Thursday, November 5th, 7:00p.m.-9:00 p.m. Location TBA

In a certain mode it takes this command to dump into your in-box email communications that have come in since your last “reconciliation.” I’ll read the directions later, but for now it appears that RECONCILE NOW means to receive communications, or in non-geekeze, simply to listen. Interesting.

This Monday evening several of us from PUMC attended a “house meeting” created for us to listen to one another. I sat at a table with a woman from St. Andrew Catholic Parish. She shared her struggle with a son who has a mental health issue (addiction) and wondered about a community support system. Also at our table was a man from Pheonix Rising Transitions. Pheonix is an organizing effort with young men just coming out of prison. We heard stories from their members about how difficult it is to find work today, how expensive it is to go to school and how important it is to have families and a community around you to help you from falling through life’s cracks. There were maybe 30 of us all together – from churches and community groups of MACG (Metro Alliance for Common Good).

The woman at my table told a story of growing up in the Bronx. She said that in her neighborhood, children could play outside in safety, that kids could come and go, and that as a teenager there were “hundreds of eyes looking out for you.” Where is there that sense of community today?

RECONCILE NOW!  Our storytelling is an effort to push toward action that can transform the old story into a new story of connection and success. Each of the 20-some institutions of MACG, churches, labor unions, community development organizations have been engaged in a “listening” season within their institution. In September we’ll gather our stories and discern opportunities. And with that work toward developing “hundreds of eyes looking out for” each other.

It’s crucial that we keep a firm grip on what we’ve heard so that we don’t drift off. If the old message delivered by the angels was valid and nobody got away with anything, do you think we can risk neglecting this latest message, this magnificent salvation? First of all, it was delivered in person by the Master Jesus, then accurately passed on to us by those who heard it from him. All the while God was validating it with gifts through the Holy Spirit, all sorts of signs and miracles, as he saw fit.  Hebrews 2:1-4 (The Message)

RECONCILE NOW  – Bill

The Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good was one of several allied organizations instrumental in the passage of House Bills 2009 and 2116. However, as Rep. Mitch Greenlich, one of the strongest proponents pushing the legislation put it, “This is not the beginning of the end; it is the end of the beginning.” In other words, passage of the legislation was one thing, implementing it is quite another.

HB2116 itself is the legislation which creates revenue to match federal funding for expansion of the Oregon Health Plan to cover uninsured children and low-income adults. It is HB2009 which spells out health reform itself. Implementation of that reform has just begun. The bill establishes an Oregon Health Authority (OHA) as well as a nine-member Oregon Health Policy Board (OHPB). Staffing and the appointive process has begun, but fleshing out the legislation will take time. One question MACG and others are asking is, How will children in need of coverage be registered? 

This may be a great opportunity for the church to help connect those within our congregation and community to affordable health care. But we, as individuals, and as a church, need to acquaint ourselves with this new program so we can respond.

I will continue to invest my time necessary to play a part in insuring that this legislation reaches fruition and consequently provides help for members of our community. I hope you will, too.  Joe Stroud

Wednesdays, May 6, 13, 20 and 27
6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Parkrose UMC
11111 NE Knott St. Portland 97220

Purposes of the institutes include:

• Building relationship across MACG institutions
• Work with others from diverse backgrounds for the common good.
• Learn how to strenghten your own institution
• Build relationships across age, culture and economic barriers
• Identify forces that shape our lives in community
• Learn how to move your institution toward fulfillment of its public mission
• Gain skills in identifying the uses of relational power in the public arena
• Learn to lead by living out your values
• And more…

Please let me know if you have questions.  bill@parkroseumc.org

Peace, Bill

In pursing these goals we commit ourselves to the following principles:

• Energy efficiency retrofits and upgrades for owners of single- and multi-family residences and small commercial buildings that result in reduced energy use by 30-50%.
• One-stop customer service, project planning and support to streamline project participation. Includes energy assessments, financing, certified contractors (including women, minority, and emerging enterprises), and more.
• Use of certified contractors committed to quality standards in workmanship, area standard wages and benefits for workers, utilization of apprentices, including community-based underserved populations.

Sustainable Works is an initiative of the Metropolitan Alliance for Common Good (MACG) and is an Industrial Areas Foundation Northwest affiliate. For more information email Pastor Bill (bill@parkroseumc.org).