Earlier this week, a Matthew 25 workshop on eradicating systemic poverty focused viewers’ attention on the importance of being willing to dig in “for the long haul” to help address deeply rooted problems in international communities.
After spending a month discussing Sarah Augustine’s book, “The Land is not Empty: Following Jesus in Dismantling the Doctrine of Discovery,” an online group was treated earlier this month to more than an hour with the author herself.
The Rev. Dr. Neddy Astudillo, an eco-theologian and Presbyterian pastor who coordinates the Climate Justice and Faith Spanish online program at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, went to Matthew 20:1–16, the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard, and a landmark study using the board game Monopoly to offer a sermon during the Presbyterians for Earth Care conference.
Roughly 421,400 people were unhoused in the U.S. last year, and 127,750 of them were chronically unhoused, meaning they didn’t have a place to stay for a year or more, according to National Alliance to End Homelessness data. Unhoused rates have been climbing nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, the alliance said. The increase in the number of unhoused people comes when housing costs are soaring and prices for essentials like food and transportation continue to rise.
What does hunger advocacy look like at home and beyond?
The Presbyterian Hunger Program’s Jennifer Evans and Eileen Schuhmann helped young adults learn more about both spheres Saturday during a workshop held as part of “Jesus and Justice,” the Young Adult Advocacy Conference. Young adults came to the Presbyterian Center and gathered online for the first-ever conference, sponsored by PC(USA) advocacy ministries in Washington, D.C., and at the United Nations.
In a Midwestern city where the cost of housing can affect residents’ ability to thrive, Westminster Presbyterian Church of Madison, Wisconsin, is helping residents to make ends meet through various efforts to feed people in the community.
The final in a series of four 2023 Matthew 25 online workshops working toward eradicating systemic poverty will be held beginning at noon Eastern Time on Monday, Oct. 30. Individuals and congregations involved in working with communities in the U.S. and overseas on hunger issues can register to attend here.
The Advisory Committee of the Presbyterian Hunger Program has agreed to award $1.1 million in grants to partners in the United States and around the world.
A recent Matthew 25 webinar provided inspiration and information about using effective strategies for eradicating systemic poverty, including banding together to build power.
A bus tour that was part of the weekend’s “Weaving the Food Web: The People’s Summit on Food Systems and Urban Agriculture” conference put on by the Presbyterian Hunger Program and its partners included three stops that illustrated just how complex the food web can be in an urban setting.
