VECtor - January 2008

Previous VECtor & Faith Common Articles

Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Service

The Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society invites you to join us for a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.  Our Prayer & Worship Committee is sponsoring a worship service on Sunday, January 20, 2008, 2 p.m., at the First United Methodist Church in Burlington.  The Rev. Dr. Meredith Handspicker will give the homily.

The Rev. Dr. Handspicker is Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology & Evangelism at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton Centre, MA.  He spent four years serving on the Secretariat for Faith and Order of the World Council of Churches in Geneva, Switzerland.  He is a United Church of Christ minister residing in Bennington and currently serves as Chair of the VEC’s Faith & Order Committee.

The First United Methodist Church is located in downtown Burlington on the corner of South Winooski Avenue and Buell Street.  Parking is available at the city parking garage across the street.  Refreshments will be served following the worship service.

Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Website Update

Our website (www.vecbs.org) has been updated recently with a new homepage and a number of other new features including pages for each of the Council’s three standing committees: Faith & Order; Prayer & Worship; and Peace, Justice & the Integrity of Creation.  We will continue to add resources and other features to the website.  Please visit the site and give us your feedback.  Let us know if there are features that you’d like to see.  We are working to serve the state’s faith community so let us know if there are ways we can improve this service.

Creating Gardens - Helping Wildlife By Linda Howe

The National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) has as its mission statement: to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.  They recently offered a free training to educators and others to learn about wildlife habitat and their community habitat certification program.  I attended the training and received an armload of books and resource materials including an article about NWF’s schoolyard program. 

Churches are an important part of the NWF community habitat program.  A church can start with a site mapping and inventory assessment of the grounds – looking at existing features that provide food, water, cover, and places for wildlife to raise young.  A habitat certification application is available on their website which will lead you through a series of questions about your site.  Creating a wildlife habitat on church grounds is a great way to involve youth, parents, and the congregation in a hands-on project that leads to greater understanding and appreciation of Creation.  A number of resources are available on the website: www.nwf.org   
I grew up in Stoneham, Massachusetts and return often to visit family.  The Episcopal Church in Stoneham has a lovely garden.  There is a welcome sign out by the sidewalk and an arrow pointing down a narrow path to a peaceful garden.  I frequently see parents and their children visiting this small but welcoming quiet space.  

The First United Methodist Church is located in downtown Burlington on the corner of South Winooski Avenue and Buell Street.  Parking is available at the city parking garage across the street.  Refreshments will be served following the worship service.

Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Website Update

Our website (www.vecbs.org) has been updated recently with a new homepage and a number of other new features including pages for each of the Council’s three standing committees: Faith & Order; Prayer & Worship; and Peace, Justice & the Integrity of Creation.  We will continue to add resources and other features to the website.  Please visit the site and give us your feedback.  Let us know if there are features that you’d like to see.  We are working to serve the state’s faith community so let us know if there are ways we can improve this service.

Creating Gardens - Helping Wildlife By Linda Howe

The National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) has as its mission statement: to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children’s future.  They recently offered a free training to educators and others to learn about wildlife habitat and their community habitat certification program.  I attended the training and received an armload of books and resource materials including an article about NWF’s schoolyard program. 

Churches are an important part of the NWF community habitat program.  A church can start with a site mapping and inventory assessment of the grounds – looking at existing features that provide food, water, cover, and places for wildlife to raise young.  A habitat certification application is available on their website which will lead you through a series of questions about your site.  Creating a wildlife habitat on church grounds is a great way to involve youth, parents, and the congregation in a hands-on project that leads to greater understanding and appreciation of Creation.  A number of resources are available on the website: www.nwf.org   
I grew up in Stoneham, Massachusetts and return often to visit family.  The Episcopal Church in Stoneham has a lovely garden.  There is a welcome sign out by the sidewalk and an arrow pointing down a narrow path to a peaceful garden.  I frequently see parents and their children visiting this small but welcoming quiet space.  

Focus the Nation – The 2% Solution

Focus the Nation is a national teach-in on global warming solutions for America.  It is creating a dialogue at over 1,000 colleges and universities, houses of worship, secondary schools, businesses, and civic organizations. This nationwide dialogue culminates on January 30 and 31, 2008.

Across the country, people of faith are  recognizing their moral obligation and accepting their responsibility as stewards of Creation.  And it is a justice issue because those with the least only contribute a small amount to global warming, yet they often suffer the most from climate changes.

On Jan. 30th at 8 p.m. EST, there will be an interactive webcast called The 2% Solution.  This webcast features Stanford climate scientist Stephen Schneider, sustainability expert Hunter Lovins, and green jobs pioneer Van Jones.  The 2% Solution title comes from the goal of cutting 2% global warming pollution per year for the next decade and beyond.  Faith communities are encouraged to watch this webcast and may be able to get together with their local libraries or other organizations to have a screening.

For those in or near college towns, it may be possible to watch The 2% Solution webcast at a college.  The live webcast begins at 8 p.m. on Wed., Jan. 30th.  At Green Mountain College in Poultney, The 2% Solution screening will be in Withey Hall, “The Gorge”.   They have a full day of sessions about climate change scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 31st.  For more information, call Prof. Paul Hancock at 802-287-8324 or email: HancockP@greenmtn.edu  At UVM, Focus the Nation activities will be going on throughout the week.  Go to  www.uvm.edu/climatechange/FocustheNation/ and  click “Master Schedule” on  the left  side.

To find out about the webcast and the events at Middlebury College, contact Diane Munroe at 802-443-5000 x 5925.  The Focus the Nation events are open to the public. The National Wildlife Federation is a sponsor of Focus the Nation.  Interfaith Power & Light organizations are publicizing it and encouraging faith communities to participate. For more information about The 2% Solution webcast and Focus the Nation, you can visit the website:www.focusthenation.org

Social Justice and White Privilege: Facing Reality, Building the Vision

This community workshop will be held at St. James Episcopal Church in Essex Jct. on Saturday, Feb. 9th from 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.  It is being offered in partnership with community groups and the Peace & Justice Center.  The leaders are members of the Dismantling Racism Commission of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont, the Task Force for Uprooting Racism of the Vermont Conference UCC, and the Peace & Justice Center.

The morning session will include a look at history and personal histories.  White privilege   and institutional racism, both of which undermine justice, will be addressed in the  afternoon.  The goals of the workshop are to learn from one another, increase personal awareness, and consider how individual and corporate action can work to dismantle racism in our communities. 
Why should members of the faith community be concerned about social justice and a culture of white privilege?  We are called to seek justice and to respect the dignity of every human being. 

St. James Episcopal Church is located at the Champlain Exposition Fairgrounds Gate F on Route 2A in Essex Jct.  Pre-registration is encouraged and a $5 donation will cover lunch and materials.  All are welcome, including youth.  To register, please call St. James at 802-878-4014 or send an email to: contact@st.james.org  by February 4th.

Safe Harbor Clinic Wish List

The outreach workers at the Safe Harbor Clinic in Burlington provide help almost daily to homeless people who, for various reasons, are not able to stay in area shelters – sometimes because they’re full.  Donations have been scarce recently and the clinic’s supply of emergency items has run low.   Individual or congregational donations of any items on this list are greatly appreciated.

• Clean tents: in good shape, no missing parts, 2 - 4 person, weather-resistant
• Clean sleeping bags for outdoor use – winter-weight bags especially needed
• Hand cream, bag balm, over-the-counter medicated creams for very chapped and cracked hands
• Hand and foot warmers to go in pockets and boots
• Men’s winter boots in good shape
• Clean men’s socks – wool or cotton
• Adult, waterproof, winter gloves in good shape
• A few toiletries are also needed: deodorant, razors, and foot powder in the small sample or regular size

Monthly Email Newsletter of the Vermont Ecumenical Council & Bible Society

Faith Common is VEC’s email newsletter. It is sent out once each month except in January and June when VECtor is sent.  If you don’t get the email newsletter, send your email address (to info@vecbs.org) so we can add you to the newsletter list.  If you were receiving Faith Common in the past, but haven’t gotten it for awhile, it may be that your email address changed and we don’t have your new email address, so please send it. The email newsletter contains brief descriptions of ecumenical programs and events happening around the state and other ecumenical news.

Buffalo Soldiers – Vermont Connection

If all you know about Buffalo Soldiers is  the Bob Marley song, you may want to come to the program with Dr. Frank Schubert on Buffalo Soldier Contributions at 400 Davis Center, Sugar Maple Room, UVM, on Wed., Feb. 27th from 6:30 – 8 p.m.  The 10th Cavalry Regiment, made up of African American enlisted men and white officers, was stationed at Fort Ethan Allen in Colchester from 1909 – 1913.  The 10th Regiment was one of four regiments made up of African American soldiers known as “buffalo soldiers”. Frank Schubert, born in Washington, D.C. and a graduate of Howard University, received his Ph.D. from the University of  Toledo in 1977.  He is the author of a number of books about buffalo soldiers.  For more information, you can visit his website at: www.captainbuffalo.com

VT Interfaith Power & Light Programs

Vermont Interfaith Power & Light (VTIPL) is working with the state’s faith communities to fight global warming and reduce carbon emissions.  One way of reducing emissions is to make our houses of worship more energy efficient.  Taking steps to improve energy efficiency has the added benefit of saving money on heating and electricity.  VTIPL offers free “walk-through” energy audits to faith communities.  To find out more about this program, contact VTIPL at 802-434-7307 or email: info@vtipl.org

VTIPL also offers workshops and other programs, including one to start “EcoTeams” in congregations.  An EcoTeam forms when 5 to 8 households come together to use a workbook called Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds.  VTIPL offers an introductory session to explain use of the workbook, answer questions, help form the EcoTeam(s), and get them off to a good start.
           
Upcoming Vermont Ecumenical Council & Bible Society Meetings
Fin. & Exec. Committees: 2/12/08, 9 & 10 am
Trustees & Council: 3/4/08, 10 am & 1 pm

Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society is a religious, non-profit organization that relies on contributions of member denominations, churches, and individuals for its funding.

To support the work of the Council, please send a contribution to:
P.O. Box 728
Richmond, VT  05477
Checks can be made out to VECBS. 

THANK YOU and many thanks to those who have already contributed!