What do you KNOW?

Bill Spangler-Dunning 

Regional Minister

Published in Jan-Feb 2017 Disciples Together Express

When I was a child I never knew about classism until I overheard people talking about “how sad it was that nothing good would ever come from my family because my parents were too poor.” 

Now, I cannot un-know that! 

When I was a child I never knew about sexism until I overheard a clergy say to my wife that she was not allowed to preach at the community thanksgiving service because “God does not call Women to be ministers.” 

Now, I cannot un-know that! 

When I was a child I never knew about racism until I overheard one of my teachers say, “Black kids are just not as smart.” 

Now, I cannot un-know that! 

Up until last week when I visited Standing Rock Reservation I never knew how much hatred people can have for others who have a different story.  That is until I received a note on facebook telling me how deceitful and selfish those “Indian people” can be and I should not “Waste my time with them.” 

Now I cannot un-know that!

Dear Church we are a people who say we are A MOVEMENT FOR WHOLENESS IN A FRAGMENTED WORLD.  We say we are a people who know the stories of Jesus who always stood with the poor, the outcasts, the women, the gentiles, the blind, the lepers, the sick and all others who were vulnerable and excluded by the bullies of life.   

 We cannot UNKNOW these stories!  

O people of the Church,

let ‘what we KNOW’

effect deeply our
actions in this world!

Bill Spangler-Dunning, Standing Rock, ND

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Justice Devotional - The Persistent Call to Justice

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

The Persistent Call to Justice

Luke 18:4-7

The picture of the young Hispanic boy sitting on a prison bed dressed in a uniform that was obviously too large made it impossible to fight back tears. The symbolism is most disturbing. Here in this photograph is an eight year old child remanded to life in prison without the possibility of parole — a life that he is not “big” enough to navigate emotionally or physically. It does not matter which side we fall on when it comes to crime and punishment, we are all diminished when we lose our concern for humanity and the human condition. Who will advocate on his behalf?

I saw this photograph at one of five sites I visited with an ecumenical group of participants on an immersion experience focusing on human and civil rights. Indeed it was painful. At the end we shared an unintended collective lament.

We cried because of the impact of brokenness and sin on our lives. We also cried because of the persistence of God’s love through Jesus Christ for us to be our gracious and merciful judge. Our scripture reminds us that God beckons us each day through prayer and action to advocate for justice on behalf of hurting members of the human family. Jesus is teaching the disciples through this parable the importance of prayer in action. We, too, are invited to “weary” God with our prayers for justice in our daily witness on behalf of Christ.

Rev. April G. Johnson, Minister of Reconciliation CC (DOC) Women and Children

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Justice Devotional - Equality and Need

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Equality and Need
2 Corinthians 8: 13-14

"We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. That will make things equal. "

I work in a middle-class job and observe a lot of discussions in the church and in government about poverty. People talk about anecdotes and theories. A lot of proof-texting is done with scripture and political ideology, both on the left and the right. Some of it inspires me, but more leaves me cold.

Poverty in the United States and across the globe often seems overwhelming and too big to do anything about. Then I go to church and there is an offering every Sunday, every Sunday of the year. Part of the offering will go to outreach — wells for drinking water in poor nations, disaster relief in developed and developing countries, urban food pantries, a variety of reconciliation ministries — and part necessarily goes to paying the church building's electric bill and the preacher's salary.

Occasionally around offering time my mind is drawn to Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 8, to remember people who gave when they might have been on the poorer side of the middle class to encourage generosity. Paul realized that there are differences in resources among communities, yet he wanted those resources to move so that there would be equality. Need mattered. Resources should move from those who have to those in need and later resources would move from those who received to take care of the need of those who have given.

The goal is that kind of equality, an equality that flows from generosity, almost in a circle. Our lives are not static and we receive generous gifts in order to be generous because we have been and will be in need. So we write checks and volunteer time and talent to keep the flow moving. We are part of the flow toward equality, even though often we are not as much a part as we need to be. Love and justice are like that because they move to meet a need and we are all part of their movement.

Prayer: O God, help me to be a part of making things equal, in the Name of Jesus, Your Gift to make things equal. Amen.

Jess Hale, Legislative Attorney with the Tennessee General Assembly Hunger and Poverty Read more!

New Year’s greetings from Sharon Watkins

Posted on January 4, 2017 at 8:47 am by Sharon Watkins.

January 2017

Dearest Friends in Christ –

“Hope is a star that shines in the night, leading us on till the morning is bright.” [1]

From the Advent promise of Emmanuel: God with us; to the Epiphany revelation: God-with-us-now, we hope.

And yet, I confess, as 2017 begins, my heart is bruised by the pain and division the United States and Canada have experienced which have filtered into our communities and congregations. Antagonistic elections in the United States have upended civil discourse. Repeated public incidents of both individual and institutional racism have fractured relationships in communities. And beyond our borders, civil wars in places like South Sudan and Syria, as well as natural disasters in long-suffering Haiti, only increase the need for healing of all kinds.

Click here to read the entire blog post

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Justice Devotional - Lessons on Hunger, Poverty in America’s Breadbasket

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Lessons on Hunger, Poverty in America’s Breadbasket
Luke 11:11


I grew up on the outskirts of a little Oklahoma town. A barbed-wire fence separated two sides of our lawn from a wheat field. A Jersey cow stretched her heavy head through the fence on the third side, to reach our greener grass.

In short, we knew from whence came our food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.

I lived in cities most of the rest of my life but engaged, with celebration, the urban gardening movement that converts asphalt parking lots into raised- bed gardens. These oases bring the wonder of homegrown food — and education about food, food security, and nutrition — into the heart of metro areas. Farm-to-table programs let children tend school gardens — then eat the produce in the cafeteria.

Thus, our children also learn from whence comes their food — the miracle that transformed dirt into diet.

Our family recently moved to rural Lebanon, IN — a county-seat town surrounded by crops like government-subsidized corn and soybeans. But where was fresh, healthy food for human consumption?

Oddly, I found Lebanon’s fast food joints outnumber fresh food stands 13 to one. Ironically, the County Health Department pays close attention to the one, noting that unprocessed foods — like fresh lettuce or homegrown tomatoes — are suspect.

At Zionsville Farmers’ Market, vendors label their fresh gazpacho soup as “not intended for human consumption,” to sidestep “ridiculous regulations.” Inspectors “don’t know the difference between head lettuce and leaf lettuce,” one vendor complained.

At the Boone County July 4 parade in Lebanon, dozens of children delighted in the display of everything from teen twirlers to rear-steering tractors. Both could turn on a dime. Yet many of these children (to say nothing of the adults) were obese — many of them morbidly so.

Turns out, the only thing growing in some rural backyards is food insecurity.

According to Feeding America, about 3 million rural households — yes, those that share fences with farmland — in this nation are food insecure. And: “among all people in female-headed families with related children under 18 years, 50.7 percent were poor in rural areas compared to 35 percent in the suburbs.”

So, you go on, urban farmers. Help keep the gardening knowledge alive. Too many of our rural neighbors are up a row without a hoe.

Rev. Patricia R. Case, Boone County, IN Works on young adult and mission renewal efforts for CC (DOC) Hunger and Poverty Read more!

Love All

As we did not have a worship service on Dec. 18, a link to the blog that contained the intended message is included below.

Love All—A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

“Love All” is the final theme of the four-week Advent Conspiracy study. It’s been an interesting challenge to connect those themes with the lectionary texts each week. This is how I did it today.

MaryAnn McKibben Dana
Idylwood Presbyterian Church
December 19, 2010
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Matthew 1:18-25

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Justice Devotional - Where is Your Treasure?

From 
Devotion to Justice
A series of devotions from the Justice table on the topics of

• Women and children
• Hunger and poverty
• Creation care
• Immigration

Where is Your Treasure?
Matthew 6:21

What we treasure most in life is what we tend to place our focus on. As we strive to live in our fast-paced, ever changing world that places emphasis on what you have and who you are according to material standards, we often lose track of what is truly important. All too often, we seek to fill the void in our lives with temporary solutions, food, alcohol, shopping, even success, instead of turning to God and the relationships he has placed in our lives. The quality of life we live and our level of joy depend greatly on our ability to develop healthy relationships.

The key to a happy life and making it count every day is spending quality time with God and those we love. As a mother it can be easy to take this relationship piece for granted, especially with our children, inadvertently placing it on autopilot to tend to the “things we need to get done”. This is fueled by the hope and expectation that this relationship will still be intact when we are able and ready to give it time. As life seldom slows down, we can go weeks, months and even years not investing time in those we love the most. Learning where to place our priorities (treasure) can be somewhat concerning, as there is so much seeking our full attention. Placing the focus on intimacy with God will help establish this priority in life around developing and investing in these relationships with those we love most.

If what matters most in life is relationships with God and others, let us ask ourselves then, what are we doing to strengthen these closest relationships? Where is your heart? Are you enslaved by the human desire to store up treasure in this world? Ask a child whether they would rather have a new toy or have a date with mom, more often than not, they will choose time with mom. If a mother’s children are her treasure, where will her heart be?

Children were precious to Jesus when he was here on earth, as they should be to every mother as we seek to nurture relationships with God and those we love. Look a child in the eyes today for within them is the foundation of a beautiful relationship from the heart.

Lori Tapia, Pastor Iglesia Alas De Salvacion, Gilbert, AZ Women and Children Read more!