Faith leaders met in Tallahassee on January 30-31, 2012, during Children’s Week. On Monday afternoon they heard presentations on prison reform, tax reform, Medicaid reform, energy reform and immigration reform. In a nutshell, Florida’s prisons are overflowing with minorities serving mandatory long sentences for non-violent (often drug related) crimes. In the last two decades, the prison budget has risen by two billion dollars. We spend 67¢ on incarceration for […]

The following text was deliverd by the Rev. Russell L. Meyer, Executive Director of the Florida Council of Churches, on Monday, November 19, 2007, at a conversation on Christian unity hosted by Radio Peace at Barry University, Miami Shores, FL. The panel discussion also included Rev. Fr. Mark Wedig, Department of Theology and Philosophy, Chairman, Barry University; Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Episcopal Bishop of Southeast Florida; Rev. Melissa Pisco, St. […]

As part of Florida Advocacy Days and Children’s Week, four church leaders and I met and prayed with Governor Crist on Tuesday, March 26. Led by Bishop Timothy Whitaker (Florida Conference, United Methodist Church), the group also included Bishop Leeland (Alabama Panhandle Conference, United Methodist Church),  and the Rev. Wilma Israel (President, Florida District, Southern Province of the Moravian Unity). Together, we prayed through Bishop Whitaker’s words in thanksgiving for […]

By Bishop Charles Leigh, Apostolic Catholic Church Yesterday I listened to the pain and desperation of a young mother whose husband’s paycheck had been garnished by a subsidiary of CitiBank. In light of the current corporate bailout, I could not help but recall Jesus’ description of a very similar situation in Matthew 18, as well as the reaction of the kingdom to such behavior. In the Parable of the Unmerciful […]

For the first time, I attended Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington DC (www.advocacydays.org) this past weekend and visited congressional offices to speak up for issues I have come to believe in. While I’ve often supported advocacy in principle and even admired some people for taking strong stances, I’ve not really embraced it as a proper church activity. Too many examples of brazen partisanship by a few have made me shy […]

We are the first generation that has the ability to end hunger. The food, the tools, the transportation systems — we have all that it takes to end extreme poverty, the poverty that kills. We just need to exercise the will to do it. A major first step in ending world hunger is debt cancellation. Much of the impoverished world live in countries that suffer under odious and onerous debt […]

Quality of life is hanging in the balance in Tallahassee these last days of the legislative session. If you don’t have a lot of padding to asorb economic shock, chances are you you’re going to be bruised badly – and receive no care in the meanwhile. Here’s some things to look for: Immigration issues: Thanks to the full-court press of Latino/as, it’s possible Florida will drop Arizona copycat laws. I’ve […]

Rev. Russell L Meyer, Executive Director “It is not acceptable to us as a family owned business that agricultural workers have any less rights than folks working in white collar jobs,” said Jon Esformes, operating partner and chief marketing officer of Pacific Tomato Growers. Calling for a public conversation on social responsibility for farmworkers in the field, Esformes joined with Lucas Benítez, Co-Director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, in […]

Some folks wonder why we should be active as people of faith in public life. Lots of good reasons can be listed. There are those who’ve decided to use a form of Christianity as a political weapon, and they may be setting cultural opinions about what Christianity is all about. My convictions are otherwise. Read  the following about religion as a political weapon: http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/politics/4366/jesus_hates_taxes%3A_biblical_capitalism_created_fertile_anti-union_soil My public witness is founded upon […]

I work with a wide variety of faith leaders both Christian and other religions, from the Catholic to the Pentecostal; Jew and Muslim. When the question about immigration comes up, the universal approach is to welcome the stranger. This is a profound concept. As the New Testament  puts it: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Hospitality to […]