AFN Social Justice Commission

Thursday, February 4, 8:30 - 9:30 a.m.

All are welcome to join this group! We hear monthly from key community leaders. This meeting we will hear a lesson on Ranked Choice Voting.

The speakers will include Dr. Robin Veldman who has authored "The Gospel of Climate Skepticism: Why Evangelical Christians Oppose Action on Climate Change" along with the Rev. Kyle Meyaard-Schaap from the Evangelical Environmental Network and Emily Robertson from Young Evangelicals for Climate Action.

Theme: One Planet. One Future. Climate Justice Now!
Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2021, 8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Virtual Program: All sessions via Zoom or other online program

Join hundreds of advocates from throughout Arizona in meeting with state legislators to promote environmental protection and justice, climate action, lands and wildlife conservation, flowing rivers, democracy, and more, as well as to lobby on specific bills. After an opening plenary participants will meet with legislators as part of a team. Training & background information will be provided.

January 18-25, 2021

All are welcome to participate in GEII's Week of Prayer programming. All events will be broadcast on the Friars of the Atonement Facebook page (as well as on the Friars of the Atonement website), and will remain available online for later viewing.

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 3:30 EST (1:30 MST)

Please join the United Church of Christ and The People’s Inauguration as we curate space for Release & Renewal at the intersection of Pain & Promise. At the close of Martin Luther King Day Celebrations and on the cusp of the 47th Inauguration, we will worship together bearing witness to this past year and pouring Hope into the future.

The Ryle Faith Leaders Public Policy Institute is an eight-session series that will explore the role of faith communities in public life, critical issues facing Arizona, and strategies to bridge the ideological divisions both within our state and local congregations.

During this eight-session seminar, a cohort of participants will grapple, in an interfaith setting, with the tough issues facing our state. The 2021 Ryle Institute will run January 27 through March 18, 2021.

HELP AVAILABLE FOR ECONOMIC PROBLEMS

Regardless of immigration status, whatever your personal or family crisis, help is available by making a phone call to the Crisis Response Network. Any person living in Arizona can get help with economic and other problems listed below:

• Are you or your family in danger of becoming homeless?

• Is there no heat or are utilities going to be shut off?

• Do you need food, baby formula, or other essentials?

• Do you need COVID-19 testing or other health care?

• Do you need assistance finding a job?

• Do you need legal services?

• Do you need crisis counseling?

Spanish and English speakers answer the phone any hour of the day or night to help you with your particular problem. Interpreters in all other languages are available as well. They answer your questions or find the answers for you as they have access to many resources.

Free, anonymous help is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by simply dialing 2-1-1.

Friday, January 15, 2021 at 11:00 a.m.

The program will be filmed on location at the beautiful Musical Instrument Museum (MIM), located at: 4725 E. Mayo Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85050.

Join the AZ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday virtual program during a special broadcast at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. To watch the AZ MLK Virtual Celebration, visit youtube.com/cityofphoenixaz

On Friday, the Arizona judicatory leaders of the Disciples of Christ, the United Methodist Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA), The Episcopal Church, and the African American Christian Clergy Coalition jointly released the following message in response to Wednesday's attack on the U.S. Capitol.

After the Georgia Senate runoff election on January 5th, we will know the legislative landscape for the new Congress. What will be possible for climate policy? Aside from congress, what might President Biden accomplish through executive orders? This webinar will address these questions with an eye toward what faith communities can do to put their values into action in pressing for the kind of climate policies urgently needed in this time of crisis and inequality.

The featured panelists will be Anthony Rogers-Wright from the Climate Justice Alliance, Emily Wirzba from the Environmental Defense Fund, and Clarence Edwards from the Friends Committee on National Legislation. Even if you can't make the webinar’s scheduled time on Wednesday, January 13th at 1 pm ET, still sign-up, and we will send you a recording of it.

Sign up now to join the webinar!

As part of the Arizona Interfaith Network, Arizona clergy have launched a petition calling on action from Governor Ducey and the Congressional Delegation to act swiftly on extending a state eviction moratorium until June, providing needed new federal relief assistance funds to landlords and tenants, and creating standardized and flexible means to access these resources. Evicting the most vulnerable during this crisis will only worsen our public health crisis. Read more or sign the petition by clicking here.

Over the last four years, U.S. policy has moved in directions that have alienated the U.S. from many of its international partners and supported the deepening of Israel’s occupation while undermining long term efforts to realize a just and lasting peace. If the U.S. remains committed to furthering peace with justice in Israel and Palestine, there is a need for an immediate change in policy and approach when the new administration enters office.

From Church World Service (CWS):

Right now, Congress is considering a COVID relief package to accompany federal funding for the remainder of this fiscal year. As congressional leaders plan to include another round of stimulus checks in the package to provide relief to Americans during this crisis, it is vital that ALL of our community members are able to access this critical relief. The last round of stimulus checks largely excluded millions of Americans from accessing stimulus checks including mothers, fathers, children and immigrants serving on the frontlines of this pandemic as essential workers. The exclusion of mixed-status families and individual ITIN filers from relief legislation is both deeply unfair and has disproportionately harmed the families hardest hit by the pandemic.

Over the past few decades, the United States and the world has made great strides in combatting gender-based violence and advancing the rights of women. However, there is still work that needs to be done before we have a society where gender does not limit access to safety, work, health care, education, politics, housing, and other basic rights in our society.

On a chilly day last week, Fr. Mike and Sandy Olsen sat at their dining room table and stuffed envelopes with good news. By the weekend, 621 households that owed between $1,000 and $8,000 each in medical debt to Holy Cross Hospital were opening letters that told them their debt was forgiven, entirely. Rev. Pamela Shepherd of Taos United Community Church signed the letters on behalf of a diverse group of 11 faith communities and eight individuals who, together, purchased and forgave $1.3 million in debt. They did this by assembling gifts totaling nearly $39,000.

How does this magic work?

Casas Adobes Congregational has seen the need and is collecting for a local organization to help prevent homelessness in Tucson (especially because of COVID).