better future for all God’s children.  I know you will too!
 
-Timothy Beauchamp is the co-director of the ”Tables to Go!” ministry – UCC Community of Hope, Tulsa, OK and a member of UCC Open Table, Owasso, OK.

earned an associate degree in nursing from Union University in Jackson. She’s been a licensed registered nurse since 1979, and is also a certified parish nurse. She worked for twenty-five years in acute care settings and with people recovering from addictions. She earned a BS from UT Martin in 1992, with a double major in English and philosophy. She has earned a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Divinity from Memphis Theological Seminary.