Rev. Hardies' call to solidarity

[gp...@allsouls.ws]

On Sunday, March 1, Rev. Rob Hardies preached about spiritual choices
in difficult times, calling the congregation to practice generosity
with our neighbors in need. All Souls will now tithe 10% of our cash
offering on Sundays to neighborhood service organizations. As a first
step, we purchased $1000 of Safeway gift cards, and asked congregants
to use them with neighbors on the street or for their own meal if
needed.

This is the place for posting reflections on the themes of the service
or the experience of taking and using a card. We hope to create an
ongoing conversation about how solidarity can triumph in tough times.

[allsouls]

Thanks to everyone who participated in the March 1 services, and for
your responses already. We invite you to continue the dialogue, as we
discern our choices on an ongoing basis.

Opening to generosity requires daily practice for me, and needs
conscious intention in a time of fear and anxiety on many fronts. My
hope is that All Souls can be a place that supports us individually in
that spiritual work, and that we will continue to be a congregation
that takes collective neighborhood giving seriously.

We must engage in community organizing, education and advocacy, and
funding in order to have systemic impact, and direct service will
remain an important calling in these times.

With appreciation for this congregation, Rev. Louise Green, Minister
of Social Justice

[Katherine]

I took a Safeway card & gave it to a family I work with. This is a
family of 8 (4 boys & extended family) who have a toddler w/ devel
delays in our program. They are struggling on many fronts, most of
them stemming from the fact that their father---the head of their
household--had a major stroke at age 40. He is recovering slowly but
the family is in dire straights. Our program is doing our best to
help this family, particularly by hooking them up with community
resources. The mother takes the bus to WIC, kids' Dr. appts & other
errands. When I gave the mother the card she said there's a Safeway
on one of her regular routes, right across from a park. She's going
to stop in for lunch & take it over to the park, and the BEST thing
about this is that this woman NEVER takes time for herself. She
thanked me & all of us at All Souls for our kindness.

Thank you for enabling me to do this & share with you all.

Katherine

[Mark Ewert]

This is such an important topic for us all now. How do we support each
other in the congregation? How doe we continue and grow our social
justice ministries now in these times? I am grateful for the
leadership of Rev Hardies and Rev Green in keeping us focused on our
values and spiritual growth.

If you are interested, please visit my blog which is about the topic
of generosity and has many recent postings related to being generous
in troubled times.

www.generositypath.com/blog

Here is a recent posting that provides a bit more inspiration for your
continuing generosity:

http://www.generositypath.com/blog/?p=426

Thank you to All Souls and to you - keep giving to those in need...

Mark Ewert, All Souls Member

[Valena]

I, like many people, was very inspired that our church is now tithing
10% of our Sunday offerings to neighborhood community organizations.
I was having a potluck the following Saturday, and I went ahead and
bought $100 worth of Safeway cards to give out to everyone at the
potluck, for those people to then pass on to others in need. I felt
it was the least I could do. And if one person is inspired to do
something further, then it keeps going, and builds a stronger
community for all of us.

Valena