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Justice and Outreach Council
Monthly Digest
July 2023
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Welcome to the Justice and Outreach Council (JOC)'s monthly newsletter.
A place to find opportunities with this active ministry at Trinity.
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Local Events and Opportunities for Service | |
Dinner in Alameda Park. Trinity will prepare dinner and serve it in the park again on Thursday, July 27. Join us just once, with an indoor or outdoor task, for this community experience. Check the online sign-up for volunteer opportunities or email Sarah Thomas, sthomas@trinitysb.org. Trinity's next dinner will be on July 27. | | |
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Transition House Meal Preparation for July. You can experience a traditional Trinity volunteer activity and serve a meal at Transition House (425 E Cota St) for approximately 60 residents on the 4th Saturday of the month (July 22). Contact Teresa Pietsch teresapietsch4@gmail.com for more details or check the online sign-up for how to get involved. | | | |
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Gun Violence Prevention Task Force
Many of you attended the Gun Violence Prevention Forum on May 28. Interest and enthusiasm for Trinity involvement continues.
Moms Demand Action hosted a rally against gun violence, on Saturday, June 3, in Ortega Park. Trinity members attended wearing the Trinity name badges and joined a band of supporters, approximately 60 people in a sea of orange shirts. We joined parents and children, many elected officials, students, and community members. I was pleased be with JOC member Ken Johnson and hear what our elected officials at the national (Salud Carbajal), state (Monique Limon and Gregg Hart), county (Das Williams), and city (Oscar Gutierrez and Alejandra Gutierrez) level are doing to push gun safety legislation. Submitted by JOC member, Helene Gardner.
Today we share a new resource. The June 2023 issue of Presbyterian Outlook takes a hard look at the uniquely American problem of gun violence. Order copies of this special issue for use in independent study, congregation-wide discussions, or small groups - $4/copy.
The Presbyterian Outlook (pres-outlook.org)
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Work with Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice
The Media Communications /Administrative position is currently available for CLUE. Justice Advocates, use your spirit and skills to support this worthwhile endeavor. It is a part time position with flexible hours at a rate of pay between $30-$40. We are looking for someone who is supportive of our social justice activist mission.
Contact: Maureen Earls, 805-450-6111
CLUE Santa Barbara Clergy & Laity United for Economic Justice (cluesb.org)
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Canon Anthony Guillen and Latino/Hispanic Ministries is a specialist in ministry to English-speaking children and grandchildren of Spanish-speaking immigrants at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church Ojai. With Canon Anthony’s help, he is planning a diocese-wide program this fall — he calls it “New Camino” — to give the leaders of our missions and parishes the tools to build relationships with second- and third-generation Latinos.
https://diocesela.org/the-bishops-blog/canon-anthony-guillen-and-latino-hispanic-ministries/
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Community Events and Celebrations | |
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Pride Sunday August 13 "How Can Congregations Be Better Allies to the LGBTQ+ Community?"
Special guests include, Rabbi Debi Lewis and Karen Rice, and others. Join the service and the forum to support of our LGBTQ+ people of color, and all LGBTQ+ communities, as they continue to face unconscionable attacks on their right to control their bodies, their humanity, and their access to health care and inclusive education due to systemic racism and discrimination. Trinity will also be represented at the Pacific Pride Festival Saturday, August 26, 2023, 11am - 7pm at Chase Palm Field (Beach side) 236 E. Cabrillo Blvd.. Join us!
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Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy
Hazel Davalos and Lucas Zucker, Co-Executive Directors of CAUSE
invite Trinity members to join them on September 21st for Raising Justice. For those of you who don’t know, Raising Justice is our annual fundraiser and afternoon of community building that brings the CAUSE community together to help advance our movement for economic, environmental, and social justice in our region.
Click here to learn more and to RSVP.
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Stories of Engagement and Volunteerism | |
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Every month we publish a story of justice, ministry, and volunteerism from a Trinity parishioner. This month we feature a former parishioner who served on the Justice and Outreach Council, Betsy Kain. In the wake of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Betsy Kain unexpectedly found herself flying across the world to put her social work skills to use. With the help of teams in both the U.S. and Rwanda, Kain started Goats for Life, a nonprofit that provided families with goats for food, fertilizer, and economic benefits. Now in her eighties, Kain is no longer able to travel to Rwanda but she hopes to share her story to a wider audience with her new book, My Days of Sorrow and Joy in Rwanda. Her new book was recently featured in the SB Independent. My Days of Sorrow and Joy in Rwanda is available for purchase at Chaucer’s Books.
Here is her story. https://www.independent.com/2023/06/09/betsy-kain-proves-her-work-isnt-finished-yet/
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Celebrate and Support Justice | |
Look for the blue celebration envelopes in the pews and recognize a birthday, an anniversary, graduation, engagement, a special event of any sort for which you are thankful. Turn your “celebration” into a donation to the Justice and Outreach Council. We will use these funds to provide comfort and safety to those in need—food, education for children, assistance to immigrants—any of our neighbors needing support. . . so they can celebrate. Together, these gifts make possible our community of welcome, reconciliation, and service. | |
There are two ways you can continue to celebrate and support our justice work in addition to your pledges both now and in the future. Send in a check made out to Trinity and simply note “Justice” in the memo line and provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate. Or donate via Trinity’s PayPal account, select "Justice Fund" and under “special instructions” provide the names of the persons or occasion you want to celebrate. Thank you to all our loyal supporters! | |
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Land Acknowledgement
We honor and acknowledge the Chumash people, the traditional custodians of this land, and pay our respects to the Chumash elders, past, present, and future, who call this land on which we sit their home. We appreciate their wisdom, their culture, and their presence among us today as the host people of this land. We lament the injustices done to the original inhabitants and the injustices done to this land in the centuries since. We seek the courage and wisdom to heal the wounds of the past and build a better future together, in deep solidarity.
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