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September-October 2008
The Ballot Box and Ending Hunger
Living in God’s grace in Jesus Christ, we have received a powerful inheritance: the gift of citizenship. We are called to be good stewards of that gift of citizenship—even as we also seek to reach out to our brothers and sisters with personal assistance and through charitable causes.
As citizens, it is our privilege to vote. As people of faith, we also accept the responsibility to voice our belief that our nation’s abundant resources should be used to feed the hungry.
Through its annual Offering of Letters campaigns, Bread for the World helps churches and individuals communicate with elected officials. Our work together serves as a collective Christian voice, and we speak up for legislation that will benefit hungry and poor people.
Bread for the World members and other people of faith often make their wishes clear to those who represent us, especially members of Congress. Contacting decision-makers to support specific measures we feel strongly about (known as “advocacy”) really is as natural to persons of faith as breathing.
Now, though, is a perfect time to engage with the candidates—those who are running for office and who seek to represent us in the years ahead. This fall, Americans will elect a new president. Voters will also elect 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, 35 senators, and 11 governors.
Congregations and other religious organizations are prohibited from backing a particular candidate or political party. But churches can still play a vital role in encouraging their own members to register to vote. They can also support voter registration efforts. Churches may also sponsor or participate in forums and debates which enable voters to learn more about the candidates’ positions.
Debates and forums provide an excellent opportunity to meet candidates and elected officials in person and make your beliefs known. In addition to these face-to-face encounters, voters can send emails and letters to candidates—urging them to make relief for hungry and poor people a priority. Letters to the editor or op-ed pieces in your favorite newspaper or magazine can also encourage candidates to address issues of hunger and poverty.
Today, presidential and congressional candidates are in the midst of high-profile election campaigns. At the same time, soaring prices for food and fuel have created a hunger crisis here in the U.S. and overseas. Every single day, 16,000 children perish from hunger-related causes—one child every five seconds. In our own country, more than 12 million children live in households where people need to skip meals in order to make ends meet.
We are blessed to have a voice in our government. As people of faith, we are called to be politically engaged. In this election season, we can use our right to vote to help end hunger in God’s world.
Prayer for Our Nation Leader
Almighty God, you alone reign over all the people of the earth. Guide us, we pray, in selecting leaders who will serve with courage, integrity, and humility. Bless our leaders with a vision of, and commitment to, the common good. Give us the persistence as citizens to speak out for justice until all your children have a place at the table. Though Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.
How Will Your Church Observe Bread for the World Sunday?
On October 19 and other Sundays this fall, churches and faith communities across the nation will lift their voices and awareness on behalf of hungry people. There are as many ways to observe Bread for the World Sunday as there are faith communities that care.
Williams Memorial Temple in Shreveport, Louisiana, has observed the occasion by making hymn-singing the focus of Sunday worship—raising their voices in gospel music with hunger and justice themes.
The communion table at Christ Evangelical Lutheran Church in Athens, Ohio, held a large basket with many different types of bread. The sermon characterized hungry people as “the face of Jesus in our world today.”
Capitol Hill United Methodist Church in Portland, Oregon, used a puppet skit to enlighten and inspire young and old parishioners. The skit used humor to stress the importance of pressing decision-makers to end hunger.
“We liked using the puppets because they can say things and get a point across in a fun way that’s memorable,” says Robin Franklin, the congregation’s Ministry Extension Pastor. “Puppets can ‘share’ cold facts and make them come alive for people. Folks really responded to the puppets and heard the message!”
Cindy Greenwood, a member of the Mission Team at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois, reports, “The main thing we have done is make Bread for the World our worship focus on a Sunday in October and then write letters during the adult education hour. Everyone sits down at tables where we’ve provided them with sample letters, pens, blank paper, envelopes and labels with their senators’ addresses.
Cindy talks about her own role, stating, “For the last two years, I’ve used the materials to write offertory prayers, an introduction to Scripture and a five-minute mission presentation.”
Each year, we hear about many creative activities used by congregations to observe Bread for the World Sunday. Congregations have asked members to share their favorite table blessings, set aside a few minutes during the service to write letters to congressional representatives, or collect and donate food to the local food pantry or shelter.
By observing Bread for the World Sunday, churches across the country share in renewing their commitment to ending hunger. In the midst of the global hunger crisis and national election, your congregation can also build awareness of the causes of hunger and what can be done to help.
Bread for the World provides free resources to help your congregation or faith community observe Bread for the World Sunday. See the back page for a complete listing and how you can place your order.
On Bread for the World Sunday, a church in Portland, Oregon, used a puppet skit to illustrate how we can persuade our nation’s decision makers to end hunger.
Bread
for the World Sunday - A Letter from South Africa
Good day! I am from South Africa, Cape Town. We have Bread Sunday once a year. This year we handed out 200 loaves of bread and gave it to the community in our neighbourhood which is poverty stricken.
We included the children in this exercise to raise awareness on the need of our people and the importance of giving to the poor. We will continue to do this. The people in our neighbourhood suffer tremendously and, even though it is a staple food, bread is expensive.
I got the idea of Bread Sunday from your organisation. Thanks! May God bless your ministry.
— Rev. Ursula M Higgins, St. Matthew AME Church, Cape Town South Africa
How Your Church Can Participate in 2008 Elections
Churches and religious organizations should feel free to engage in a spectrum of activities that can raise candidate awareness—and ultimately result in laws and policies that will address the root causes of hunger at home and abroad. The Internal Revenue Service labels most nonprofit organizations as 501(c)(3), a reference to the tax code that grants tax-exempt status to churches and other religious groups.
These organizations are allowed to engage in political activities provided that they do so in a nonpartisan manner. They cannot “intervene in any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office.”
Thus individual churches—on their own or in collaboration with other churches—can:
Local churches might consider reaching out to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other social service organizations—both as places where voter registration is needed and as potential partners for a larger voter registration effort.
Individuals have much more latitude than churches. They are free to raise tough questions when meeting candidates. An individual can choose to contribute to a particular candidate or volunteer to help get that candidate elected. However, an individual engaged in such activities must never speak or act as though she or he is representing a house of worship or religious organization.
Churches can encourage individuals to be good stewards of their gift of citizenship and exercise their right to vote.
A Call to Fast
In response to the global hunger crisis, Bread for the World is inviting our members to observe a time of prayer and fasting during Bread for the World Sunday, October 19. Your church or faith community may want to organize shared sessions for reflection and prayer for those who wish to fast. For more information, visit www.bread.org.
Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. God's grace in Jesus Christ moves us to help our neighbors, whether they live in the next house, the next state or the next continent. By changing policies, programs, and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live.
Election Matter!
Bread for the World Institute has published Elections Matter: A Handbook for Participating in the 2008 Elections. This 24-page booklet outlines the steps churches and individuals can take during the election season to raise awareness about issues of hunger and poverty. The legal issues are presented, and the crucial role of voter registration is discussed. The booklet provides sample questions to ask candidates along with other suggestions for communication with candidates.
The booklet is available free of charge—both in English and Spanish. It can be downloaded as a PDF at www.bread.org/elections.
Bread for the World Sunday
Set Your Date! Order Your Resources!
On October 19 and other Sundays throughout the fall, churches across the country are taking time to renew their commitment to ending hunger in God’s world. This year’s observance of Bread for the World Sunday takes place at a time when a new Congress and new president are being elected. Living in God’s grace in Jesus Christ, we have received a great inheritance: the gift of citizenship, a resource to use on behalf of all who are in need.
Worship bulletin inserts—in either English or Spanish—and offering envelopes can be ordered free of charge from Bread for the World. A Reflection Resource is also available—with prayers and other worship aids.
The Rev. Heidi Neumark, pastor of Trinity Lutheran Church in Manhattan, has written a scripture study which is helpful as a preaching resource or for the adult education hour. Pastor Neumark’s ministry for 19 years in South Bronx was the basis for her award-winning book, Breathing Space: A Spiritual Journey in the South Bronx (Beacon Press).
The Reflection Resource includes a call to worship, a litany, additional prayers, and suggestions for hymns.
Planning suggestions for Bread for the World Sunday can be found at www.bread.org/sunday. The bulletin insert and the Reflection Resource are both available in Spanish. All of these resource materials can be ordered online at www.bread.org/Sunday or by calling toll-free 1-877-263-5475.
Shipments of Bread for the World Sunday materials will also include a complimentary copy of the Elections Matter booklet as well as the “We are Bread for the World” DVD.
Bread Bags – Perfect for Bake Sales
White paper “Bread Bags”—11 x 7 inches—are now available free of charge from Bread for the World. If your church is planning a bake sale to benefit Bread for the World or your church body’s hunger appeal, you’ll find these bags to be ideal for both loaves of bread as well as other baked goods. To order your free bags—in quantities of 100 or less—visit www.bread.org/sunday or call toll-free 1-877-263-5475. Providing your Bread for the World membership number will speed delivery of your order.
Moved by God’s grace in Jesus,
the Bread of Life, we urge our
nation’s decision makers to end
hunger at home and abroad.
—Imprint on Bread Bags
A Litany for Bread for the World Sunday
Remembering the lavish generosity of our God, who welcomes us into new life through Jesus Christ, let us pray:
You have given to us for our inheritance the fruit of your creation. May we cherish the gifts of food, water and natural beauty, sharing freely with all your people.
Lord, hear our prayer.
You have given to us for our inheritance a family as big as the earth. May we cherish our mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, both near and far, knowing that whatever happens to them affects us, too.
Lord, hear our prayer.
You have given to us for our inheritance an unbroken procession of witnesses in every generation. May we cherish our forebears in faith, take risks for the gospel as they did, and honor them in lives that honor you.
Lord, hear our prayer.
You have given to us for our inheritance this nation, in which each one of us can make a difference. May we cherish the gift of citizenship and use our voices and our votes to bring an end to hunger, here and throughout the world.
Lord, hear our prayer.
You have given to us for our inheritance your own promises that a great banquet table awaits us, and that when we turn toward you, even from far off, we will find you running out to meet us. May we cherish your forgiveness and steadfast love, trusting that you will bring about that day of peace and plenty, when your people will hunger no more.
Lord, hear our prayer.
ONE Sabbath
Observing Bread for the World Sunday is a good way for your church to participate in ONE Sabbath 2008. The ONE campaign is encouraging Christian, Jewish, and Muslim
communities to respond to the challenges of global poverty and disease between September 5 and November 2 for study and action. An array of worship, preaching, education, and youth activity resources are available at www.one.org/faith.
Bread for the World Sunday
Resources for Worship
Prayer of the Day
O God, you have given us the inheritance of new life in Jesus Christ. May your grace move us to see that the abundance of your creation is used to overcome hunger and poverty in our world.
Amen.
Prayer after Communion
O God, our provider, you nourish us with holy food and drink, and you open our hearts to the needs of others.
Refresh us with your Spirit, so we might proclaim your loving kindness and share your abundance with all in need, as we feast on Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life.
Amen.
Benediction
May the God of love, who loves us freely, strengthen us in our love for others; may Jesus Christ, who is the true bread from heaven, grant us grace to speak out for those who have no voice; may the Spirit, who dwells in us, empower us to go out into the world to work for change, bringing God’s justice and hope to all.
Amen.
Hymn Suggestions
• As Saints of Old
• As Those of Old Their First Fruits Brought
• For the Fruit of All Creation
• Here Am I
• Send Down the Fire
• Take the Word of God
• The Church of Christ in Every Age
• We Are Called
• When I Needed A Neighbor?
