For those who did not receive our end of year appeal letter, please take a few minites to read our latest entry….And many thanks to Kyle Lambelet for his tutorial in helping us to get up to speed with the website. 

December 2007
 Dear Friends and Supporters of Word & World,
 Since its humble origins in the cold Detroit winter of 2001, Word & World has sought to provide radical popular education and training for Christian disciples committed to the work of social transformation.  As we have journeyed across the country holding our week long “moveable feasts” we have come into contact with communities in Greensboro, NC, Tucson, AZ, Philadelphia, PA, Rochester, NY, Minneapolis, MN, and Memphis, TN.  In each location we worked to develop a partnership and join with local efforts to bring together “the seminary, the sanctuary and the street,” to strengthen and animate current movement work in that area.  Along the way we have developed many friendships that have sustained, taught, challenged and helped us to live more fully into our purpose. 
In 2007 we partnered with the Southern Faith, Labor and Community Alliance (SFLCA) to develop a very powerful and inspiring school on Economic Justice and Prophetic Witness in Parkton, NC (see enclosed report).  In the summer of 2008 we plan to honor the life and work of Audre Lorde.  This school seeks to examine the intersections of oppression and our role in multi-issue movement work through the lens of Audre’s life and writing.
There are also a few updates we wanted you to know about.  In October 2007 our Word & World office moved out of the Beloved Community Center that offered us hospitality and wisdom for many years.  Our office remains in Greensboro and moved to a cooperative office space called “the Hive.” It is working out well so far but has increased our operating expenses.  We also said goodbye to our two fantastic interns Kyle and Nicole Lambelet—who have decided to settle in Greensboro for now.  The board painfully decided to suspend our internship program due to a lack of funding.  This is a major loss for us in terms of capacity, organizing, and mentoring young people in the movement.  One of our local board members, Deborah Compton-Holt, has agreed to be our Office Manager to keep things running smoothly.  Carmen Lane, a national board member, will be shifting her role from board co-chair to organizer of the Audre Lorde School.
The work of Word & World, while deeply meaningful and invigorating to those involved is not without challenges.  The demands of the work for a national organization with international ties, regional constituents and local commitments can be daunting; a working board engaged in their everyday lives, jobs and ministries—tending to the important work of Word & World.  Over the next year, several founding board members will be stepping down due to these many demands on their lives.  Through deep discernment and reconstitution we will be working diligently to maintain the vision and energy of our organization. 
 Word & World is also facing some significant challenges with respect to its future financial sustainability.  We are looking to you for assistance.
 

Stay tuned to the bolg and website for the release of the 2007 Economic Justice and Prophetic Witness School Report to be issued within the next few weeks.  Also this website will be updated in the near future.  We’ve had a few changes in the past few months with our dear and highly competent interns moving on and others of us are now trying to learn the ropes of the blog, website, etc. 

Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) has recently released the second edition of a curriculum for people of faith, Faith Seeking Peace, which addresses issues such as federal budget priorities, the cost of war, nuclear weapons, women’s experiences of war, terrorism, and peacemaking from a Christian perspective (see www.faithwand.org and click on “curriculum” at the top to download copies of the curriculum).

WAND will offer a Facilitator Training in Winston-Salem on Saturday, September 8th, from 8:30am -12:30pm at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, located at 748 North Chestnut St. (27101). The purpose of this training is to equip persons interested in facilitating the Faith Seeking Peace curriculum in a congregational or organizational setting.

In an effort to prevent the isolation experienced by many of us in the peace community, we encourage those interested in the training to find a partner or two from your community of faith to attend the training with you. This is not required, but strongly encouraged, as we have found that it takes team work to bring these issues into communities of faith. It is our hope that by having small groups of 2 or 3 persons from various congregations or organizations, we can effectively ensure that the Faith Seeking Peace curriculum will be utilized in your community.

The training is free of cost and open to all denominations, we welcome women and men alike to participate. We hope to have 15-20 participants committed to learning about the Faith Seeking Peace curriculum. If you are interested in registering, please contact Rev. Amanda Hendler-Voss at ahendlervoss@gmail.com and provide your name, email address, denominational affiliation (if any), and congregation or organization.

In Peace,
Amanda

Rev. Amanda Hendler-Voss
Faith Communities Coordinator
WAND
www.faithwand.org

“Moveable institute seeks to educate committed individuals” by Beth Maples-Bays East Tennessee Bureau Chief

Originally Posted 09/01/2006 at http://outandaboutnewspaper.com/article.php?id=42

Imagine Memphis, the site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, changed into an ecumenical and transformative place of learning providing the impetus for a new beginning.

Visualize Christians coming from miles around to soak up wisdom coming not only from the seminaries and sanctuaries, but also from the streets. Envision those same people graduating from this inclusive people’s school, armed with new skills, new courage, and new dreams.

This is exactly the scenario described by Knoxville’s own Marquez Rhyne of the Carpetbag Theater upon his return from Memphis after taking part in the Word and World school.

Dubbed the “Faith, Labor, and Community Initiative: Resurrection in Memphis,” the five-day intensive provided participants with radical education and skills for work in service, solidarity, justice, peace, and social change. The school is part of a larger regional and national picture that will help to bring social and economic justice to our nation in a time when those values have been set aside.

Word and World receives guidance from a national board of directors who work closely with regional and local leaders as they strive to make each school as relevant as possible to the attendees from a particular area.

The Word and World people’s school was immediately followed by the Southern Faith, Labor, and Community Alliance conference themed “Moving Toward a Grassroots Southern Strategy.” The conferees came together to plan a strategy for cooperation among faith-based activists, union organizers, clergy, and labor activists to further the progressive principles of economic justice and workers’ rights.

Knoxville’s Marquez Rhyne attended the recent Word and World people’s school. He emphasized the way art is used intentionally for community building and social justice movement work. “As we enter into dialogues about politics and faith, I want to keep art central to the conversation,” says Rhyne. “We used community singing and other art forms to actively involve the participants in the process. This is a way to take the focus off ‘self’ and build community.”

Talents displayed included the use of the spoken word, singing in the American folk tradition with lots of improvisation, and infusing art into the entire process of political organizing. The participants observed that the more common forms of organizing such as peaceful demonstration, gathering signatures for petitions, and other traditional means of dissent are made richer by the presence of art in any form.

“I truly enjoyed talking to people in the faith and social justice communities,” Rhyne affirms.

For further information on Word and World, visit them online at www.wordandworld.org or call them at their Greensboro, North Carolina headquarters at (336) 230-0330.

HONOR THE MEMORY OF FRANZ JAGERSTATTER

ANNIVERSARY OF HIS EXECUTION August 9, 1943

REMEMBER THE VICTIMS OF NAGASAKI August 9, 1945

STOP THE KILLING IN IRAQ!

PREVENT RECRUITING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE!

Franz Jagerstatter, Austrian peasant and church janitor, is today honored for his refusal to fight in Hitler’s army. As a Roman Catholic he has been declared a “martyr of the faith” and is expected to be “beatified” this October. Franz lived the gospel which the church proclaims. He is a solitary witness of nonviolence from whom the community can learn.

Today we also remember the people of Nagaski – victims of U.S Weapons of Mass Destruction. We recall that city turned to ash and rubble.

In Iraq, cities are also turned to radioactive rubble and ash, by the U.S. invasion and continuing occupation.

The city of Detroit is under military assault. Its resources are stripped by a war which has cost the citizens of Michigan $12 billion, and city residents $767 million in tax dollars. Why is money lacking for schools, clinics, community developments?

Moreover, the young people of our city are conscripted into the military by false promises, outright lies, and an economic draft which seems to offer no alternative living.

We recall that the first soldier killed in Iraq was Marine Lance Cpl. Jose Gutierrez, a 28-year-old undocumented immigrant who was posthumously awarded U.S. citizenship.

To the church we say: Speak out and act against this war, from the pulpits (especially on August 1-19), from offices high and low. Read and live the gospel. Lift up nonviolence; Honor Jagertatter; remember the victims; repent our silence

To the Pentagon and it’s recruiters we say: End this war now. Obey international law. Leave our young people alone.

To the young people of Detroit we say: There is hope in the communities of this city. There is an future, economic and social, but we must make it ourselves. We need one another, we need you here in the struggle for life and community.

To the dead of Nagasaki we say: Forgive us even now. We commit ourselves to putting an end to these weapons.

To the people of Iraq, we say: Forgive our silence and our complicity. Forgive our submission to these leaders. We pledge to end this war. Refuse to pay for it. Refuse to fight in it.

[The Economic Justice and Prophetic Witness School that was held July 17-20 was a sacred space of word and action. We are working to collect and amplify the stories of those who participated in the School. Below is the first of such reflections from a delegation that came all the way from New Mexico.]

Dear Word and Worlders,

I want to thank all of you who were at the Economic Justice and Prophetic Witness School and all of those behind the scenes folks who helped to make it happen. I know that many of the participants left feeling refreshed, informed and encouraged. One person in particular was deeply inspired.

Azucena Molinar attended Word & World for the first time this year. Although she was always excited about joining us for the trip, she was apprehensive about the school itself. I don’t think any of us knew the impact the school was having on her.

As many of you know we drove from New Mexico so we spent about 2 1/2 days in the car driving home. About 10 miles outside of Albuquerque Azucena leaned forward from the back seat and said “I have been thinking. I want to go to school. I want to go to college.” Both Amber and I were pleased and encouraged her.

Well, Azucena was more than serious. Tuesday, July 24th I went with her to our local community college. (You should know that several years ago she was rejected from this same college due to her legal status.) But she gathered her courage, filled out an application and took in stacks of paperwork. After a few obstacles, the admissions clerk began telling Azucena when and where to take her placement exam and where to buy her books. Azucena looked at me wide-eyed and I asked the clerk “Does this mean she has been accepted?” The clerk said yes and Azucena began to cry. She cried all the way to the car. She cried all way home. And she cried when we announced her entrance into the ministry as “la famosa alumna!”.
She said she was crying because she was not allowed to go to school growing up because she was female. But when she saw the women at Word and World who had college degrees, she knew that she too could go to school.

We have only been home from Word and World for 2 days and already major life changes have happened. So thank you.
Thanks for inspiring Azucena this year and continually inspiring me and others every year.

Rhonda Newby
East Central Ministries
Albuquerque, NM

[Rhonda and Azucena take a moment to reflect during the farm labor camp visit (right). If you have a reflection that you would like to share from the EJPW School, send an email to info@wordandworld.org and we’ll post it on the blog.]

This talk was given on June 3rd at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Paula, CA, to a gathering organized by Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice and the New Sanctuary Movement, which was launched in May (www.newsanctuarymovement.org).

I begin with an old story. There was a Levite from a village far away in the hill country of Ephraim who was traveling through Judah returning home. He and his party were near Jerusalem and it was getting late, and his companions said, “Let us spend the night here.” But the Levite said, “We do not belong to this people; we will continue on.”

So they passed by and went on their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. They turned aside there, to go in and spend the night at Gibeah. He went in and sat down in the open square of the city, but no one took them in to spend the night.

At evening there was an old man coming from his work in the field. The man was from the hill country of Ephraim, and he was residing in Gibeah. When the old man looked up and saw the wayfarer in the open square of the city, he said, ‘Where are you going and where do you come from?’ He answered him, ‘We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah to the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, from which I come… Nobody has offered to take me in… The old man said, ‘Peace be to you. I will care for all your wants; only do not spend the night in the square.’ So he brought him into his house, and fed the donkeys; they washed their feet, and ate and drank. (Judges 19:14-21)

This is a simple tale of hospitality, offered by an immigrant to an immigrant. And it speaks to the heart of our task of building a New Sanctuary Movement.

[to read more click here]

Saturday, June 16th the Southern Faith, Labor, & Community Alliance joined with workers and UFCW organizers from the Justice at Smithfield Campaign in Charlotte, North Carolina to call on local grocer Harris Teeter to remove all Smithfield products packaged at Tar Heel from it’s shelf.

We marched from a local Harris Teeter to the home of Harris Teeter Vice President Fred Morganthal to deliver to him a father’s day plea from the children of Smithfield Workers (pictured below).

W&W Board Member and SFLCA Co-Founder Rev. Nelson Johnson prayed for the gathering, giving an infusion of Spirit into the urgent call for worker justice.

W&W Board Member Deborah Compton-Holt marched with her friend Al to stand with Smithfield workers.

[Jill Williams attended the Memphis Faith and Labor School and has served as the executive director of the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission and now is working on the Greensboro Minimum Wage Campaign Committee.]

I have many reasons for being involved in the citizens’ initiative to raise the minimum wage in Greensboro to $9.36/hour.

One is that it is an extension of my work with the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which recommended, among other things, a living wage for all Greensboro city employees.

But another, deeper reason for being involved in this campaign is related to my own religious background and grows out of the fourth commandment as described in Exodus 20:8-10 (New Revised Standard Version):

Remember the Sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.

The way most of us read this commandment rests on the idea that we are called to refrain from working on the seventh day (whatever day we understand that to be), but I think the rest of the passage is actually much more interesting.

Remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy involves not only refraining from work on the seventh day, but also laboring for the six days that precede it. Furthermore, the commandment is not just for me to refrain from working, but also for me to make sure that those around me (regardless of gender, social class, nationality or even species) refrain from working on that day.

In his book The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel says, “Sabbath is not for the sake of the weekdays; the weekdays are for the sake of Sabbath.” In other words, the Sabbath is not a tool for recuperating from the six days of work and/or preparing for the next six. Rather, the six days of work, Heschel says, are for the sake of the Sabbath, which he says is the “climax of living.”

Observing the Sabbath is the “climax of living” because refraining from working one day a week reminds us that we are more than our job title, our incomes or other labels attached to us based on what we do. For one day a week, it dissolves the hierarchies that make some of us feel more deserving than others and others of us feel less so.

But what does it mean for the weekdays to be “for the sake of the Sabbath”? As I understand the commandment and Heschel’s take on it, my six days of work should be dedicated to making it possible for myself and others to observe the Sabbath. In other words, part of my Sabbath observance must be allowing others to observe the Sabbath.

The work of many in Greensboro allows the rest of us to have the choice of observing the Sabbath, refraining for at least one day from much of the work with which we would otherwise be burdened – garbage collection, childcare, nursing assistance, food preparation and serving, to name a few of those tasks that are generally rewarded with wages significantly less than $9.36/hour. But for many who work full time for less than a living wage, it is impossible to refrain from working for a day due either to working multiple jobs or not having sufficient control over one’s work schedule.

So for me, living out this commandment that is echoed in many of the world’s religious traditions means, at the very least, working to make sure that these workers who make it possible for me to observe the Sabbath, thus observing part of the Sabbath themselves, are able to refrain from working for one day a week. To do otherwise would be to deny them and myself the “climax of living.”

More information about the minimum wage campaign can be found at www.greensborominimum.com.

The inaugural W&W Community Newsletter is now available. Click here or follow the link on the left sidebar that says “Newsletter”.

You can subscribe to receive emails with the next newsletter at www.wordandworld.org/enewsletter.