| Responding to Crises, Oppression, and Wildfires
NCC Newsletter August 13, 2021 |
| | | We Say Goodbye to Fr. Leonid |
| I grew up in a Midwestern Protestant home and didn’t know much about Orthodox Christianity until I began working in the ecumenical movement. When I joined the National Council of Churches, one of the first people I met was Fr. Leonid Kishkovsky of the Orthodox Church in America. I had heard of Fr. Leonid and knew he was an important figure in the ecumenical world.
Throughout my tenure at the NCC, Fr. Leonid has served on the executive committee and he has been a source of wisdom, knowledge, and counsel to me. He also fought a long illness and, unfortunately, he passed away earlier this month. This week, I drove to Sea Cliff, NY for his funeral at the parish he led for 47 years, the Church of Our Lady of Kazan.
On a hot night filled with rumbling thunder Metropolitan Tikhon, primate of the Orthodox Church in America, presided over the beautiful ceremony.
Fr. Leonid was a world figure in Christianity, but he was grounded in the life of the parish and of his highly accomplished family. He came to the US as a refugee from Poland, met his wife Mimi at a student retreat, graduated from seminary, and became a parish priest. But that’s not the end of the story.
He served the Orthodox Church in America as the director of external affairs and interchurch relations for many years, a position from which he provided long and detailed reports to church leaders on his activities and on the state of world religious and political affairs.
In 1989, Fr. Leonid was the first Orthodox leader to be elected president of the National Council of Churches. The news of his election was carried in The New York Times. He told The Times, “There are people of deep Christian faith who hold liberal commitments and also those who hold conservative commitments. My dream is that the differing communities of religious discourse could be in fruitful conversations and debate with one another.”
Fr. Leonid loved the Church Universal, he loved ideas, he loved discussion and debate. He loved the National Council of Churches and the ecumenical movement and wanted it to succeed. He freely gave of himself.
“He was definitely a giant in the church,” said the Very Rev. Alexander Rentel, chancellor of the Orthodox Church in America. As gifted as he was as a diplomat and administrator, he was a caring and loving pastor. Metropolitan Tikhon said Fr. Leonid was not a politician but a priest who found salvation in Christ.
The NCC honored him last year with our President’s Award for Excellence in Faithful Leadership. I honor his memory and am grateful to have known him and worked with him. As the Orthodox say, “May his memory be eternal.”
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| | | Food and Shelter In Times of Crisis |
| Congress established the Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) in March 1983 to respond to the nation’s homelessness crisis. EFSP reimburses a variety of services in order to assist communities that have experienced non-disaster related emergencies. NCC was a founding member of its National Board consisting of six human service and/or faith-based entities that set EFSP’s policies and guidelines.
Rev. Ebony Grisom, NCC's representative on the National Board, travelled to McAllen, Texas on July 28, 2021, to visit sites that received EFSP grants and attend a National Board meeting with local board members. The meeting included a program overview, information about how to (re)apply for SAHA and ARPA, general Q&A, and a presentation from Sister Norma Pimentel of Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley (CCRGV) (pictured with Rev. Grisom).
Millions of dollars have been distributed to agencies responding to the humanitarian crisis at the border. The National Board visited two sites, CCRGV, one of the busiest locations in the area, that serves roughly 1200 migrants daily, and Our Lady of Guadalupe, an overflow shelter that serves about 300 migrants nightly. Read her first-hand account of the experience that includes COVID-19 testing, crying babies, and the generosity of many. |
| | | | | NCC Joined Poor People's Campaign to Deliver Letters on the Hill |
| | On Thursday, August 12, 2021, NCC’s President and General Secretary, Jim Winkler, along with faith leaders and Texas legislators, delivered letters to Senate leaders with the Poor People's Campaign, as part of the organization's season of direct action focused on ending the Senate filibuster, securing voting rights, and passing a national $15 minimum wage. Attending from our NCC communions were The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Bishop of the Washington Diocese of The Episcopal Church; Rev. Jimmie Hawkins, PC(USA) Office of Public Witness; Rev. Neal Christie, Executive Minister of Connected Engagement for the Baltimore Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church; Rev. Sandy Sorensen, Director of the Washington Office of the United Church of Christ; and Minister Christian Watkins, NCC Justice Advocacy and Outreach Manager.
During comments in front of the Supreme Court before delivering signed letters to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and attempting to deliver letters to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Jim Winkler said, in part, "God says in the book of Isaiah, ‘I will quietly look from my dwelling like clear heat in sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of the harvest.’ God has made clear that because there are those who oppress people, God will make God's presence known and will defend and deliver God's people. When people are denied the right to vote and when they're not paid enough money to put a roof over their heads and provide for their families then they are oppressed. That's why we're raising our voices as believers. That's why we're out here sweating in the clear heat of sunshine. Clear sunshine is exposing the dark corners of our nation. Voter suppression measures are intended to cast doubt on the will of the people and permit elected officials to set aside the expressed will of the people. Sunshine exposes that. Filibusters are a way to exhaust our representatives to defeat legislation before it’s even discussed, or considered, or voted on. Sunshine exposes that. When millions of people are paid poverty wages and driven into debt and despair, then sunshine is required to expose that. We're calling for measures to be taken by our leaders to protect and strengthen the right to vote, to invest in our nation's physical and human infrastructure, and to ensure there's a livable wage. These should not and are not controversial measures. If they are then there's something secretive going on and we need to shine sunlight on that.”
Coverage of the event from Religion News Service and an article from Presbyterian News Service. |
| | | COVID-19 Pandemic Response: |
| | | Churches and religious organizations are asked to share messages encouraging vaccinations of students who are 12 and older, their families, and their communities and commit to take action. The Made to Save coalition is joining forces with the Department of Health and Human Services’ We Can Do This campaign to mobilize our communities to address vaccine access and respond to concerns during the Back to School Week of Action that includes a 2nd Weekend of Action on August 14-15 focused on school and campus-based COVID-19 vaccination drives for students.
Made to Save reports, "One of the reasons we’re making this push: vaccination rates among young people (18-27) trail those of older folks by over 20% and that number is even starker for young people of color. And as the Delta variant drives increases in both hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 among the unvaccinated, now is the time for a national effort to get young people vaccinated."
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| | | | From our Partners: Responding to the Wildfires |
| | WCC Expresses Solidarity with Churches and Survivors |
| | As wildfires continue to rage in Greece, the USA, Albania, and Russia, the World Council of Churches (WCC) extended prayers to the millions of people who are struggling with the devastation and sent letters of solidarity to churches to address their trauma.
Rev. Prof. Dr Ioan Sauca, WCC acting general secretary, wrote to US churches, “The World Council of Churches (WCC), and all those within its fellowship of churches all around the world, are praying for you and all those seeking to provide for those in need.
It is becoming more and more obvious that the fires this year all over the world are not of the same scale as in previous years. They are part of the extreme phenomena increasingly observed as a consequence of the climate change. Human-induced climate change is accelerating and is fundamentally changing our only planetary home.
This tragic situation is mobilizing many countries that are joining their forces to rescue those suffering from such a natural catastrophe. We are also thankful for those professionals and volunteers who are participating in the operations risking their own lives.
In times of such crisis and grief one needs more than shelter, physical food and nourishment, and the churches are there to provide comfort and counsel, hospitality and hope, strength and solidarity. I express my deepest sympathy with the US churches as you care for a growing number of people affected by wildfires.
I pray for the people in all communities ravaged by wildfires, I pray for those people who are unsure of their future, not knowing if they have lost everything." |
| | | | GOA Starts Greece Fire Relief Fund |
| Rev. Protopresbyter Dr. Nicolas Kazarian, Director of the Department of Inter-Orthodox, Ecumenical & Interfaith Relations for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, writes, "As I am sure you are aware, deadly wildfires all over Greece are ravaging homes, businesses and forestlands. The wildfires have been ongoing for days during one of Greece’s most severe heatwaves in 30 years. Historic sites are at risk. The Greek people are suffering. They are being evacuated from their homes taking only few belongings. In response, His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese have started a relief fund to aid those most in need. Donations can be made directly on the relief fund page."
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| | | "Dixie Fire: Cultivating a Culture of Preparedness in the Face of Disaster"
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| Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño of the California-Nevada Conference of The United Methodist Church, wrote a special message that begins, "Our faith family across California and Nevada are watching and praying as the Dixie Fire engulfs our communities in the north. We follow the news feeling helpless as the acres burn, homes are destroyed, and lives are forever changed by this erratic, extreme fire complex. Dry lightning and tornados spawned by the fire and smoke complicate response and recovery efforts. So, we wait.
But as people of faith, we are never helpless for we know that God is with us and especially with those who are suffering. Even in this time of waiting we are able to act. We will pray for God's mercy as we also pray to become agents of God's mercy by praying with our hands and feet. We face this fire, as we have faced those in the past and will face those to come in what promises to be a historically catastrophic fire season, by building upon our California-Nevada Conference’s culture of preparedness."
Right now, our financial support is crucial. Our dollars make gift cards, hotel rooms, groceries, and clean water possible for our brothers and sisters affected by the Dixie Fire and their calls for help are coming."
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| | | | Registration Will Soon Open for the 2021 Virtual Christian Unity Gathering! |
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NCC's annual Christian Unity Gathering (CUG) will be held virtually on October 11 - 12, 2021.
This year's event, "In New Wineskins: From Pandemics to Possibilities to Promises," is based on the scripture in Luke 5:37-39.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new wine, but says, "The old is good." |
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