DREAM Sabbath Scrapbook
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DREAM Sabbath Scrapbook Table of Contents State Page Numbers Overview 1 Alabama 2 Arizona 3-4 Arkansas 5 California 5-7 Colorado 8-12 Connecticut 12-13 District of Columbia 13 Delaware 13 Florida 14-29 Georgia 30-33 Idaho 34 Illinois 34 Indiana 34-41 Iowa 41-47 Kansas 48 Kentucky 48-49 Louisiana 49 Maine 49 Maryland 50 Massachusetts 50 Michigan 50 Minnesota 51-56 Missouri 56 Montana 56 Nebraska 56 Nevada 57 New Jersey 57 New Mexico 57 New York 58-64 North Carolina 65-78 Ohio 78-81 Oklahoma 81-83 Oregon 84 Pennsylvania 84-86 South Carolina 86 South Dakota 86 Tennessee 86 Texas 87-89 Utah 90 Vermont 90 Virginia 90 Washington 90 West Virginia 91-93 Wisconsin 94 Wyoming 94 National 94-108 1 Overview: 500 DREAM Sabbath Services Nationwide Sept-Nov 2011 During the fall of 2011, and led by member organizations and denominations of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, thousands of people of faith participated in DREAM Sabbath. In over 500 congregations, people from all faiths and from across the theological and political spectrum gathered to hear the stories of DREAM students, to pray for their welfare and for their hopes to become U.S. citizens to become true, and to further educate themselves and their communities about the DREAM Act and the need for it to become law. In many of the 500 services, DREAM Act students gave testimony to their struggle of growing up in the United States, succeeding in their schools and communities, but yet, not being allowed to be fully recognized for their contributions. Many congregants heard, through the stories of DREAM students, the stories of their grandparents and their own families’ immigrant journeys. A number of church leaders were moved to abandon their timidity of speaking about a “controversial” issue and they pledged to speak out and continue to build stronger relationships with immigrant communities. DREAM Sabbath was a time when faith and action came together; where worship and political advocacy was a vibrant means of religious expression. The power of DREAM Sabbath was not just limited to the over 500 services that happened during the fall of 2012 though. The power of DREAM Sabbath is still developing as the relationships between congregations and DREAM Act students that are deepened, the thousands of congregants who are educated and will take action to show their support, and the teams of faith communities working together to ensure that their members of congress stand as champions of immigrants rights to ensure that the DREAM Act is passed. For more information on the DREAM Sabbath, including organizing resources, please visit www.dreamsabbath.org . To learn more about the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, please visit www.interfaithimmigration.org . 2 ALABAMA First Methodist Church Birmingham, Birmingham Coker United Methodist Church, Northport UMW Unit, Madison North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church (Blog) : DREAM Sabbath By William Willimon September 26, 2011 http://www.northalabamaumc.org/blogs/detail/604 Imagine the future of children in the United States being taken away, often through no decision of their own. Being stripped all their hard work, education, friends, and dreams, often through a decision that someone else made when they were too young to understand. This is the story of many children in this country who are undocumented. The United Methodist Church is part of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition, a group of more than thirty national organizations representing Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, and Islamic faith communities. The Coalition is sponsoring Dream Sabbath, an opportunity for people of faith around the country to express support for the thousands of young people who were brought to this country as infants or children and who, though not documented residents, have nevertheless worked hard to succeed in school and to be good citizens of their communities. The Dream Act is a proposed federal law that would make it possible for these young people to earn legal status if they complete high school or get a GED and then enroll in college or university or serve in our Armed Forces. You may have seen some of these young people, known as the Dreamers, when they held peaceful vigil outside the federal courthouse here in Birmingham and attended the August 24 hearing on the bishops’ challenge to Alabama’s new immigration law, HB 56. They are an impressive group of teenagers who are taking a risk by speaking out publicly and telling their stories, stories that sound very much like those of any teenager raised to believe in “the American Dream.” However your congregation may feel about Alabama’s new law or about our immigration laws generally, Dream Sabbath is an opportunity for us to share in prayer and worship what it means to respond to these young people through our faith. Dream Sabbath events can take place anytime, but I’m asking you to schedule a time between now and October 16 for your congregation to participate in this interfaith initiative. It may be through a themed worship service or an element of worship – a sermon, a story, a prayer, a litany, a meditation, a bulletin insert. The Interfaith Immigration Coalition has prepared a number of materials you can use in planning your service. You can find them on the Coalition website, http://www.interfaithimmigration.org If you would like to have one of our local Dreamers come to your service to share their own stories, let me know. 3 ARIZONA United Methodist, Foreman University Lutheran Church and Lutheran Campus Ministry, Tempe Desert Southwest Conference Board of Church and Society, Scottsdale St. Francis in the Foothills United Methodist Church, Tucson Desert Mission United Methodist Church, Scottsdale Creighton United Methodist Church, Phoenix Pioneer UM Fellowship, Phoenix Mission Bell United Methodist Church, Glendale Parker United Methodist Church, Parker South Mountain Community Church, Phoenix Dayspring United Methodist Church, Tempe Desert Chapel United Methodist Church, Apache Junction Spirit Song United Methodist Foundation, Peoria St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, Tucson Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, Sun Lakes St. John’s United Methodist Church, Kingman Shepherd of the Hills United Methodist Church, Sun City West Justa Center, Phoenix Living Water United Methodist Foundation, Gilbert St. Mark’s, Tucson Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Chandler Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix Granit Peak Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Prescott First United Methodist Church, Glendale Primera Iglesia, Phoenix Flagstaff Federated Community Church, Flagstaff Wesley United Methodist Church, Phoenix Grace United Methodist Church, Phoenix UMW Desert Southwest Conference North District, Williams Camp Verde United Methodist Church, Camp Verde Calvary, Phoenix Albright United Methodist Church, Phoenix Hope United Methodist Church of Tucson Arizona, Tucson Wilcox United Methodist Church, Wilcox Lakeview United Methodist Church, Sun City Cross Roads United Methodist Church, Sun City Catalina, Tucson Faith United Methodist Church, Phoenix First United Methodist of Mesa, Mesa St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Globe Aldersgate United Methodist Church, Phoenix Claypool United Methodist Church, Claypool Phoenix Native American Fellowship, Phoenix First United Methodist Church, Tempe 4 Wesley Foundation of Tucson, Tempe Ajo Federated Church, Ajo United Methodist Women, Scottsdale Prescott United Methodist Church, Prescott Cross in the Desert, Phoenix Journey Church, Maricopa Dove of the Desert, Glendale Trinity United Methodist Church, Phoenix Asbury United Methodist Church, Phoenix United Christian Ministry at NAU, Flagstaff Trinity Heights United Methodist Church, Flagstaff Sun Lakes United Methodist Church, Sun Lakes Desert Southwest Conference, Phoenix Mountain View United Methodist Church, Cottonwood Green Valley Community Church, Green Valley Sierra Vista United Methodist Church, Sierra Vista Lakeview United Methodist Church, Sun City Trinity United Methodist Church, Bisbee Epworth United Methodist Church, Phoenix Payson United Methodist Church, Payson Red Mountain United Methodist Church, Mesa Interfaith Fellowship, Sedona First United Methodist Church, Safford Over the past 10 years efforts have been made in statehouses and Congress to find a way to support some of the most gifted and capable young people in our country who don’t have the necessary documentation to remain in this country. These young people came into this country as infants or small children. They have only known the United States as their home. As a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which recognizes our church comes from immigrant roots and out of the biblical mandate to love our neighbor as ourselves, I stand with many in supporting the DREAM Act. This Act welcomes the stranger while offering compassion to young adults, who if given a chance to an earned pathway to citizenship would only add value to this country. They would pay taxes, be eligible to serve in our military, and bolster our struggling professional middle class. Bishop Stephen S. Talmage Grand Canyon Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church of America 5 ARKANSAS Unitarian Universalist, Eureka Springs CALIFORNIA Mira Vista United Church of Christ, El Cerrito Loretto Community, Pacifica Reformation Lutheran/UU, San Diego PACT, Unitarians, Cupertino Messiah-Mesias Lutheran Church, Pasadena United Methodist, Elk Grove Mira Vista United Church of Christ, El Cerrito St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, Sacramento United Methodist Church, Torrance