By Gordon Whitman
Director of Policy & Communications
PICO National Network
One of the cruel ironies of the financial crisis is that the same families who lost their jobs due to the reckless practices of large banks are now having their homes taken away by these same financial institutions who caused the crisis.
Tucked into the Financial Reform legislation that President Obama signed today is a policy that begins to break the link between losing your job and losing your home. That’s a huge change in how things work in the United States.
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By Pastor Charles Warner
Christ Temple Apostolic Church, Sacramento, CA
Sacramento Area Congregations Together
“Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes and their net brake.” — Luke 5:4-9
In Luke this is the initial call of the disciples into the ministry. Jesus speaks to them prophetically in terms they can understand. They were fishers/fishermen, experienced and skillfully employed fishers. Jesus tells them come follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Jesus took them from where they were and knew where they were going to be. When you catch fish the battle is over, but when you catch men it just begins. What just begins for men? They begin to walk in a new revelation of life. They begin to walk in the purpose of their creation. The purpose given to us by God is to take dominion, walk in authority because God’s creation was made to benefit people as they walk in God’s way.
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By Pastor Lucy Kolin
Resurrection Lutheran Church, Oakland, CA
Oakland Community Organizations
As a parish pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), I have spent nearly a quarter century teaching and preaching about what it means to live the life of faith, what it means to not just hear the Word of God but to do it. So it is less a choice than a joyful given for me to be involved in and speaking publicly about matters like Wall Street reform, matters that affect not only members of my own congregation but also many people in my city, state, and nation — my neighbors all.
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By Scott Reed
Executive Director, PICO National Network
“The bill I’m signing will set in motion reforms that generations of Americans have fought for and marched for and hungered to see… That our generation is able to succeed in passing this reform is a testament to the persistence and the character of the American people, who championed this cause, who mobilized, who organized, who believed that people who love this country can change it.”[1]
– President Obama, March 23, 2010
This fall, Karen traveled to Washington D.C. to remind Congress what health reform was about. Karen was a new leader with San Diego Organizing Project. She was drawn to the work by her faith and her personal experience with the injustice of the health care system. Though it was her first time testifying before elected officials at a public action, Karen was no stranger to the values of organizing. She had grown up in a family that was passionate about justice—her father marched with Cesar Chavéz during the farm worker’s movement—and she had passed on this unyielding belief in dignity and justice to her eighteen-year-old son.
“I lost my brother because he couldn’t afford a prescription” she said, her voice quavering into the microphone. Without health insurance, Karen said, her brother couldn’t afford to care for his high blood pressure properly. He died of a heart attack.
Now, less than two years after the death of Karen’s brother, President Obama has signed health reform legislation into law – legislation that, when enacted, will save countless others from meeting the same fate as Karen’s brother.
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By Rev. Dr. George Cummings
Imani Community Church, Oakland, CA
Oakland Community Organizations
The United States just made history.
Tonight, the House of Representatives passed health reform legislation that will guarantee virtually all American families access to affordable health coverage for the first time in our nation’s history.
Reform will “repair the breach” that tens of millions of working people now face in their struggle to find affordable health coverage for their families.
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PICO’s cross-country bus tour for comprehensive immigration reform is approaching the final leg of its journey, en route to participate in the “March for America: Change Takes Courage and Faith.” This historic event, which is taking place in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, is anticipated to draw tens of thousands of people from across the nation.
Over the last four days, 50 + PICO leaders have been riding day and night on their “Pilgrimage for Reform: Change Takes Faith and Action.” Part of the mission of this journey has been to raise awareness to what’s really at stake when we talk about reforming our country’s broken immigration system: the American Dream of working hard and creating a better life for our families.
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By Pastor Lucy Kolin
Resurrection Lutheran Church, Oakland, CA
Oakland Community Organizations
“Banks were created for people. People were not created for banks,” Nathan French, a faith leader from Hollywood Adventist Church, Los Angeles, California
On March 5, Los Angeles City Council passed legislation that puts the city on the path to pulling its funds from irresponsible banks and setting new standards for investing public dollars in institutions that offer tangible benefits to the community. PICO National Network joins SEIU and community allies in helping pass new standards for banks that Los Angeles does business with, including preventing foreclosures and ending toxic financial deals costing taxpayers $10 million. This signals a new “offensive” by people of faith and local and state governments to make banks compete for our money.
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By Rev. Rayfield Burns
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, Kansas City, MO
Communities Creating Opportunity
Last night, President Obama made it clear to Congress: “Do not walk away from reform. Not now. Not when we are so close. Let us find a way to come together and finish the job for the American people.”
Over the past year, I have joined with my brothers and sisters of faith in the PICO National Network to work for comprehensive health reform that makes insurance affordable for the many families we minister to in congregations across the country who are struggling to secure quality insurance.
We have joined with organizations representing tens of millions of Americans from all walks of life in working to get so close to this historic moment not only in our country’s political history, but our moral history: passage of legislation guaranteeing access to health care.
It was not surprising then, that I found myself shouting out a resounding “Amen” when the President spoke these words. Read the rest of this entry »
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By Rev. Heyward D. Wiggins
Pastor, Camden Bible Tabernacle Church, Camden, NJ
Camden Churches Organized for People
As a pastor, I have had the wonderful opportunity to work closely with many people going through major life changes. Through my experience, I have learned that change is oftentimes what people most want but also most fear. As we all know from our own experience, the unknown can be both exhilarating and frightening at the same time.
I have also learned that, amid these moments, my role as a pastor is to be present to people, to appreciate their emotions, but to also be a calm, steady source of faith and belief that they can get through this, and that, just maybe, there will be a blessing hidden somewhere in it. People need leadership to help them move through their most difficult moments and actually see the tremendous opportunities that may be staring right at them for positive change. If we let fear derail change, then we’ll never get anywhere. Read the rest of this entry »
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By Gordon Whitman
