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Vermont
Christians Statement on Childhood Poverty
The Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society
offers the following theological statement to facilitate an understanding
of the Church’s
role in addressing the issue of childhood poverty in Vermont. The
member Churches of the Council are: Friends, The American Baptist
Churches, The Presbyterian Church (USA), The Roman Catholic Church,
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, The United Methodist
Church, The United Church of Christ, and The Episcopal Church. This
statement is informed by and references, but is not limited to,
various statements and positions of our member Churches.
The Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society
enjoys a unique position among the Christian Communities of Vermont. We are
able to speak with a common voice to and for a diverse and significant
group of Churches. For that reason we also have a unique
responsibility to address the common concerns of the society and
Churches of Vermont. As Christians and as people of compassion
and good will, we are distressed at the economic plight of children
in our state and in our world, especially children who are born
into or fall into situations of poverty. We recognize that
children are always the most vulnerable and defenseless people
in a society and that the children of poverty are even more vulnerable.
As Christians we understand the ancient, prophetic
witness of Israel to call God’s people into an ever-increasing concern
for social justice as a necessary component of the practice of
authentic faith. This call for justice is most often expressed
as a demand that the larger community care for its most vulnerable
members: the sojourner, the resident alien, the poor, the widow,
the orphan, the homeless, and the hungry.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove
the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend
the orphan, plead for the widow. Isaiah 1: 16-17 [1]
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose
the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let
the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the
hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see
the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own
kin? Isaiah 58: 6-7
Our own Christian tradition calls us, in similar manner, to express
our faith through works of compassion and charity, to seek to uplift
the downtrodden and care for those in need.
Jesus, looking at him, loved
him and said, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own,
and give
the money to the poor, and you will have treasure
in heaven; then come, follow me.” Mark 10:21
Religion that is pure and undefiled
before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and
widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained
by the world. James 1:27
He has brought down the powerful
from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the
Hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty. Luke
1: 52-53
The controlling concern of the Scriptural
witness is the obligation to care for those who are at risk and
vulnerable. Those who
lack the means to secure their own welfare are placed in the sacred
trust of the community. In our time, no single class of people
better exemplifies this situation than children who are often completely
powerless to affect their own welfare. For that reason the
Biblical call to defend the powerless becomes a direct challenge
to Christians in our age to treat children as the sacred trust
of our society.
Not only are we called to specific works of
good will as an expression of faith, but we believe we are also
called to speak with a prophetic voice to society, calling all
people to a greater regard for the vulnerable in our midst and
to enact programs and construct systems that will ensure the
well being of those most at risk. For
this reason we seek to speak with a united voice to our member
Churches and the people of Vermont. It is time for us to
come together as a compassionate society and through our corporate
efforts ensure that children will be safeguarded from the multi-dimensional
threat of poverty.
We must speak out bluntly and openly for we
believe our message and our advocacy to be rooted in and inspired
by the will and word of God. We speak from our own experience because all of our
denominations, in one way or another, have practiced what we preach. We
have given our funds, our hours of volunteer work; we have established
institutions and programs to feed and clothe the hungry. Government
knows, many in the general public know, the long and continuing
record of the Church for the poor. They are not our “clients” or
nameless citizens. We know them as our brothers and sisters,
our own children. All of them are in our care and are objects
of our love and concern because they are God’s children and
our brothers and sisters.
Yet as great as our efforts may be, they are
never enough without the help of others in our society and without
the contributions of private and public agencies. Here
in the United States, the cooperation of Church and public/private
agencies has been unique and has reflected the positive implications
of religious freedom for the benefit of the national community
and the common good.
Yes, the Church does more than talk - much
more. Nevertheless,
the enormity of the problem, the extent of the needs, demands that
all Americans hear and respond to the cry of the children. We
must, we must, help those NOW who are the least able to help themselves.
“Our children AND poverty,” “poor children,” these
are ugly words. These words should never appear together. We
respond quickly to those who abuse children and we are swift to
act to protect children. As members of a society who neglect
children in poverty, we too commit abuse.
- In 1995, 8.5% of U.S. children
were hungry and 20.1% were classified as “at
risk” [yet] increases in food production
during the last 35 years have kept well ahead of the world’s population
growth of 16%. [2]
- During the course
of a year, an estimated 4,000 Vermonters are homeless (1994)
[3]. In
1995, eight percent of students in grades 8 through 12 reported
going hungry because their families do not have enough money to
purchase food, [4] 21,000
Vermont children under 12 are hungry or at risk of hunger. [5] We
must act immediately to remedy and to end this abuse.
It is not only a matter of children’s rights and of the
justice owed to them. It is a question of our responsibility
and duty toward them. It even transcends the respect for
human dignity. It is the serious matter of our love for our
little ones. It is the question of what will become of our
future. Our children are our future. Their suffering
now has permanent and dire effects on that future.
More than all of that, as Christians we must
ask, “What
does God think of us; what does God require of us?” The
Giver of new life places these little ones in the hands of all
of us to guide their growth and to rejoice in their presence among
us. If we neglect them, we are saying bluntly, “God
was wrong to create them!” We are rejecting these gifts
of God’s love. Such neglect is an act of wickedness. Can
we expect mercy when we refuse to give it?
We refuse to speak in abstract terms. We do not advocate
any specific programs. We stand with and support anyone or
any group that names the poor children and touches them in their
plight. We encourage our Churches to seek out and initiate
activities that will increase awareness and concern among their
members and to develop and support initiatives that minister to
children of poverty in their midst. We stand in solidarity
with members of our own communities and other people of good will
who seek to discern the proper role for our state government to
play in addressing this problem.
We warn of the consequences of our failure
to help, but more, we promise the joy that God gives to those
who lift up the little ones. Those who love God’s children are themselves
loved. They are blessed with the foretaste of the eternal
happiness God has for those who comfort the poor. God shares
life with those who nourish and protect life.
No one can say that we cannot eliminate childhood
poverty. For
the first time in history, it is actually possible to create a
world in which all children can share in the basic goods of life. The
technical resources are available to protect children from the
most common diseases, to provide them with the necessities of food,
shelter, clothing and health care. For the most part, we
know what to do and how to do it. What are lacking are the
vision and the moral will. Stated more clearly, what is
lacking is more love and more love in action.
This is not a “one shot” initiative on the part of
our churches. This is not another “drive” or
another one-time “war on poverty.” For us it
is a call to renew our permanent commitment as followers of Jesus
Christ. This means that we will continue to proclaim this
message as often as it is necessary. We will monitor our
progress and will criticize our failures as well as note our success.
Finally, we know that we cannot do this alone. We
commit ourselves to work with all faith communities who share
our desire and concern to end childhood poverty.
(Approved by the Trustees of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and
Bible Society on 2 December 1998.)
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
- All
scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version
of the Bible,
copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of
America.
- Task Force/Episcopal Initiative (United
Methodist Church) on Children and Poverty.
- Vermont Housing Study, Special Needs
Housing, 1994.
- Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 1995.
- Study
conducted by the Food Research and Action Center, 1995
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