{"id":38,"date":"2016-01-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calchurches.planetpov.com\/impact\/index.php\/2016\/01\/15\/taking-it-to-the-streets-well-offices-anyway-faithful-fridays-for-the-upcoming-year\/"},"modified":"2016-01-15T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-15T00:00:00","slug":"taking-it-to-the-streets-well-offices-anyway-faithful-fridays-for-the-upcoming-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/2016\/01\/15\/taking-it-to-the-streets-well-offices-anyway-faithful-fridays-for-the-upcoming-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking it to the Streets, well, Offices anyway… Faithful Fridays for the upcoming year\ufeff"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Happy New Year to our good friends!<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2016 we will face a series of challenges, and your powerful and effective voices are sorely needed.\u00a0 While we do not yet know what fully awaits us legislatively, we do know that once again we will be called upon to raise our voices with and for those whose programs have been the sacrifices demanded to secure our state’s well being.<\/span><\/p>\n

We know we were correct in opposing Proposition 2 in 2014. It did its job perfectly;\u00a0 it secured funds to pay off some debt and to establish a ‘rainy day fund’ for future budget crises.\u00a0 But at no point did we have the conversation about what moral obligation we have to build back the programs that were cut in bad times, with money hacked out of programs for those in need.\u00a0 Last year’s budget repaid nothing to programs for families on limited welfare, to support programs for the working poor, elders, children.\u00a0 It even cut programs for people with developmental disabilities forcing their local support systems to close.<\/span><\/p>\n

We will be fighting for some evidence of Budget Justice as well as for legislative changes that improve service delivery to those in need, for better treatment of immigrants, for racial justice and equity, and for all that comes our way – for good or for ill – that call us to speak out.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now is the time to form your Faithful Fridays groups. As a reminder, Faithful Fridays are our California version of the hugely successful “Moral Mondays” held at the Capitol in North Carolina.\u00a0 Rather than bring you all here, we urge you to work in your Assembly and Senate districts at the district offices.\u00a0 On Fridays, the legislators are usually present seeing you, the constituents.\u00a0 This is the perfect time to get a meeting with them or their staff members.\u00a0 Staff, of course, are your best allies since they are often more deeply engaged in issues than any one elected person could be.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is important to build a relationship with your legislators now so you will be known and appreciated when you want to be present for advocacy work. Learn how large their office is so you know how large your group can be. Find out the legislator’s priorities, then tell him or her what your priorities are.\u00a0 Build coalitions to go – work with other faith groups, racial justice advocates, children’s advocates, health care personnel, labor, immigrants, youth- the more diverse your voices, the more authority you have.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re uncertain who represents you and where their offices are, please go to:\u00a0<\/span>www.churchimpact.org\/take-action.html\u00a0<\/a><\/span>\u00a0 Then enter and save your ZIP or address to get the links to your specific legislators.<\/span><\/p>\n

The faith community, your congregation alone or a broader coalition, has enormous influence since we are among the very few groups that speak so frequently for those other than ourselves.\u00a0 Altruism and moral witness are, as you probably know, in fairly short supply in politics!\u00a0 Your speaking on issues of grave concern is a powerful act of justice!<\/span><\/p>\n

Let us know if you need help.\u00a0 We are here to support you however we can.\u00a0 We will be sending alerts to let you know of critical issues.\u00a0 We hope you will be the visible presence in your area for the issues that matter to us all.\u00a0 You have power beyond measure with your actions and your words.<\/span><\/p>\n

Thank you!<\/span><\/div>\n

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Happy New Year to our good friends! In 2016 we will face a series of challenges, and your powerful and effective voices are sorely needed.\u00a0 … Read More ›<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/churchimpact.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}