Iran's unrest blogged LIVE on Twitter
I work with quite a few Iranians. The women are kind souls and the men can be comically bellicose. But, to a person, they all want to see a revolution in their country. That means something different to them than to us I think. They seem to be okay with the violence if it means that the current regime is ousted. They don’t want Iran back…they want Persia back. The live story of this historic moment is happening at http://iran.twazzup.com/
It’s pretty amazing using Twitter. Since Twitter can work via SMS messaging, the Iranian government can’t shut down the communications network that has popped up to support the unrest revolution that is happening. Go take a look at http://iran.twazzup.com/ and, if you are on Twitter, don’t forget to make your icon green in support of Iran Freedom by visiting http://helpiranelection.com/
(photo courtesy of Rob & Ale Photostream)
Welcoming congregations more likely to be active on social justice
Now this is something I never expected to see, “New studies demonstrate welcoming congregations are more active on social justice and LGBT advocacy“. First some background about my experience.
My experience in Evangelical Church circles had been a mixed blessing on social justice. On one hand there was a tremendous life of the church on Sunday. Vibrant and moving worship. Excellent preaching and teaching. Strong support for most members. Miraculous answer to prayer at times. And effective children’s ministry. But the lack of actual practice of Micah 6:8, the social justice piece of the gospel, was troubling:
6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good, and what the Lord really wants from you: He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful, and to live obediently before your God (NET Bible)
It’s such a big part of the Gospel I often wondered, “shouldn’t we have more attention on that piece?”
So the headline “New studies demonstrate welcoming congregations are more active on social justice and LGBT advocacy” really caught my eye, and the results even more so. Check these out:
- More than half of clergy in welcoming congregations reported that the welcoming process helped their congregation to witness and act on other social justice issues. In describing this effect, one welcoming pastor said the church is more active in “the plight of the oppressed and marginalized” because of the church’s welcoming process.
- “One of the most exciting findings from this study is the direct connection between being a welcoming congregation and involvement in other social justice issues,” says the Rev. Rebecca Voelkel, Institute for Welcoming Resources and faith work director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. “Our surveys demonstrate that the welcoming process makes a meaningful difference. Welcoming congregations are on the front lines in economic justice, homelessness, racial justice, immigration and other important areas of religious witness.”
Now granted, the survey does focus on churches who are welcoming and affirming of the LGBT community already so perhaps there is some bias. I wonder what the effects would be on a broader range of churches. Still, I found the connection between a church being welcoming and affirming and being more open to helping the oppressed and down trodden unexpected. Perhaps opening our hearts to one group makes cold hearts thaw towards others.
You can read the press release on the study at The Task Force’s website here.
If you’ve got enough coffee left, you can read the whole study at the Institute for Welcoming Resources website here.
Oh and if you are in Massachusetts, a great welcoming church for Christians is First Presbyterian of Waltham. There are others too, if you do a search on you favorite search engine under “Open and Affirming” you should see a list. Keshet is a good choice to find resources if you are Jewish.
(Graphic image courtesy of Bemky and used under Creative Commons License)
