Category: Social Action

Harvest Ahead

Each year the church invites everyone in the church family to fill out and return a Harvest form.   The forms are an opportunity to enumerate all the organizations and causes that you support with your time or your donations.  All of the information will be tabulated and reported on Thanksgiving Sunday as a way of celebrating and giving thanks for the extensive ministry of the church.  Forms are available at the church.  And at the website.  Please turn them in by Wednesday November 19.  They can be put in the offering plate on Sunday, sent in the mail, or emailed to the church at lakewooducc@gmail.com.  Many thanks for being part of this wonderful celebration of all that God is doing in our midst!

Form may be downloaded by clicking HERE.

Urgent Help Needed for Disaster Relief Efforts

Dear Friend: On October 28th, Hurricane Melissa made landfall in Jamaica as a Category 5 storm, one of the most powerful and destructive Category 5 storms on record in the Caribbean. Its devastation also impacted Haiti and Cuba. Presently, 13,000 people in Jamaica remain in shelters and 34 fatalities have been reported – a number that is expected to rise as search and rescue efforts continue. Authorities in Haiti report 25 fatalities, with that number also expected to rise in the coming days.  At this time, we are issuing an appeal to help immediate and long-term recovery efforts in these Caribbean countries. The primary needs at this recovery stage are shelter, safe drinking water, sanitation, healthcare and food. Please consider making a donation to support our recovery efforts. Your generous support will be used by our partners in the areas of greatest need.Through ACT Alliance and Church World Service, the UCC is working to get resources for those who need them.Through Global Ministries, we are also in contact with our partners in Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti and are working quickly to accompany and support their response efforts.The UCC has posted a prayer and a short statement in response to the hurricane. Please consider making a gift today. Thank you for your past support of disaster relief efforts that have rebuilt communities around the world. We do this work through your generosity.
Donate Now
Sincerely,Michelle CarverPhilanthropy Director 

Support for Humanitarian Aid and Peacebuilding Is Non-Negotiable

When the Trump administration took office, a 90-day review of programs and projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was issued, immediately halting critical global work and providing a window for the administration to dismantle the agency completely. With the review period coming to an end, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that 83% of USAID programs have been eliminated.The dismantling of USAID and cutting of other foreign aid and peacebuilding programs run by other agencies, like the United States Institute of Peace, is theologically and morally reprehensible and irresponsible. It goes against our values to deprive people of life-saving HIV medications, prevent research that would cure diseases, and feed those who don’t have enough food. These are just a handful of examples of the kind of aid that is provided by USAID around the world.  Join us in urging Congress to fund fully operational international development and peacebuilding institutions! While both USAID and USIP have experienced Presidential overreach, only one of these is a government agency. The U.S. Institute of Peace is an independent 501(c)3 that’s only tie to the federal government is that it receives congressional funding in recognition of the importance of peacebuilding efforts globally and U.S. responsibility to being a leader of peacebuilding both at home and abroad. No President has the authority to make decisions about or within USIP. 
 
As a global leader, we are called to use our privilege and resources to help those in need. The United Church of Christ has been receiving updates from partners over the last 90-days whose communities have been impacted by first the freeze and now the cuts. The most immediate impact is being felt in the healthcare sphere with lack of access to various vaccines and HIV/AIDS medications.   Agencies such as USAID and the United States Institute of Peace serve an important role not just in peacebuilding but global security. Through this work, our taxes help keep individuals and communities abroad safe, healthy, and secure—in turn making the world a safer place for all of us.   The United Church of Christ’s call to build a just world for all requires us to advocate for programs that provide basic humanitarian support for all, including those run by USAID and USIP. Tell the President and Congress that we need fully operational international development and peacebuilding institutions today! 
Take Action Here!
Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Bluesky, and X.

Come to the Sixth Assembly of the Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network

Come to the Sixth Assembly of the Florida Interfaith Climate Actions Network (FL-iCAN!) and be inspired to dream, network, and design climate actions that will improve our world. Together we can respond positively to the new era of annual extreme weather events arising from the climate crisis.

The rituals of faith and wisdom traditions once helped cultures stay in balance with nature. That balance has been lost. The climate is in crisis. Science describes the impact on us all. Ritual attunes our hearts and wills for doing right together. The Sixth Assembly will explore both science and ritual to help us love Earth, its people, and the Commons with good intentions.

Matthew Fox will lead off Friday evening helping us to find healing in rediscovering the power of ritual in society. Saturday morning Harold Wanless will take us through the most recent science on the warming seas and extreme weather.

Then we will spend the day in workshops that focus on Earth, people, and the Commons. The one-hour workshops will be organized into three tracks: policy, action, and narrative.

How can we get affordable solar? How do we ensure we have clean water? How do we deal with rising temperatures and seas? How do we restore lost wildlife? How can we talk about climate in meaningful ways with our neighbors? What can we do that will help make the environment better? What rituals work for all of us? How is Easter a celebration of Earth? What big ideas move us beyond fossil fuels? How can we grow our own good food in the city? Let’s be honest about our past and hopeful about our future.

On Sunday afternoon we welcome everyone to participate in the Cosmic Mass: Our Sacred Earth at the St. Peterburg Coliseum. Together we’ll grieve the mess we’ve made as a society, heal our divorce from the environment, commune with all life, and discover the healing power of our joy.

Bracketing the Assembly is an opportunity to take an African-American Heritage Tour of St. Petersburg with Gwen Reese and take a deep dive into seeing how losing the Commons means destroying vital communities.

FL-iCAN! is convened by the Florida Council of Churches with programing assistance from the Connection Partners and support from the Thriving Earth Exchange. Special thanks go to the Southeastern Yearly Meeting of Quakers and Creation Justice Ministries. Most of all we are grateful to Trinity Lutheran Church for offering their facilities for the Assembly.

Contact: Rev. Dr. Russell Meyer, 813-435-5335, fl-ican@floridachurches.org

The Rev. Dr. Russell L. Meyer

Executive Director

Florida Council of Churches

3838 West Cypress St

Tampa FL 33607

813.435.5335 

St. Petersburg City Hall Demonstration Tuesday

In addition to the demonstration at the Seminole Campus of St. Petersburg College, the 50501 Movement (https://www.fiftyfifty.one/) will be holding a protest Tuesday March 4 at St. Petersburg City Hall from 12-2 p.m.  The address is:  175 5th St. N.  Bring a sign and express your concern for our country.  Wear a church t-shirt if you have one.