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As the
only statewide ecumenical agency in South Carolina, SC Christian Action
Council represents a partnership of 16 denominations and 21 regional
judicatories, including 4,500 congregations.
The
Council serves as a catalyst for:
- Social justice through public policy advocacy;
- Christian Unity and inter-religious dialogue through relationships,
collaborations and events;
- Racial and cultural healing by building bridges of trust and
understanding.
Read on .
. .click
here
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Legislative Update & Calls for Action
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Immigration. Senate Bill 392 received a favorable review
from the full Judiciary Committee. Will go to the full Senate for a vote
soon. There is a provision that could affect churches and others who aid
undocumented immigrants:
SECTION 9. Article 5, Chapter 9, Title 16 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
“Section 16‑9‑460. (A) It shall be a felony for any person to
transport, move, or attempt to transport within the State, or to solicit
or conspire to transport or move within the State, any person knowingly
or in reckless disregard of the fact that the person has come to,
entered, or remained in the U.S. in violation of law, in furtherance of
the person’s illegal presence in the United States.
(B) It shall be a felony for any person to conceal, harbor, or shelter
from detection, or to solicit or conspire to conceal, harbor, or shelter
from detection any person in any place, including any building or means
of transportation, knowingly or in reckless disregard of the fact that
the person has come to, entered, or remained in the U.S. in violation of
law, in furtherance of the person’s illegal presence in the United
States.
(C) Any person who violates the provisions of subsection (A) or (B) of
this section is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall be
punished by a fine not to exceed five thousand dollars or by imprisonment
for a term not to exceed five years, or both.
(D) A person who is convicted of, pleads guilty to, or enters into a plea
of nolo contendre to a violation of this section must not be permitted to
seek or obtain any professional license offered by the State or any
agency or political subdivision of the State.”
Christians--in response to the teachings of Jesus--feed, clothe, shelter,
and visit WITHOUT regard to status. This provision puts our freedom to
act faithfully at risk. Contact your Senator and ask that the bill be
changed to protect those of any faith who serve others in need without
thought of proof of documentation.
Time
to raise Cigarette tax. House Bill 3562. Healthy Communities
Capacity Act. Debate by the full House Ways & Means Committee
scheduled to start the week of April 9. Raising the tax will result in
public health benefits (less teen smoking and lower health care costs)
and generate revenue for health care in general and tobacco prevention in
particular.
Contact your local S.C. House District member before April 9th and ask
them to support raising the cigarette tax. For more information and to
request speakers: contact Dr. Dave
Keely.
Payday
Lending. SC Fair Share, reports: The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee
handling S.398 reported out strong legislation which, following an
amendment offered by Sen. Joel Lourie, would:
1. Limit borrowers to one outstanding loan at a time;
2. Cap the number of loans at 5 per year;
3. Require a 7 day cooling off period between loans;
4. Establish a statewide database, maintained by a private contractor, to
enforce that legislation;
5. And require an industry-supported extended payment plan option.
The vote to report the bill was unanimous by senators John Hawkins, Vince
Sheheen, Lourie and Lewis Vaughn.
The bill now goes to Full Judiciary where there will be intense effort to
strip out everything but the extended payment plan.
Contact your Senator and inform him/her as to your desires concerning
Payday Lending regulation.
CONTACT
YOUR REPRESENTATIVE. House members are at home the first week of
April.
CONTACT
YOUR SENATOR
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Denominational Gatherings: Visitors Welcome
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April
19, CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, Columbia
April
27-28, The Annual Meeting of the UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
Georgia/South Carolina Association, April 27-28, Charleston. www.se
cucc.org/news/index.php
April
27-28, COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP OF SC, First Baptist
Church, Clemson. www.cbfofsc.org
May
7-11, BAPTIST EDUCATIONAL AND MISSIONARY CONVENTION OF SC, Mt. Moriah
Baptist Church, Charleston. www.bemsc.org
May
31-June 2, EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH IN AMERICA, SC SYNOD ASSEMBLY,
Newberry College. www.sclutheran.org
June
3-7, UNITED METHODIST CHURCH SC ANNUAL CONFERENCE, Florence
Civic Center. www.umcsc.org
To
email us the event/dates/location of Judicatory events where
visitors are welcome click here.
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Support Your SC Christian Action Council
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· Advocating
for social justice,
· Bringing
together persons of different faiths and holding differing positions on
issues for dialogue,
· Worshipping
ecumenically, sharing the faith traditions we hold dear and learning
others,
·
Providing--by example and voice--a model for meaningful and full
relationships across social and racial barriers.
Together
we address these opportunities.
With your support, YOUR Council will continue to serve our state as a
witness to the oneness for which our Lord Jesus Christ prayer.
Click
here to donate NOW!
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Community News and Events
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April 20. Spring For Care to Fight AIDS. Oscar's
Restaurant, Spartanburg, from 5:00 PM through Midnight. Owner will donate
1% of food and beverage sales to Piedmont Care, a non-profit organization
fighting AIDS in the Spartanburg community. For more information about Spring
for Care, click
here.
May
17. "So What's Restorative about Justice?" SCCAC
Annual meeting, 9 am-1:15 PM, First Christian Church-Disciples of Christ,
Columbia. See final article of this e- newsletter.
May
17. The Community Mediation Center Silent Auction.
5:30-8:30 PM, State Museum, in conjunction with annual McKay Brabham
Building Bridges Award dinner.
To donate items and purchase a ticket to the dinner ($25 each) contact
the Community Mediation Center.
__________________________________________
Have other South Carolina community news? Let us know via email.
We
include information on community events as space and time allow; and,
only in accordance with the mission and policies of SC Christian Action
Council. We do not accept unsolicited articles.
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Comings and Goings
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Here is
a sampling of Council staff engagements this month.
- April 1-8: Holy Week
activities
- April 10: Screening:
"Divided We Fall" at USC
- April 18. First Baptist
Aiken
- April 19-20: Non-profit
Leadership institute, Francis Marion University
- April 23: Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America, SC Synod Council
- April 26: SCEMD/FEMA
Emergency Response training
- April 27-28:
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, First Baptist Clemson // United
Church of Christ, Circular Church, Charleston
- April 30: Furman
University: Children of Abraham CLC Panel
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SCCAC ANNUAL MEETING 2007
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May
17, 2007
Host congregation: First Christian Church
2062 Beltline Boulevard
Columbia, SC
(803) 787-9777 (directions only)
Daily
the bad news gets worse. Teenagers and children continue making choices
which damage the lives of others and threaten their own lives. Victims
are hurt and scarred or worse. Communities are destroyed. Parents, school
officials, and community leaders look for interventions to stop the
downward spirals of criminal activity in which many are caught.
The
Victim.
The Community.
The Offender.
Each touched by a criminal act.
Each in need of wholeness.
Each deserving of justice.
Several
years ago The SC Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) embarked on an
effort to implement a movement of restorative justice. Through
restorative justice the victim's pain and harm are acknowledged and
addressed. Through restorative justice the community's needs are defined
and addressed. Through restorative justice the offenders deeds are
claimed and addressed.
Join us
on May 17. We'll be exploring restorative justice, its application in our
communities, and how people of faith can further its implementation
across South Carolina.
Proclaimer: The Reverend
Mark Cerniglia, Vice President for Partnership Initiatives, LFS
(Lutheran Family Services; and Chair, Interfaith Restorative Justice
Network of SC.
Keynoter: Ms.
Virginia "Ginny" Barr, Restorative Justice Coordinator, SC
Department of Juvenile Justice. Followed by responders from the
community, concluding with Q&A.
Schedule
- 9:00 Registration and
Exhibits
- 9:30 Welcome
- 9:40 Ecumenical Worship
- 10:30 Business Session
- 10:45 Break
- 11:00 Keynote
Presentation & Response
- 12:30 Fellowship Meal
and Exhibits
- 1:15 Adjourn
Pre-registration
fee: $30 (materials & lunch.
Registration at the door: $35 (materials nor lunch guaranteed).
Pre-registration without lunch: $25 (includes materials).
Click
here for registration form. Print, complete, add specifics re: lunch
or not, mail with check to SCCAC, PO Box 3248, Columbia, SC 29209.
Contact
Brenda Kneece for more
details.
Pre-registration
due on or before May 10.
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Across my desk
. . .
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Seventy-three
years and counting! The South Carolina Christian Action Council continues
to live and work together as the visible Body of Christ, a witness for
which our Lord prayed.
Our logo, a boat with the cross, expresses Lord Jesus Christ's sacrifice
and the ecumenical life to which he invites all Christians.
The
Gospel writer Mark tells us that after a day of teaching, Jesus got into
a boat and said to his disciples: “Let us cross over to the other side”
(Mark 4:35, NIV).
The
Council's vision of the "other side?" We envision South
Carolina as a community where people of faith unite to glorify God
through worship, social justice, peace, and mercy.
The
“other side” is the place where everyone eats, where everyone is
sheltered, where everyone received the medical treatment needed for
health where neither the poor nor the rich are victimized by the divides
between them, where the ill are tended, where justice reigns, where peace
thrives.
The
"other side” is the place where every human being recognizes the
image of God in every other human being; where followers of Jesus emulate
among the marginalized of our world his loving acceptance for and
empowerment of those on the margins of his world.
The
"other side" is where Christians--all of us--claim and know the
reunion ground of the Body of Christ.
The "other side" is where people of all faiths claim and know
the reunion ground of the Household of God.
As
those first disciples knew, we too know the journey to “the other side”
is often stormy and uncertain.
As a voice for the powerless, we accept the turmoil and upheaval which
the Prophetic Call often brings. We accept the derision shown often to
those who speak truth to power.
Abolitionist
Fredrick Douglass said, "Those who favor freedom yet deprecate agitation
are people who want crops without plowing the ground... rain without
thunder and lightning. Power concedes nothing without demand and
struggle. It never has and it never will."
So we plow--and
sail--on, advocating for justice, working for peace, calling for
Christian unity and inter- religious respect and tolerance.
Get on
board, there's always room for more in THIS boat.
For a
report of SCCAC activities in 2006 click
here.
...
that's the view from across my desk.
Brenda Kneece, Executive Minister
Contact Brenda
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