“​In response to global and community health concerns, we will NOT be gathering together IN PERSON for our 3 day pilgrimage this September. Instead, we will be offering a variety of opportunities for pilgrims to connect, pray, learn, grow and walk TOGETHER IN SPIRIT (while physically distant) in the coming months.”

"Dying from COVID-19 must not be another collateral risk for the incarcerated or immigrants held in detention centers. From Ohio to California, prisons are predictably becoming the epicenters of COVID-19 outbreaks. How can a system that sustains brutality and exploitation possibly keep incarcerated people healthy during a pandemic?" –Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey, Minister for Congregational and Community Engagement for the United Church of Christ

This issue of the newsletter focuses on resources you can access related to Coronavirus COVID-19.

Getting to the Root of It

Each month, the Justice and Peace Action Network meets to discuss possible topics for the next Getting to the Root. This month we asked the Associate for Global Advocacy and Education at Global Ministries, Rebekah Choate, to help explain the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women in the U.S. and globally.

Thanks to those who have given, we are almost 1/3 of the way to raising $15,000 to retire 1.5 million dollars of medical debt in Arizona.

Help put a dent in the $210 million of medical debt in Arizona. Every dollar you give abolishes $100 of debt.

With every donation, RIP uses its precise data analytics to pinpoint the medical debt of those most in need of relief: households whose income is less than two times the federal poverty level guideline or are insolvent.

The Arizona Faith Network’s (AFN) Interfaith Youth Council (IYC) is designed to help prepare Arizona’s next generation to be key leaders in interfaith communities.

The IYC program seeks to help educate and connect young leaders from diverse faiths throughout the state. These young leaders engage in interfaith dialogue and interfaith education experiences with trained religious leaders from faiths represented throughout the state. Leadership training and development is offered in important areas including civil dialogue, social justice, advocacy work, and public speaking. 

Youth accepted into the IYC program will help design their own experiences with AFN mentors. Youth will commit to attending quarterly meetings for a period of two years.

Updates on the progress of Hope House of Sedona, a ministry of Church of the Red Rocks UCC. So much good work goes on despite the disruption caused by COVID-19!

From the Social Justice Action Team at The Church of the Palms UCC:

One of the positive things about being hunkered down in our homes during the COVID19 pandemic is that it provides opportunities to do something special for those who have it so much worse than we do. Take, for example, our growing homeless population. The Palms provides several programs for this growing population in Phoenix and communities in the Northwest Valley.

Dialogue Institute of the Southwest would like to extend an invitation for you to join online "fast-breaking" dinners in the holy month of Ramadan.

Each event will include Muslim families which will be sharing their experience about Ramadan.

These events are a great opportunity to discover the meaning of Ramadan and fasting by celebrating the breaking of the fast.

Advocating for an accurate census is an act of faith. It is an affirmation of the God-given dignity and worth of every person. It is an important step toward making sure every individual has access to the social services they need and representation in the electoral process. Educating for and promoting an accurate census is one way we can act for justice in these challenging times.

Most households received their invitation to respond to the 2020 Census in March. 48.1% of households have already responded to the 2020 Census. That means 51.9% of our current population have not yet completed the 2020 Census. Our primary interest and responsibility as people of faith to make certain everyone is safely and accurately counted.

Here is how you and your congregation can help.

For the last 10+ years, SEMA Foundation has been bringing people together through Ramadan Iftar Dinners. Due to the limitations of our current global health crisis, this year we are joining with our friends at Shepherd of the Hills United Church of Christ to facilitate online meeting programs with different themes starting on April 23, through May 23.

The idea is simple: We will encourage community members to find a conversation partner during this time of physical distancing via PHONE or VIDEO CHATTING, with the intention that once our physical distancing restrictions are lifted, we can perhaps transform these "relationships" into in-person interactions, whether it's a dinner or sharing a tea/coffee time. 

We believe and hope it will ignite many new friendships.

Normally, around this time in early Spring, UCC advocates would gather with other people of faith at Ecumenical Advocacy Days for a weekend of education and skill building for advocacy. Unfortunately this year we are not able to gather in person. Nevertheless, as faith advocates across traditions, we are still joining our voices together this week to advocate for justice in our nation’s capital. 

Congratulations to all who provided Smith’s gift cards and the funds for same. Together, with the Sandoval County Federation of Democratic Women and friends and members of St. Paul’s, gift cards amounting to $1,405 were presented to Jarmaine McChriston (pictured here) on April 21. He and his boss, Lee Roberts, have devised a plan for distribution to the families they work with.

The Arizona Faith Network, members from the First Church UCC Phoenix, Episcopal, Unitarian Universalist, and Jewish congregations, residents of the Beatitudes Campus, and the Greater Phoenix Network of Spiritual Progressives are sponsoring an interfaith discussion via Zoom of Revolutionary Love by Rabbi Michael Lerner.

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, the very tribe that welcomed the Pilgrims in the 1600s, is at risk of losing what is left of their homelands due to a determination made by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Why is this important?

The Mashpee Wampanoag, the People of the First Light, have occupied the same region for over 12,000 years and have faced diminishment of their homelands since colonization. The latest decision is a blow to Tribal sovereignty and undermines the future and sustainability of the tribal nation. The Tribe is asking Congress to protect its reservation lands and has put forth the "Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Reservation Reaffirmation Act (HR.312)." We are asking for signatures in support of this legislation.

Sign this petition