The controversy over immigration issues has reached a stalemate over competing values – both of which deserve respect. One is the due regard for the law and the other is compassion for the stranger. One is a matter of rules that apply to all; the other is the measure of our own character. When law and compassion work together, we represent a nobleness to which the world aspires. When they […]
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‘In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. (Act 2:17) Each Spring, thousands of high school students graduate to a dead end. It doesn’t matter how talented, gifted, smart or energetic they are. They’ve simply reached the […]
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Feb
Comprehensive Immigration Reform recognizes: The sanctity of family unity The dignity of every person Pathway to citizenship In addition it recognizes that: A secure border allows seasonal workers to cross back and forth legally. Skilled and unskilled immigrant labor produces jobs for Americans. The current quota system creates problems and must be replaced. Inequitable trade has artificially pushed migration in the Americas.
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Feb
Senator Sanders & Eric Schlosser Confront Immokalee Slavery On Friday, January 18, 2008, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont visited Immokalee along with best-selling author Eric Schlosser. Visiting with the farmworker community just one day after a federal grand jury indicted six people in Immokalee for their part in what US Attorney Doug Malloy called “Slavery, plain and simple,” Senator Sanders called for congressional hearings “so that the American people […]
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Feb
Religious Community Letter to Governor Crist In March 2009, Together with Southwest Florida Interfaith Action, the National Farmworker Ministry of Florida and the PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food, the Florida Council of Churches successfully called on Gov. Crist to meet with the CIW to discuss ways to end slavery in Florida’s fields and urge the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to stop blocking improvements for farmworkers. Governor Crist’s support for the […]
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Feb
On the Occasion of the Groundbreaking Agreement between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Pacific Tomato Growers “Today we celebrate the groundbreaking agreement between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Pacific Tomato Growers. We are grateful to witness this display of social responsibility. This agreement will bring about basic rights for farmworkers. We hope and pray that the spirit of collaboration exhibited by the CIW and Pacific Tomato Growers […]
In cooperation with Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, houses of worship are invited to participate in a project to show gratitude to farmworkers at Thanksgiving and to encourage Publix to join the penny per pound campaign. Farmworkers in the fields are family, too. involves filling penny folders with a month of pennies, bible studies and prayer guides. The concept is simple: educate consumers about […]
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Feb
Lectionary reflection II Corinthians 5:16-21 Lent 4 Year C Jean Cooley, Co-pastor Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lakeland, FL In many ways Paul’s great discourse on Christ’s gift of the ministry of reconciliation gets to the heart of what it means for me to be a Christian. Paul affirms that those that “are in Christ” see reality in a new way. No longer do they see reality through the values and […]
A few weeks back I had a to-do list a mile long that required I drive all over Miami. Instead of making the adventure alone I asked one of the retired members of my congregation to join along for the ride. She gladly accepted and drove around in the Miami heat with me all day. When I dropped her off at home she wouldn’t let me leave until she dug […]