Get Involved

Welcome to the premier issue of Bread for the Preacher, Bread for the World's new free service for busy pastors.  This monthly resource will include:

• lectionary-based reflections for the coming month, with a focus on hunger, poverty and justice,
• seasonal prayers and other worship resources,
• links to downloadable bulletin inserts,
• updates on Bread's Offering of Letters, and  
• new opportunities and resources for churches.

If you'd like to receive further issues of this resource, sign up on our Web site and check the "Bread for the Preacher" box under "Online Newsletters". To forward this to other pastors click here.

Bread for the World is honored to be a partner with you in ministry, supporting the church as it raises a collective voice calling our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad.  Please let me know how what you think of Bread for the Preacher and of others ways we can support your ministry.

Grace and peace,

Rev. Gary Cook
Director of Church Relations

Lectionary Reflections

From Hunger for the Word, Year A

Okay, who's in and who's out?

Amy Booker-Hirsch writes that this question asked by the early church about who is clean and unclean reflects today's struggles over immigration along the United States' southern border. Read these lectionary reflections and others for the month ahead.

• Sixth Sunday of Easter (April 27)
  Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer, in his book Hunger for Justice, writes about walking the streets of Calcutta, India, and recognizing this hard truth:  "In the suffering of the poor, God was screaming at me, in fact at all of us and at our institutions and social systems that cause and perpetuate hunger, poverty, and inequality." more>>
  
  
• The Ascension of the Lord (May 1)
  Okay, who's in and who's out?  There is an ongoing flight of Central Americans and Mexicans through the Sonoran desert and eventually to hoped-for freedom in the United States of America.  Their plight gives a modern-day angle to the quarrel in the early Church about who is clean and unclean. more>>
  
  
• Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 4)
  Pentecost is one church holiday unscathed by North American commercialism!  That is, right after Easter, I do not see "Happy Pentecost" decorations up in malls or in town halls. Many Christians have to think hard about what Pentecost means. more>>
  
  
• Pentecost (May 11)
  Everyone twittered.  I read the passage in English.  Then Maria, from Paraguay, read the passage in Spanish.  Twitters arose in the congregation.  Andreas, from Germany, also read the Scripture.  More twittering.  It was a bit disconcerting to us!  After all, we sat through worship every Sunday listening to words in a tongue we did not understand.  But in a way we understood very well what was being said.  It was Pentecost in Bolenge, Zaire (not Congo) and the pastor wanted the people to experience Acts 2:1-21 in different tongues. more>>
  
  
• Trinity Sunday (May 18)
  An entire homily for this day can be built around a poem entitled "Trinity Sunday" by the famous English poet George Herbert. He died in 1633 and throughout his adult life was a country pastor. more>>

Prayer for the Season

God, send your Spirit again, powerfully, among us in all our diversity, so that we might experience your life-giving, unifying breath. Amen.

An Announcement For Your Bulletin

Bread for the World's 2008 Offering of Letters is pushing for more and better poverty-focused development assistance—funding for programs in the U.S. budget that give people in poor countries the skills and opportunities to break the cycle of poverty permanently. To learn more about these programs, and how you can put your pen to paper to make a difference for poor and hungry people, visit www.bread.org/take-action.

Bulletin Inserts

The 2008 Offering of Letters bulletin insert is available to order at no charge and can be viewed and printed at our online store. A downloadable bulletin insert for Earth Day is also available.

Other Resources and Opportunities

Start a JustFaith Group this Fall.

The spring and summer months are an ideal time to recruit a leader and participants for a JustFaith group this fall in your church.  These small groups engage in biblical reflection, focused discussions, and hands-on experiences that foster engagement in social justice.  This study program is being co-sponsored by Bread for the World and JustFaith.  For more information—including details about an orientation session near you—visit www.justfaith.org or email info@justfaith.org.