Just finished up with a really exciting Interfaith Working Group meeting at OccupyPhilly. While it was my first time participating, today's meeting was the third of such gatherings... they're actually regularly scheduled on a bi-weekly basis: Saturdays @ 1:30p and Tuesdays @ noon. There were fifteen folks involved from faith communities all around Philadelphia, and boy, it was really heartening to see that people of faith are becoming more visible at Occupy. Besides providing a safe space for individuals to pray, meditate or just have a few moments of quiet contemplation, the Interfaith Working Group has also put together a weekly speaker series on Saturday afternoons. An open-mic church is being organized for 5:00p on Sundays and a holiday celebration is also being talked about for December 17th.
As a Christian, I firmly believe the church is called to publicly witness to issues of hunger and inequality, issues which are central to the Occupy movement. Even if believers don't specifically support the political goals of the Occupy movement, surely all Christians are interested in feeding, clothing and caring for individuals. Currently OccupyPhilly is feeding roughly 900 people each day during the workweek and around 2100 each day on the weekend. Collecting food and clothing to support this work is a ministry any faith community could participate in. There is a strong pastoral care need down at OccupyPhilly as well. If you're at all interested in finding out how to get involved, your best resource is the Interfaith Working Group's Facebook group, found here. Thanks so much!
God's peace,
Dustin
No comments:
Post a Comment