PCU E-Newsletter

June 11, 2015  

 
            
Matching Gift, Big Wins, and Powerful Events
 

Many of you have already received a letter and return envelope for PCU's matching gift drive. So far we have received $4,500, over 30% of our total goal. Help us reach 100% before June 30! For those of you who haven't seen this and as a reminder to those who have not yet responded, please continue. If you've already contributed to this drive, be sure to see some big news and events below.

 

It may not be the gospel, but I've got some good news to share! Thanks to several anonymous donors, Progressive Christians Uniting is initiating a month-long matching gift challenge. If you donate now, your gift will be doubled, having twice the impact (with a match up to $15,000). Any donations made before June 30 will be matched and help us reach our goal. Please make a contribution to the ongoing work of PCU today. Curious about what we're up to? Read on!

  • The Justice Not Jails project is busy helping people engage their faith with our country's ongoing mass incarceration crisis through our small group resource. We are speaking up alongside those fighting for oversight against sheriff abuses. We are advocating for other core policies that work to dismantle the sin of mass incarceration. Your support helps grow the body of supporters who take up the mantle of freedom for all. None of us are truly free until all of us are free.
  • Our Climate and Environmental Justice program has been working for financial divestment from fossil fuels, building alliances with environmental justice and statewide anti-fracking groups, and offering popular education tools for small groups. Your support strengthens our moral voice on behalf of a planet in crisis. Your gift empowers a planetary gospel.

We seek your continuing support for building such faith-rooted, social justice partnerships for racial justice, creation care, and a gospel of interdependence. Join us in the work of witnessing to these values as a way of life. Donate today to help us stay on the Way.

 

In the struggle,

 

Timothy Murphy

Executive Director

 

P.S. You can donate here or mail us directly; every little bit helps, gifts big and small!

 

 

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This Week From PCU
Updates & Victories
Action & Events
Quote of the Week
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Updates & Victories

Justice Not Jails Victory at Board of Supervisors

 

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to suspend all further jail construction activity until there is an independent expert assessment of the actual number of people who might need to be treated in sheriff custody. This includes both the proposed mental health jail and current work on the Mira Loma Detention Center for women in Lancaster! This is a big win for all the organizations that have provided leadership on this: Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), Dignity and Power Now!, the Youth Justice Coalition, the ACLU, the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership (LAARP), and other friends and allies! There is still much work to be done but let us celebrate good news when it appears!

 

 


Giving thanks to Black Lives Matter for Police Commission Ruling

 



Many of you may have read also that on Tuesday the Los Angeles Police Commission determined that one of two officers was wrong to use deadly force in the killing of Ezell Ford, an unarmed mentally ill Black man in August of 2014. You can read the full LA Times article here. For two days, Black Lives Matter activists held a vigil outside of Mayor Garcetti's home, demanding the Police Commission reject LAPD Chief Beck's recommendation to clear both officers of wrongdoing. The ruling wasn't everything activists were demanding but it indicates some signs of accountability. People may naïvely believe that justice just happens, but we know that we have to thank BLM's inspiring witness these past 10 months to keep the pressure on what could have otherwise been swept aside. The Justice Not Jails project put out a call to faith leaders and others to show up in solidarity during their action; thank you to all who responded and embodied Jesus' way of compassion and justice!

 



The Adventures of Sean Patrick Coady

 



Our former Associate Director may be on to bigger and better things, i.e. Yale Divinity School in the fall, but he's still with us in spirit! He sent us this recent picture from Bryce Canyon National Park in southwestern Utah. Sean Patrick and his partner, Steven, are making a cross-country trip full of sight-seeing as they transition to Connecticut. Check back for potentially additional pictures in the future. Enjoy the wonders of creation, Sean Patrick!

 



Adieu to Catherine DeMoss

 


(Catherine pictured center)

Over the past 9 months, many of you have had a chance to meet and get to know PCU's Climate Change Resident, Catherine DeMoss. She has successfully completed her residency internship, which was organized through the Disciples of Christ denomination where she also served at First Christian Church of North Hollywood. We will miss Catherine but wish her good luck as she returns to Kentucky and charts out the next stage of her journey and calling; blessings to her!

 

Action & Events

Petition: Strong Civilian Oversight of Los Angeles County Sheriffs

 

There are only a few more weeks before final recommendations go to the Board of Supervisors concerning civilian oversight of the LASD. They need to hear from faith-rooted persons ASAP! Sign the petition, demanding the BOS put up a change to the county charter to provide subpoena power to help retrieve information about patterns of sheriff violence that are often withheld from the public. Other crucial demands can be found here!

 





This Saturday, June 13: Freedom Songs, Reading the Bible 

With and For the Oppressed

 

Please consider attending this Saturday an event on how the Bible speaks from the voice of the oppressed and how it relates to their struggles today. Come check out this interactive workshop that includes the following speakers: Rev. James M. Lawson, Jr., Rev. Janet Wolf, Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Tiffany Johnson. Lunch is provided at a cost of $10 and is free for formerly incarcerated persons. Located at: Ward AME Church, from 10 AM - 2:30 PM. You don't want to miss this event; register here!





Tuesday, June 23: If the SHU Fits - Voices from Solitary Confinement

 

Join friends and allies for another opportunity to witness a dramatic presentation about juveniles in solitary confinement. It will be performed at Neighborhood UU Church at 301 N. Orange Grove Blvd, Pasadena, 91103 starting at 7 PM. For information, call 310-704-3217. If the SHU Fits is produced by Dramastage Qumran, LA Laborfest, Public Works Improvisational Theatre, and is endorsed by Progressive Christians Uniting, among others. Flyers are available here.


 

 

Saturday, June 27: Online Facilitator Training for Climate Change and Faith

 

Have you been interested in being trained as a Climate Change and Faith facilitator but you simply haven't found the time to do so yet? Hate driving in LA? Another opportunity is around the corner, and this time the training will be offered digitally! Using the wonders of the internet, we will offer a training from 10 AM - 12 PM using Google chat on June 27. Jill Craven and Timothy Murphy will lead the training. Contact the PCU office to indicate your intent to participate. The materials can be found on the PCU website here.

 

Quote of the Week

It is our duty to fight for our freedom.

It is our duty to win.

We must love and support one another.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.


 

~Dignity and Power Now!'s Call and Response