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Church and Society lifts up
for the congregation many of the cutting edge mission opportunities and issues
facing our world today and helps the church to remain a safe place to discuss,
debate, and learn. In the past, the Church and Society committee has helped to
develop support for a men’s halfway house shelter, helped the congregation
study the issue of homosexuality, sponsored our church’s involvement in the
community’s World AIDs Day celebrations, provided information and awareness on
issues of Peace with Justice, sponsored Earth Day and increased our
understanding of environmental stewardship. Click on this link General Board of Church and
Society to find more information about national efforts. Another
informational site is the National Council of Churches.
Actions taken by the Church &
Society Committee in response to those issues identified by the congregation:
The Natural World:
- Sponsored a Wednesday program
speaker on water issues and created a
bulletin insert addressing availability and sustainability.
- Produced a Wednesday program on
low water usage planting, and planted a replacement tree in the PUMC parking
lot.
- An environmental presentation, John
Muir Chautauqua–Doug Hulmes of Prescott College – proceeds donated to the Central
Arizona Land Trust.
- Designated last October as Energy
Awareness Month, with the following activities:
- An informative talk by Arizona
Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes.
- An on-site visit to the APS Solar
Energy Site.
- Energy audit information provided
for the church and for families.
- Worked with the youth of PUMC in
weather-stripping and weatherizing homes.
- Researched and published a
brochure on Prescott Recycling Information.
- Researched local opportunities for
a guided educational hike, providing information to the Church Youth program.
The Nurturing Community:
- Produced an in informative
newsletter article on The Faithful Care of the Dying.
- Working toward family support
within church and community, nurturing people of all generations to feel connected
and cared for.
The Social Community:
- Mental Health Awareness
- Sponsored two newsletter articles
on mental health, working with NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness).
- The Right to Health Care
- Created a bulletin insert and
newsletter article in May for Cover the Uninsured Week.
- In September hosted a Wednesday
evening interactive discussion Healthcare Coverage: The Methodist
Perspective.
- Hosted a community-wide
informational and awareness forum with a panel of experts in September – Is
There a Healthcare Crisis? A Community Forum.
- Created a bulletin insert for Healthcare
Justice Sabbath in September 2006.
The Economic Community:
- Sponsoring the work of the Coalition
for Compassion and Justice, www.YavapaiCCJ.org,
founded originally by the PUMC Church & Society Committee
as the Interfaith Coalition for Compassion and Justice, and continuing
to serve the community through its programs:
- Open Door – serving the homeless and those living in poverty,
opening doors to self-sufficiency.
- Home Repair – helping low-income homeowners to remain in their
homes by restoring them to safe and healthy conditions.
- Circles of Support – providing effective and ongoing support for
families in poverty who wish to join the mainstream of life.
- Advocacy – for systemic change of conditions leading to
poverty, hunger and homelessness.
- Addressed the issues of Corporate
Responsibility in conjunction with Healthcare Justice.
The Political Community:
- Sponsored a Community Forum on
Immigration Issues in May, basic freedoms and human rights.
- Follow-up conversations on
Immigration, illegal immigrants, and migrant workers.
- Support N.A.I.C. (Northern Arizona Interfaith Council) for
advocacy.
- Distributed voting information and
early-ballot initiative forms.
- Sponsor a monthly Sunday School
class “Conversations with Dave,” discussing political issues in the news and
the responsibilities of people of faith, including the Methodist Perspective.
The World Community:
- In 2005, highlighted The
National Day of Action for Darfur, created a bulletin insert for Peace
With Justice Sunday about the Darfur crisis, continuing to inform about the
ongoing crisis and recommended actions.
- For the June 2006 Peace With
Justice Sunday produced a flyer on world poverty for the Sunday bulletin,
and distributed handmade Peace Candles at the end of the service.
- Continue to research and inform on
worldwide hunger and poverty issues.
Ongoing Church & Society Committee projects
include a variety of recycling projects, environmental projects,
promoting the UMCOR Coffee Program for Fair Trade Organically Grown Coffee use
within the church and general use through sales, and interfaith support within
our community.
The United Methodist Church is involved in many issues of both local and
global impact. For further information, go to the United Methodist General Board of Church and
Society and/or United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR).
Contributions can be made to UMCOR either through their web site or through
PUMC in a regular offering envelope.
Our Social Creed
We commit ourselves to the rights of men, women, children, youth, young adults,
the aging, and people with disabilities; to improvement of the quality of life;
and to the rights and dignity of all persons.
We believe in the right and duty of persons to work for the glory of God and the good
of themselves and others and in the protection of their welfare in so doing; in the
rights to property as a trust from God, collective bargaining, and responsible consumption;
and in the elimination of economic and social distress.
We dedicate ourselves to peace throughout the world, to the rule of justice and law
among nations, and to individual freedom for all people of the world.
We believe in the present and final triumph of God’s Word in human affairs and
gladly accept our commission to manifest the life of the gospel in the world. Amen.
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