By Rev. David Rommereim

This Sunday, March 15, 2015, at Good Shepherd we will be honored with the presence of the Executive Director of NYC New Sanctuary Coalition, Ravi Ragbir. He will share stories about the status of the “ministry of accompaniment” that highlights the Sanctuary Movement in NYC and nationwide. He will also inform the broad reach of the coalition, as we have provided a public spirituality of justice and fairness in our dealings with an ever fearful community. The photos in this letter share with you the public work at Federal Plaza (ICE) through the bold prayer of encircling the plaza with faith leaders and migrants. This courageous prayer seeks a release of the barbarous grip in our national immigration policies that have injured families and communities seeking for a safe place to earn a living.

I asked Ravi to come and be with us so that those new to our membership may share an enlightened prayer, with and among the immigrant families both in our congregation, community, and city.

Good Shepherd is a founding member of the New Sanctuary Coalition. Since 2006 we have had various members of our “security team” learn how to accompany our members to Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE). We have also been consistently informed as to the issues migrants face in adjusting to a new land, a new environment, and finding a safe place to participate in community life. That has been our commitment at Good Shepherd. It is one example of the ministry dedicated to the radical hospitality of Jesus.  

The members of Good Shepherd initiated this working relationship through a unanimous vote of our membership at our congregational meeting back in 2007. It was one of our saints, Walter Jensen, who reminded us that part of being a Christian, a faithful person of God, and an American, is remembering that we are all immigrants. Walter was 90 at the time he spoke those thoughts among us. He died three years later. 

He reminded us that he himself was a product of an immigration system that was not helpful to the sojourner. He remembered that his father was an undocumented migrant in 1918 - a fiddle player on a ship transporting people from Denmark to the USA. In 1918 he jumped ship and, as Walter shared, “went underground for eight years.” Walter’s father then decided to become a citizen and gained citizenship eight years later.  

At the time of our decision to enter the New Sanctuary Coalition our country was riddled with vitriolic political rhetoric from both sides of the Congressional isle. I received a few “hate mails” as we discussed this ministry with and among the migrants in our neighborhood. People thought the church was getting involved in politics. However, as was clarified through the actions of our members and sensitive neighbors - we were simply practicing our faith by “welcoming the stranger.”

At the time our congregation needed to make a decision about our involvement in such a politically hot-bed issue.  We were well informed and educated on the depth of immigration policy over the last 50 to 60 years. Each new policy since 1965 endangered the migrant and made it more difficult for them. What once was the hallmark of America, expressed in our beloved Miss Liberty in NY Harbor, has become extremely complicated for today’s migrant from the Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, or points east. Our immigration laws are now punitive and harmful to families.

It was Mr. Jensen who invited our congregation to follow the pastor’s lead because, as he said, “We should practice our faith knowing that we are all immigrants.”  The ministry of accompaniment has inspired the community of Good Shepherd to learn how to welcome many who are searching for a safe place to raise a family, work honestly, and earn a fair wage.  

Ravi Ragbir will provide the stories of New Sanctuary this Sunday and share with us the powerful mechanism of accompaniment that serves those whose “backs are against the wall.”  
 

                                                               By Rev. Robert Emerick


                                                                                                       1946-1971     1972-2012

1. Average annual unemployment rate:                                       4.6%                6.4%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Average annual Federal budget deficit:                                    1.8%                14%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Number of Federal budget surpluses:                                        8                     4
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Average annual number of people on the                          5.8 million    4.7 million
    Federal payroll:
    (Note: comprehensive data is available starting in 1962)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Average annual economic (GDP) growth rate                           4%                 2.8%
    (adjusted for inflation): 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Average annual inflation rate:                                                     3.4%              4.3%
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Federal debt as % of GDP:                                           DECREASED        INCREASED
                                                                                                     68%                   173%

Information sources available on request.

The above information shows that the U.S. economy was much stronger in the period 1946-1971 than it was in the period 1972-2012.

The congregation of Bay Ridge United Methodist Church (BRUMC) in Brooklyn, N.Y., is offering an award of $33,000 to an economist, or group of economists, who identify the factors associated with the stronger economy in the period from 1946 to 1971, and the factors associated with the weaker economy in the period from 1972 to 2012.

BRUMC has two goals in offering the award. 

First, in the spirit of democracy and American pragmatism, we hope that knowledge of the factors actually associated with our stronger and weaker economies during these 67 years in our recent past will help our nation establish evidence-based principles and policies that have the highest probability of success in creating stable and sustainable economic growth and broadly-shared prosperity. Democratic pragmatism means: 1) that the economic goals that almost all of us would probably agree on (for example, lower unemployment and federal debt) should be established through a transparent and truly democratic political process; and 2) that the principles and policies we use to achieve our goals should be based on, and their success should be measured by, facts – rather than the ideological preferences, such as liberalism, conservatism, libertarianism, and socialism, that currently divide us.

Second, we hope this project will promote a better understanding of our economy, because our economy has a profound and pervasive effect on the well-being of every person, family, community, institution, business, and government, every day.

We invite all institutions, organizations, and people of good will to pledge to increase the monetary value of the award. We invite academic economists, historians, policy experts, and representatives of the pledging institutions to serve on a panel of judges, which will determine the terms of the submission and judging process, and the recipient(s) of the award.

Many individuals and institutions of good will may have their own reasons for engaging in this project in some way. BRUMC’s motives are spiritual and moral. Because we are followers of Jesus, we gladly embrace His teaching as God’s Way of Life in this world, in this life. Jesus’ teaching places the highest value on the well-being of every person, the entire social body, all creatures, and the land, air, and water that sustain life on earth. BRUMC offers 'The Economic Well-Being Award' in response to the following core principles of Jesus’ teaching: 1) God’s Way of Life is grounded in a vision of life “…on earth as it is in heaven.” (The Gospel of Matthew 6:10, and 25:31-46); 2) God’s Way of Life will be achieved when we love every person, the entire social body, all creatures, and the land, air, and water that sustain life, as Jesus has loved us (The Gospel of John 13:34); and 3) the love that Jesus lived and taught produces loving action (The Gospel of Matthew 7:12; The Gospel of Luke 6:31 and 10: 25-37; and The Gospel of John 14:15).

What can we do to help the generation growing up now, and future generations? We can strive to create an economically secure, well informed, compassionate, and healthy population. This is the strongest foundation for civil liberty, and economic justice, for all.

We believe that the factors associated with economic strength and broadly-shared prosperity, and the principles and policies derived from those factors, will be in harmony with the principles of Jesus’ teaching because His principles harmonize the moral, spiritual, political, economic, and institutional dimensions of life. Jesus’ teaching addresses at least three of the purposes of our government, expressed in the Preamble to our Constitution: “to…establish Justice…promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” BRUMC offers The Economic Well-Being Award because we believe that the development and use of knowledge is essential to fulfilling the principles of Jesus’ teaching and the highest purposes of our Constitution.

                              Contact: Rev. Robert Emerick, Pastor - brumc@verizon.net
                   Paid for by Bay Ridge United Methodist Church - www.bayridgeumc.org


         Sources for the above: 'A Comparison of Some U.S. Economic Indicators'

                                                                                                                1946-1971   1972-2012
                                                                                                                  (26 years)   (41 years)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual unemployment rate:                                                    4.6%            6.4%
www.bls.gov/data or www.infoplease.com
“ unemployment rates for previous years”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual Federal budget deficit:                                                 1.8%            14%
www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/budget.php
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Federal budget surpluses:                                                      8                 4
www.presidency.ucsb.edu./data/budget.php
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual number                                                                  5.8 million    4.7 million
of people on the Federal payroll: (1962-1971) 
NOTE: comprehensive data collection started in 1962
www.opm.gov/feddata/HistoricalTables/TotalGovernmentSince1962.asp
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual economic (GDP) growth rate:                                       4%             2.8% 
(adjusted for inflation) www.multpl.com/us-real-gdp-growth-rate/table/by-year
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average annual inflation rate:                                                                   3.4%         4.3% 
www.multpl.com/inflation/table
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Federal debt as % of GDP:                                                           DECREASED     INCREASED
                                                                                                                 68%                 173%
www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historicals (Table 7.1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Contact: Rev. Robert Emerick, email – brumc@verizon.net

by Rev. David Rommereim

Deep in the bowels of a dusty old church household are two essential ingredients, they apply to each one of us, at any age.

The first is faith; a simple, pure, trust in God. Faith by itself is all we need from day to day - from the youngest individual to the oldest. I remember that simple faith as a child, when I would go to bed and my mom and dad would recite a prayer to calm my fear. It went like this: "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Such a prayer eventually taught me not to be afraid of death. Faith that acknowledges the reality of death is an earned faith. However, at that young age, that prayer calmed me from the darkness of the night. Mom and Dad's prayer kept me from the fear of all those bugs and vicious animals waiting to pounce on me from under my bed immediately when I fell asleep.  It is encouraging to see the power and resilience of faith through our beloved nonagenarians, Katherine McBride and Eleanor Dwyer, who turned 93 on October 1. When you stop and smell the roses, crocuses, or autumnal leaves, you become mindful that God is present and will never leave us orphan, even if you feel alone in your majestic struggles.

The other ingredient deep in the bowels of a dusty old church is authenticity. What gives us the assurance that our faith is alive, maturing our bodies, minds, and souls? It is when our faith takes on the size, shape, and shade of authenticity. Such a faith is seen as alive when couched by an abiding love.  To be authentic keeps us intentionally different from the mainstream. To that end, I find it truly curious that in Bay Ridge, traditionally, a very conservative part of New York City, our Good Shepherd household has participated in an authentic faith from the norm, from media labels such as "Conservative," or "Liberal," or "Progressive," or "Democratic," or "Republican," or, even "Roman Catholic," or "Protestant." The Good Shepherd community has become odd and contrarian because we are disciplined with a deep, abiding faith, an inspired justice, and love. Yes, it gets us into trouble most of the time because of the in-authenticity contained in the above mentioned narrow-minded political hegemonies. Nevertheless, authenticity provides a discipline toward an abiding faith.

How do I see such authenticity at the old dusty church household of Good Shepherd? I see it through our partnership with the ministry of sanctuary. Since 2006, we have been partners with the New York Sanctuary Coalition. We have sought to accompany and offer sanctuary to those on the margins of our dysfunctional immigration system. We have also sought to be a sanctuary as individuals and households. To provide a safe place and to be a presence of sanctuary refers to an authentic faith rooted deep in the tradition of the synagogue and church. House holding the stranger, caring for the sojourner, and providing hospitality in the wilderness are mandates of our Jewish and Christian Faith.

When I noticed a 4 year old child praying with a group of colleagues in front of the Federal Plaza, where every not-properly-documented- migrant must "check in," I saw she was wearing a bracelet on her ankle which connected her to the ICE monitoring. They knew her every move. She wore it because she was a threat to our government. The insult is that I am an American standing, praying with her foster mother, and I felt so ashamed... so disempowered.

How are we authentic when the Obama administration has deported record numbers of persons, separated families, and pandered to a recalcitrant Congress? Joining in prayer remains my authentic faith as I seek to express the dangerous value of hospitality, and the meaningful relationship of sanctuary to all who cross our path. Hospitality is dangerous because, well ... 'you never know who God will be sending us next." It is meaningful, because, well ... 'in sanctuary, God abides.'

As you watch the news of the hundreds of churches across our beloved United States of America that are now offering sanctuary through the ministry of accompaniment, legal support, prayer, or actual sanctuary in the place of worship, know that we do nothing without the simple trust of faith and the effort to be authentic with what Jesus has taught.

I am proud of Pastor Knutson from Augustana Lutheran Church of Portland, Oregon who, together with an entire community says, "No" to the splitting up of families so that our tax-funded private prisons are filled and the ICE monthly deportation quota secure. Jesus, after all, was quoted as saying, "Come to me all who are heavy laden and forbid them not, for to such is the Kingdom of Heaven." That quote in itself is a sanctuary for many of us. Sanctuary is providing and being the church in an authentic expression of Jesus' love.

So, thank you Good Shepherd who, since 2006, through the authentic faith lens of Saint Walter Jensen, provided the ministry of accompaniment to our members and partners in building this authentic community of faith. The first of those whom we have sanctaried are; Joe, Mei, Jeffery, Crystal, & Francesca... and since, then many, many more.

God is good and authentically alive.

I remain,

Rev. David H. Rommereim

by Rev. David Rommereim

I am 62 years old. Like many of us I grew up in a world that didn’t have two or three locks on apartment doors, bars on the windows, locks on the gate, or security cameras surrounding our buildings, locked playgrounds, or unused gyms. Life was just as dangerous then, as it is now, but we did not live with this much fear.

You and I have built a culture in which our children grow up in a riddle of fear. As the pastor of this ministry, I have noticed that parents work very hard at securing opportunities for their children, so hard, that schedules are riddled with a childhood that has become unnatural. “Children’s lives have been subject to intolerable enclosure for the profit of others,” writes Jay Griffiths.

Jay Griffiths is a storyteller who grew up in England and now lives in Wales. Her travels have taken her to distant lands. In this book, "Kith, the Riddle of the Childscape" she has landed on the most significant deterrent to growing up - enclosure. She shares with us that in much of western society we enclose our children into strict regiments, create undue pressure to perform, contain their movement, and restrict anything resembling spontaneous play.

Over the last few weeks at our Monday evening "Children, Youth, and Family Ministry," I have taken our students through another engagement with what I call, spiritual play. First, we did the math through Jesus’ famous story about forgiveness. You remember Peter asks Jesus, How often should I forgive... 7 times?. Jesus says, “70 X 7.” Or, 490 times per sin. Everyone knew Jesus demands that we “just do it.” Forgive, that is. But the math was fun to learn. The next weeks, we acted out two of the most famous Gospel stores of Jesus ("The Good Samaritan” and “The Generous Landowner.”) Our students heard the story through this spiritual play. Then, because of this play, it opened up a doorway for me to share with a few students what their dreams are, what they are afraid of, and what their questions are.

I say this because we, at Good Shepherd, have a responsibility not to enclose our children. The best we can do is open them up to a safe play that gives them an experience of God’s sacred canopy. That is why I invite interested adults to read Kith. This is a book that will inspire and challenge you to remember that childhood is so precious when it is full of play. Moreover, our best learning is at play.

Finally, Jay Griffiths reminds me of my own personal need to pay attention to children and their riddle of enclosure. She shares this story: “In the early 1960’s, a North Carolina girl of eight spoke about the newly desecrated schools in the American South. She was walking to school alone, with segregationists screaming around her, she remembers, ‘and suddenly I saw God smiling, and I smiled.’ A woman was standing near the school door, shouting at the child: “’Hey, you, what you smiling at?” I looked right at her face, and I said, “At God,” then she looked up at the sky and then she looked at me, and she didn’t call me any more names."

Kairos - A Sign of the Times:

The role of the faith community in protest movements

By Brita Rose, May, 2014

Protest movements have been happening on a global scale since the turn of this decade – from Brazil to Ukraine, the Middle East, China, Russia, and North America. 

Over the last few years, in the U.S. alone demonstrations have spanned North Carolina, Seattle, Wisconsin and New York.  Out of this environment several grass-roots faith movements have sprung from New York Cities’ faith communities.  KAIROS: The Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice, is one such example.  As the Center for Religion, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary, Kairos “aims to strengthen a mutually reinforcing relationship between the world’s religions and the global struggle for human rights and to challenge efforts to create a conflict between them. Through rigorous scholarship, applied research, reciprocal education, and shared practice, it works to contribute to transformative movements for social change that can draw on the strengths of both religions and human rights.”  The word Kairos is an ancient Greek word for a time when conditions are right for the accomplishment of a crucial action; the opportune and decisive moment; also a moment when the eternal breaks into history. (1)

Another example of a strong faith movement born out of New York in 2011 came to be known as Occupy Faith New York City, an outgrowth of The Occupy Movement which started with Occupy Wall Street (OWS).  The larger Occupy Movement is an international protest movement which began as demonstrations against social inequality, with the primary goal of challenging the economic and political relations in all societies to be less vertically hierarchical and more equally distributed.  While the goals of the numerous local and decentralized OWS groups differ, one of the primary issues common to all concerns the way in which large corporations, and the global financial system at large, control the world in ways that disproportionately benefit a minority and undermine democracy.  When the Occupy protests, largely inspired by the Arab Spring of 2011, began in New York City's Zuccotti Park between September 17 and October 9 of that year, Occupy protests had already occurred in over 951 cities across 82 countries, and in over 600 communities in the United States.  The spirit of Kairos was well underway.

It has been postulated by some that by the 21st century religious faith would disappear.  On the contrary, notwithstanding the global resurgence of reforms occurring within religious institutions and traditions themselves, religious involvement and spiritual awareness continue to grow worldwide and to infuse other movements for change, sometimes by playing a prominent role.  Occupy Faith New York (OFNY) City embodies one such example.  By declaring solidarity with OWS, OFNY confirmed its own commitment to work towards justice and equality in the community.  After the financial crisis of 2008, without knowing the outcome of such initiatives citizens began to question the systems of their societies.  Communities at large, particularly the disenfranchised and oppressed, began to seek a different world and to show that they are willing to rise to the challenge, to think differently.  Others listened and joined their peaceful activism in solidarity; hungry for change citizens are demonstrating that they are not voiceless, and they are gathering in multi-national, multi-faith movements to feed this hunger for a transformed reality - one that reflects justice, fairness and the common good.

A related faith movement to emerge from this ethos, ‘Faith in New York’ (FiNY) was founded in 2004 as an affiliate of the ‘People Improving Communities through Organizing’ (PICO) National Network.  FiNY works through a congregation-community based model to “equip congregations and develop grassroots leaders to move significant public policy change that supports our leaders’ vision of a more just New York City with excellent public schools, violence-free neighborhoods, access to good jobs, adequate and affordable health care, decent housing for all, and a city where people of all backgrounds can fully participate in economic and civic life.” (2)  As 'prophetic witnesses,’ people of faith are called by their confessions to bring healing, compassion, and justice to our world.   Faith in New York -- a multi-religious, multi-cultural federation of the faith community found in 17 states, training leaders in 65 faith communities -- is doing just that by exercising faith in action through advocacy for social change.  Dedicated to building a community that can make social change happen, it has, to date, challenged issues such as immigration, affordable housing, and recently Ban the Box reform to create a level playing field and promote the general welfare of all.   

This interfaith organization seeks to communicate a bold, prophetic vision for change across New York City by improving economic opportunities for working families.  It continues to develop faith-based organizing as a pillar of the broader social change infrastructure, as evidenced by the following campaign results: One of several key accomplishments includes securing a pledge of $1.2 million in emergency relief funds for undocumented Sandy victims from the NYC Commission on Immigrant Affairs.  It also worked to denounce the rising tide of unjust deportations, which in turn helped prompt President Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) executive order in June 2012. (3)

In the midst of working towards greater social justice, such faith communities are uniquely positioned to be able to offer spiritual healing and wellness to social movements; prayer, ritual and beauty can all contribute to building healthy and sustainable movements for positive change that are based on strong relationships of reciprocity and mutual-corporation.  And they can provide the much needed comfort and support activists yearn for amidst the turmoil of upheaval.  Faith leaders can also harvest religious language to serve movements’ strategies as they seek to transform our world.  The late Pete Seeger offers one such example of the ability to use words and music to bring positive change to the environment.  It may have taken him 40 years, but with patient and peaceful activism he succeeded in bringing the Hudson River from death to life; a once uninhabitable river now streams with a variety of aquatic species and activity.

In the work of activism, faith convictions can carry us through the dark times; sacred scriptures can provide a life-giving force to seemingly insurmountable struggles and can turn our weapons of destruction into instruments of peace.  Everybody wants their sacred humanity to be seen and respected. By recognizing the dignity of each individual and community, by imagining their future, by realizing their potential, and by helping to empower their dreams, faith leaders can be part of the socio/political transformations for which their communities are crying out. 

By reading the moral compass of society, faith leaders are uniquely positioned to present the hopes of their respective faith traditions while speaking truth to power and challenging their decrees, just as Isaiah did centuries ago: “Ah, you who make iniquitous decrees, who write oppressive statutes.” (Isaiah 10.)   Today, in sync with the times, the pope, the president, and the new mayor of New York have each voiced their concerns regarding social inequity.  Many disaffected communities are barely struggling to make ends meet and are losing hope.  Such despair leads people to resignation, and thereby to thoughts fixed not on the lives of those around them in the present, but purely on the afterlife - the extreme outcomes of which, of such detachment, are demonstrated in the faith and actions of individuals (among all belief traditions) that resort to destructive actions such as suicide missions and violence. 

By taking up the individual issues of an entire community, faith leaders can offer new hope.  They can pose questions, such as: in what kind of society do we want to live?  How can we improve our lives?  What can we actively do to contribute?  Faith leaders can help us to ask the right questions for the good of all.  We may be quick to point fingers at inept leadership, but when we look at the big picture, any change of heart begins with each one of us examining ourselves.  We, the people, can lead the way by our own example and influence.  What can we change first within ourselves?  How can we nurture our own soul, mind and spirit? By virtue of that, how can we impact our circles and our systems to be a positive influence?  It is a ripple effect that springs forth from our hearts and overflows to our families, friendships, and larger communities.

Worshipers and faith leaders can also offer the most profound comfort to protest movements; both the civil rights and anti-apartheid movements were led and re-ignited by faith leaders. Though we each carry the voices of our respective communities, by owning and informing the debates through active engagement in public life, faith leaders are well placed to represent and support these movements.  People of faith do not believe we are merely passive beings drifting in a formless world, but that we are dynamic physical beings in a physical and constantly changing society and we can interact with and be a part of its transformation.  This interaction is part of the human story. 

Activists for socio-economic change can look to Jesus for inspiration - for no one has been more profoundly engaged in the social struggles of his time.  His was a spiritual message that directly played out in communities of first century Galilee, as it does today throughout the world.  Jesus did not need to run for office in order to carry out his transforming work, for he brought the healing power of God’s Kingdom.  Yet he was directly and powerfully engaged in the lives of individuals -- pleading on behalf of the vulnerable, the poor, the disenfranchised of his community, and actively confronting the rulers of his day to enact fairness aligned with the values of God’s Kingdom.  His life was the ultimate demonstration of faith in action.  He is our ultimate divine role-model for spiritual, physical and social transformation.  

Rooted in faith, social activists can exemplify and embody his message to bring the healing power of God’s Kingdom into the social, physical, and spiritual welfare of our own communities.   We can, as Rev. David Rommereim and Rev. Bob Emerick put it, “bring soul affirming, soul power into public life.”  

(1) http://www.utsnyc.edu/institutes-initiatives/kairos#sthash.2eg8ZRwn.dpuf 

(2) http://www.faithinnewyork.org

(3) http://www.faithinnewyork.org/about

Originally inspired by Kairos Conference, Union Theological Seminary, NYC, February, 2014

SINCE WE DON’T KNOW THE PROVISIONS OF TPP, HOW CAN WE PREDICT ITS ECONOMIC EFFECTS?

by Rev. Robert Emerick  bob.brumc@verizon.net  May 17, 2014

There are a number of speculative sources based on “leaks.” See for example, “Eyes on Trade,” a Public Citizen report, 1 May ’14.  Perhaps we can draw some tentative conclusions about TPP by learning about NAFTA.  There are many “authoritative” but questionable reports available on NAFTA. For example, see “NAFTA at 20: Ready To Take Off Again?” in The Economist magazine, 4 Jan. ’14; or “NAFTA’s Economic Impact” report in Council of Foreign Relations, 14 Feb. ’14; or “NAFTA at 20: Overview and Trade Effects”, a report by the Congressional Research Office, 28 Apr. ’14.  My report will address this question by comparing some key economic indicators from three distinct periods in U.S. economic history:

1) 1946 to 1971 - the “post-war” economy.

2) 1972 to 1993 – the “trickle-down” economy, before NAFTA. 

3) 1994 to 2013 – the “trickle-down” economy, with NAFTA (NAFTA went into effect in 1994).   

COMPARISON OF U.S. ECONOMIC INDICATORS: (Sources available on request)

                                                                                                 1946 to 1971      1972 to 1993       1994 to 2013

Average annual unemployment rate:                                        4.6%                   6.85%                       6%

                -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average annual real GDP growth rate (in 2009 dollars):        3.2%                   3.1%                         2.5%

                -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average annual Income Inequality (as the per cent of           34%                     36.6%                      46.6%

Total national income received by the top 10% of the                            (7.6% increase over    (37% increase over  

population filing tax returns)                                                                       the post-war period)  the post-war period)                     

                --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average annual inflation rate:                                                   3.3%                   6.1%                          2.4%

   [NOTE Re: inflation - Maybe NAFTA has caused a lower inflation rate due to “cheap” goods being sold in the U.S.  Cheap goods, along with “easy credit,” may have been easing some of the social tension resulting from the higher unemployment, slower economic growth, and higher income inequality in the U.S. since 1972.]

Another important economic and political effect of NAFTA is that US taxpayers can be forced to pay claims from foreign companies and governments, if they claim to have lost revenue due to US government action or inaction. For example, according to The Financial Post (Canada) 30 Apr. ’14, and The Christian Science Monitor, 8 May ’14, the Canadian government and The TransCanada Corp. are considering a lawsuit, under the “investment rights and protections” NAFTA provisions, to recoup lost revenue due to the fact that the U.S. government has not approved the Keystone XL pipeline.  The claim would be enforceable under NAFTA, and would be paid by US taxpayers.  THE IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF ECONOMIC POLICY, AS WELL AS VERY MANY OTHER PUBLIC POLICIES AND PRACTICES, ARE OBVIOUS.  More than $430 million has already been paid by US taxpayers under the “investment rights and protections” provisions of NAFTA (see Public Citizen, TABLE OF FOREIGN INVESTOR-STATE CASES AND CLAIMS UNDER NAFTA AND OTHER US TRADE DEALS, Feb. 2014).

SUMMARY:

1. According to key economic indicators, the primary beneficiaries of NAFTA in the U.S. are the top ten percent of incomes in the US, and the commercial and financial interests who receive higher profits.

2. If the provisions of TPP are similar to those of NAFTA, most of our most important political and economic policy and practice decisions will be heavily influenced, if not determined, by trade “agreements” negotiated in secret, and kept secret, even from Congress (see “Froman Takes Heat from Senators for a TPP that Does Not Promote ‘Our Values’”, Public Citizen, Eyes on Trade, 1 May ’14---- “Froman” is U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman).  Many of us are concerned that government policies are now determined by private financial interests.  NAFTA (and TPP?) seem to by-pass democratic process entirely, “trumping” even “our” government.

The Wall Street Journal
March 7, 2014

He's Innovative and Inclusive in Trying to Add to His Steadily Dwindling, and Aging, Congregation

By Derek Kravitz



Like many church leaders in the new millennium, New York City's top Lutheran bishop faces a steadily dwindling, and aging, congregation. And like others of his ilk, he is watching the tweeting, tolerance-minded new Roman Catholic pope with both interest and admiration.

But Bishop Robert Alan Rimbo may be the only spiritual leader trying to rebuild his flock with giant crossword puzzles in the subway and interactive art projects involving dye-filled soap bubbles.

'We need to find the places where we're not present and reach out…whether that's on social media or elsewhere.'
"New York is different from the rest of the country," said Bishop Rimbo, 63 years old, in an interview from his expansive office near Columbia University, complete with Hudson River views. "The younger demographic wants a religion that won't divide," he said, referring to social issues like gay marriage.

"Look at Pope Francis, he's so humble and he's removed the trappings of the papacy and made it more inclusive," Bishop Rimbo said. "We need to find the places where we're not present and reach out…whether that's on social media or elsewhere."

To that end, Bishop Rimbo has made a point of speaking his mind on several hot-button social issues and has worked with area pastors to create alternative church services throughout the New York City area.

At St. Paul's Lutheran Church and Parables in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, for example, the Rev. Benjamin McKelahan encourages churchgoers to use paint and clay to tell personal stories and "unleash your theological imagination" as part of a twice-monthly art service. St. Lydia's, in Brooklyn's Gowanus neighborhood, calls itself a "dinner church," where Sunday and Monday worship consists of making and sharing a "sacred" evening meal.

Bishop Rimbo now oversees a congregation of about 66,000 worshipers in 200 New York-area churches. But with the loss of nearly 20% of the city's Lutheran flock—nearly 14,700 baptized members—over the past decade, he has been on an ambitious campaign to draw in more diverse churchgoers, including Latino and Asian immigrants and millennials.
Roughly 75% of the New York Lutheran church's members are white, according to church statistics.

Mainline Protestant religions are "in a period of restructuring and downsizing," said Euan Cameron, a professor specializing in Reformation church history at New York's Union Theological Seminary. It is "inevitable that these churches will become economically, socially and ethnically more diverse," he said.

Indeed, most Protestant religions—including Anglicans, Baptists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Lutherans, Pentecostals and
Presbyterians—have seen their numbers fall drastically since the 1980s, according to the Pew Research Center's Religion
& Public Life Project. Bishop Rimbo, the son of a Dutch Reformist mother and Roman Catholic father, has styled himself as the right man to reverse that trend. He said he fell in love with the church as a child, in part because of the music.

After attending divinity school in Indiana, he spent 23 years as a bishop and pastor in Michigan before moving to New
York with his wife, Lois. He was elected to a six-year term as bishop by a razor-thin margin in 2008 and is seeking reelection in May, when he could face as many as six opponents.

Churches under Bishop Rimbo's purview are trying some unorthodox measures. In Williamsburg, Mr. McKelahan organized a life-size crossword puzzle inside the Lorimer Street/Metropolitan Avenue subway stop, where topics included
Mexican art and nuclear physics, along with a few biblical questions. (Clue: Hebrew name meaning "He will laugh." Answer: Isaac.) Another interactive art project used giant dye-filled soap bubbles on foam at an event on Governor's Island. Mr.
McKelahan said that, while not explicitly religious, soap bubbles carry a spiritual message in that they must burst "if they are to leave a lasting impression"—referring to a passage in the Book of John.  "Did most people pick up on this spiritual message? Probably not," he said. "But hopefully they see that the church is inviting them to work together in bringing joy and beauty into the world." 

Mr. McKelahan, who at 28 is one of the New York metro area's youngest ordained Lutheran ministers, said it was Bishop Rimbo's idea to send him to Williamsburg. "I met with Bishop Rimbo and explained to him, 'I'm really interested in making art as worship, all my friends are atheists,'" Mr. McKelahan said. "Bishop Rimbo said, 'There's this neighborhood in Brooklyn called Williamsburg where lots of young creative people are moving. We are trying to figure out how to minister to them. Would you like to do something with them?' Even though I'd never heard of Williamsburg, I couldn't say yes fast enough."

Such programs aren't without detractors. "It's very hard for some of the traditional churches to adapt," said the Rev. Ruben
Duran, director of new-congregational development for the Lutheran national church organization. He specifically cited
Southern churches that find the idea of church meetings at yoga centers or coffee houses "hard to swallow."

As for Bishop Rimbo, he hasn't exactly been afraid of stoking controversy: He came out for the practice of inter-communion, in which Christians of different denominations can receive Communion at one another's services. And several years ago, he lent his support to a proposed Islamic cultural center near the World Trade Center site that had drawn criticism, arguing that the branch of Islam preached by the proposed center's imam is "in my opinion, the most tolerant and pluralistic."

But it is the gay-marriage issue that has sparked the fiercest debate.

After the national Lutheran church organization amended its marriage stance in 2009, voting to allow individual congregations to bless same-sex unions, the New York Lutheran church lost four congregations—particularly among conservative Asian congregations, Bishop Rimbo said. He himself went through a "complete reversal" on same-sex marriage in the late 1980s after working with a fellow church official who is lesbian, he said: "It took lots of soul searching and conversion but I got there."

He will officiate his first same-sex wedding this June in Manhattan.

 
David H. Rommereim

"For people, generally, their story of the universe and the human role in the universe is their primary source of intelligibility and value," Thomas Berry wrote in The Dreams of the Earth. "The deepest crisis experienced by any society are those moments of change when the story becomes inadequate for meeting the survival demands of a present situation. ... We live in such a moment." (i) 

I arrived at the Roof Garden of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) in New York City with my beloved.  We meandered through long, daring, hot tempered city traffic so that we would be able to step on the roof of the Met and feel the exhibit whose mystery called us to encounter.

To get to the gallery we moved to the 4th floor then walked up the stairs through a mirrored hallway. Visitors got a chance to see themselves. We could fix our hair and see how we presented ourselves to the art public. It almost felt as if the exhibit was the mirror.

Entering the final door we were hit with the hot, muggy, sunny Sunday afternoon. The rooftop garden consisted of baked cement under the urbanized sky. The exhibit was from the artist, Imran Qureshi, a Pakistani, born in 1972. The public notice says that this exhibit is "Imran's response to the observation that the world's citizens are numb to violence as a daily occurrence." My immediate impression centered on the idea of this exhibit as a triage to the pervasive invasion of violence touching every sector of our society. Health Care workers know that triage is a medical process in the Emergency Room developed to care for the most severe injury to the less as quickly as possible.

As you may tell from the photographs shared in this article the spilling of blood touches this esteemed museum.  With that exhibit all the elegant grandeur of the Met has, at its uppermost foundation, the notion of the spilling of blood into the heart of public life.

The roof garden comes alive with red splatter transformed into blossoms. Can violence be transformed? Can a world afraid of blood be transfixed so that it morphs into life and hope? Can the sight of blood become more than death? Does it flow toward death or coagulate into life?  Which side are we on?

As a biblical theologian, I read about the organic interaction with the sacred texts fixed on a metamorphosis that embraces dead ends so that they may merge into open vistas. Themes such as "silence to speech" emboss the ritual of Pescha/Passover. The experience from the "Cross to Resurrection" is an event which changes your soul.

My biblical hermeneutic is fixed on the experience of transformation and transfiguration. The former works on society. The latter works on individuals.  Society is renewed, purposeful. The person is alive and hopeful.

I am not interested in the phlegmatic folk who distract us from penultimate questions. I do not mind inquietude, nor the complicated challenges of emotion and collegial partnership.

So, I step on the canvas at the Roof Garden of the Met.  Most of the crowd was standing on-line waiting for an order for some drinks and museum food; crepes, fancy wraps, or expensive bites of sugar, chocolate, mostly.  Any of the gallery residents were standing at the edge of the roof looking over the ledge to the city below. The city is massive and clever. It captivates your attention and avoids detail.

The Roof Garden, however, tends to detail in such a way that only a few remained able to stand on the blotches of blood smeared into blossom. Too dangerous to handle. Should Imran provide surgical gloves for both hands and hearts of each participant?

When I touched the edge of Imran's canvas I felt the skin of my feet burn through the sole of my shoe. I felt the salt in my body pour out through my eyes. Both stung. I stopped dead and wanted to leap back to the safe zone of the unspotted cement. I wanted to get on line waiting for a cold beer. I wanted to look beyond the canvas to the edges of the city below to avoid the detail and challenge of this convergence of violence and hope.  

Yet, I stood still in the midst of the blood that is shaped by the violence of the world.  I was silenced by the intimacy of death mingled with life; an intersection we all yearn toward.

I love the Met. I love to get lost in that expanse of art.  After a couple of hours my feet ache. I look for a bench to rest upon. Then I ritually meander toward Cezanne and his Impressionists colleagues. I love the fact that Paul Cezanne was a man of color and shade who helped art enter the modern world. He too painted at the radical juncture of societal change. He spent a life inquietude, yet painted his way into hope. It appears that his art of the late 19th and early 20th century, like Imran Qureshi of our 21st century, makes that confident bow to uncertainty that lets cowards like me step on the canvas of my own living.

Thus, when I am privileged to stand on a canvas like Imran's I become disturbed.  The soul of inquietude surfaces. I long for an end of the cycle of pervasive violence and lean toward hope.

This was the experience on the Roof Garden exhibition of Imran Qureshi. I could not hide from the disturbances of our violent world. It touches the soles of my feet and moves to the core of my being. The cycle of violence leaves no one innocent. Because of that, I am aware that the only way to rid the world of violence is to change the cycle, remove the motivating triggers that are mindless and soulless. Imran does this with the blossoming of blood in the middle of an America that loves to hate before it turns hate into dialogue.

Imran is on an errand. He passes that errand to us.  The errantry is part of our will to live this inquietude brought by such violence as we bring our storehouse of faith into focus to stop the cycle and give our children a chance to live without fear.

I believe we are able to enter this bloody world and seek to heal the wounds with a triage dedicated to resist the most severe violence (sending our loved ones into harms way) and all the ramifications of violence as it touches our lives. Perhaps we may blossom the graves of the blessed dead. That errand is worth stepping on and walking with into hope.

Go see the exhibit and give me your own impression. Until then, I remain,

Pastor David H. Rommereim   

[i] This quote comes from the article by David Korten (The Author of Agenda for  a New Economy: From Phantom Wealth to Real Wealth, The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community.) This quote is read in: "Religion, Science, and Spirit (a sacred story for our time)."