Spirit in Action

JONAH Covenanting In Eau Claire

JONAH had it's founding ceremony on 11/11/2007 in Eau Claire, where participants spelled out the needs, real and personal, the mission, and the commitment and support to be expected from this association.

Broadcast on:: 24 Nov 2007
Audio Format:: other

[music] Let us sing this song for the healing of the world That we may hear as one With every voice, with every song We will move this world along And our lives will feel the echo of our healing [music] Welcome to Spirit in Action. My name is Mark Helpes Me. Each week, I'll be bringing you stories of people living lives Of fruitful service, of peace, community, compassion, Creative action, and progressive efforts. I'll be tracing the spiritual roots that support and nourish them in their service Hoping to inspire and encourage you to sync deep roots and produce sacred fruit in your own life. Let us sing this song for the dreaming of the world That we may dream as one With every voice, with every song We will move this world along Today for Spirit in Action, we'll listen to a ceremony that was held in Eau Claire The covenanting ceremony of Jonah. Jonah is an acronym for Joining Our Neighbors Advancing Hope And it's an association of faith bodies combining their energies to advance peace and justice issues in the world With the strength that comes of deep spiritual roots and direction. The ceremony took place on November 11, 2007 Known in the USA as Veterans Day, but observed around the world in memory of those who died in World War I. Since Jonah is all about advocacy for change and efforts to prevent future destruction in justice of the system Observing and being motivated by the carnage of the past seems very appropriate. The observance included prayer, many sermons, and lay commentary on important personal issues That Jonah is primed to address stuff like treatment instead of prison and restorative justice Alternative drug and mental health courts, health care, sick time off, and a living minimum wage Jonah's aim is high and its possibilities are powerful And it's exciting to see religious and spiritual energy harnessed to really help the world and do the work of spirit on Earth So take a seat, join in a room of perhaps 100 people for a covenanting ceremony of eight Chippewa Valley faith bodies As Jonah, joining our neighbors advancing hope First up is a prayer by Sandy McKinney, pastor at Unity Christ Center in Eau Claire Grant as Lord God, a vision of your world as your love would have it A world where the weak are protected, where none go hungry or poor A world where the riches of creation are shared and everyone can enjoy them A world where different races and cultures live in harmony and mutual respect A world where peace is built with justice and justice is guided by love And as our eyes are opened, let us not be afraid to defend the oppressed, the poor, the powerless Open our ears, our eyes, and our lives that we may in these coming days do the work that is ours to do May you be with us in this work that we identify as Jonah And we give thanks for your guidance, for your blessings Thank you God, Amen I would like to introduce Diane Dawson from Christ Church of Piska Ball and Chippewa Falls Today's covenanting is the fruit of a lengthy process that was carefully and intentionally attended to by a group of dedicated people They put their hopes, their beliefs, and their deeply anchored faith towards the work of developing a way of realizing better community for all Working with wisdom, organizing leaders, David Liners and Joe L. Wanger through the wisdom group, which is the statewide umbrella organization Working through leadership training, conversations, book studies, forums, listening sessions, we come to this day And now through Jonah, we have the opportunity to become one voice So that we can provide a powerful advocacy to help break down the barriers of race, class, denominations, and economic disparity I came to the then developing Jonah in the spring of 2006 as a result of the impact Katrina had on me My husband and I had spent six weeks in New Orleans that winter, to me that disaster laid bare the deep divisions and disparities that are afflict our country And I knew in my core that I could no longer ignore it I came home determined to find an organization of people who were willing to work at systemic change I wanted to be involved not just with fishing people out of the river, but in going up river to see what was causing them to be cast in I wanted to be a part of a group who through the power of the collective voices could affect change I was led to Jonah by David Liners So now we're here and the people of faith together we can bring the strength, courage, and action needed to confront our common problems at their root source Collectively we can find ways to change for the better The social structures and institutions that shape our lives The reality of our connectedness lived out can help us become a radically hopeful and effective new community We gather here today to commit to one another through Jonah joining our neighbors advancing hope to work towards peace and justice for all As Martin Luther King said, "Justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public" Thank you all for being here [applause] It is now my pleasure to introduce to you my Bishop the Wright Reverend Keith Whitmore Bishop Keith is a native of Fond du Lac, a graduate of Nashota House Seminary in Wisconsin He served as rector of St. Phillips in Jofflin, Missouri and was dean of the Cathedral in Salina, Kansas He was elected as a Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire almost nine years ago He has and does serve in a variety of capacities within many organizations and on boards throughout the National Episcopal Church and beyond He is dedicated to encouraging the laity and clergy alike to step out into the mission field He has been a strong advocate for peace and justice issues and he believes in taking our faith into the public arena Bishop Whitmore [applause] Thank you, it's a great pleasure to be here My thanks to the Jonah Board for inviting me to be a participant not only in this covenanting ceremony but in the process of sustaining Jonah as we go forward from today He had an interesting discovery as I was sitting there and that's that I never talked to anybody to find out why this organization picked the name of Jonah in other than it makes a great acronym but besides that And so I'm just going to assume that the reasons I would have picked it are the reasons they did and just go "yeah" [laughter] Of course Jonah is well known to us, isn't he? To say that Jonah was a reluctant prophet is to make a huge understatement When he wasn't just reluctant he tried to run away as fast as he could Jonah was smart, he knew that God was a merciful God And that after he went through all this trouble God wouldn't do anything to these people in Nineveh anyway Jonah ultimately listened to the call, didn't he? After some gentle persuasion to just, you know, a wail A few things like that I think got the message and off he went to live out his call from God Interestingly enough the book of Jonah was written at the same time that the books of Ezra and Nehemiah were written And you may remember that Ezra and Nehemiah were written as the Jews were returning to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity They had been in exile and they were coming back As you might guess, that exile had been a traumatic event And so they began to do what people often do They began to become a close to people They were more interested in their own needs than the needs of those around them They were more concerned with recovering the old waves They were more interested in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem And they had lost contact with their vocation And so the book of Jonah was written as a corrective At the same time to remind the people of Israel that God had had an encounter with Abraham, their father In the 12th chapter of Genesis, Abraham, remember, is called away from his hometown He has called to leave Ur of the Chaldis and to go to an unknown land by God But you have to read just a little bit more carefully there, it's about more than that In that passage, God gives Abraham his calling, his vocation You remember what God told Abraham would happen? You know, God says, I'll be your God and you will be a blessing to all people This is the foundation for the children of Abraham for generations following They remember that their vocation is to be a blessing to all people And when we come to the time, the post-exilic period after the Babylonian captivity They have begun to lose this sense of vocation And so the book of Jonah the prophet is written to remind them that God has made them his people for a reason And that reason is that they are to be a blessing to all people Jonah goes to Nineveh Nineveh in God's eyes is just as important as Jerusalem Although it's not a Jewish city, the likelihood of there being anything more than a handful of Jews there is not realistic And yet God calls out a prophet to deliver his message to the people And of course we know the end of the story, they hear the message from this unusual, uncertain, unpredictable Jonah And they repent, at which point of course Jonah gets really put out and the story goes on I tell you that because my hope is that at least some of that is contained in the hopes for Jonah To remind us, those of us who are the children of Abraham in our religious heritage All of us that we too are called to be a blessing to all people And that that vocation of Abraham has been passed on from generation to generation to all of us who sit in this room We are to come together through this facility of Jonah to bless the people of the community where we live To bless them in every way we possibly can I want to jump ahead a considerable period of time to a fellow by the name of Paul You remember Paul has an image of the church, doesn't he? He talks about it as a body and he talks about the importance of all of the members of the body Even though they are very different and have very different functions, they are all essential And Paul goes out to point out, and to point out, that what affects one part of the body affects the whole What builds up one part of the body builds up the whole But he also reminds us that what breaks down on one part of the body breaks down the whole We live in a society where it's important to realize that if one person is in prison, we are all in prison That if one person is starving, we are all hungry That if one person experiences injustice, we are all unjust My hope for Jonah is that it will transform the face of this Eau Claire area As we join together to bring all of our skills and talents to bear on behalf of those who cannot do that for themselves I truly hope that five years from now, or ten years from now, or twenty-five years from now The people of Eau Claire will look back and they will say of Jonah Thank God they were a blessing to all people At this time, we are going to hear from three citizens of our community On why we need Jonah and I invite Dr. Krause, Judge Proctor, and Ms. Paulson to come forward at this time Good afternoon everyone, my name is Dr. Arith Krause and I am a member of the Community Christ Center I also teach social work at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire And as a social worker, I have very strong feelings about seeking social justice for those people who society deems as less worthy Today, I want to tell you about a need for social justice that I see in our community I became aware of this need, not by my textbooks, not by watching the news, but by a painful personal experience It is interesting that the first time that Chris and I met while in a church study group We felt an instant attraction to each other as possible friends We were both struck by the idea that somehow our relationship would be important One day, when Chris was sitting next to me in church, she suddenly clutched her stomach and ran out of the room I knew that she had recently been declared cured of colon cancer And so I felt afraid for her The next time I talked with her, I was upset to learn that the cancer was back But the doctor told her that with chemotherapy and with rest, she could possibly recover again And here is the point of my story, Chris could not rest Chris worked for one of our largest employers in this area And even though she worked full time in her office job, she told me that she was not allowed any paid sick time off She told me that she could not afford to take off any time financially And that if she took off too much time, she would lose her insurance, which of course she needed to pay for her treatment And so my good friend dragged herself to work every day exhausted and in pain And when she had days of chemotherapy, she went to work taking that chemotherapy I was shocked Other than my part-time work as a waitress while I was in college, I personally have never had a job that did not have paid sick time off As time went on, I became more and more upset as I learned that many, many people in the Chippewa Valley who work full time jobs do not get paid sick time off My friend Chris has passed over, some of you may believe that her inability to rest had nothing to do with her death That she was doomed to die anyway because her cancer came back And that may be so But it is also very possible that if Chris could have just rusted, she may have developed the strength she needed to fight off her disease once again That then is a tragedy that now we and Chris's family, Chris's children will just never know if the rest of the doctor ordered would have indeed healed her And so if I could work for the possible issue for Jonah to work on, of social justice, it would be a small thing perhaps to some but a large to others and that would be paid time off for all of the people who work full time in the Chippewa Valley [applause] Good afternoon everyone, I'm Ben Proctor, I'm a judge in Eau Claire, I'm in my 20th year as a judge, I've lived her all my life however The first time I heard about Jonah was at our church a couple of three, four weeks ago at our annual meeting And I didn't know anything about Jonah but we were called upon to vote on it to join the Jonah coalition as it were It was one of those things where I should have known about it, I should have volunteered what information I may have And I didn't put now I'm here and I got up at the church and spoke at that time and I think there were a lot of individuals in our church, a lot of whom I see here now They didn't know anything about what we were doing at the courthouse or if they did, it wasn't sufficient to turn on a light bulb The courthouse is theoretically the center of justice, criminal justice in Eau Claire County and similarly in every county in the state of Wisconsin And what has happened historically is that we have tried to address individuals in the criminal system By starting out with an element of incarceration and then working down to treatment and support for those individuals and their families And the cart basically came before the horse because we started programs like I'm going to briefly talk to you about Because we didn't have enough jail space, we were spending too much money on sending prisoners to other counties We were looking at a brand new jail that would hold twice or three times the capacity of inmates So one of the things that came about was a program called EAM and what it stands for is assess, inform and measure And it came down from the Supreme Court and five counties were asked to volunteer and Eau Claire was one of those counties When I was driving down to the very first meeting in August of '06, I went with a lady from the Department of Human Services Supervisor Margaret Anson who suggested because we had to come up with a target group as a model for our volunteer group Suggested single women in the criminal justice system who had alcohol, drug or mental health problems and minor children And we picked that group and it was interesting because most of the groups that were picked among the counties that started We ended up with only five but there were probably ten counties that started were mostly like 18 to 22 year old men with alcohol problems Well you can see there are probably thousands of those individuals even in Eau Claire and those kinds of vast groups So I think we'd hit on something at that point And then because Judge Stark had one of the prototype drug courts in the state of Wisconsin I wanted to plagiarize her format for a court that would deal with single women with minor children who had alcohol, drug or mental health problems And it almost immediately I was able to assemble a team, Department of Corrections, Public Defender, District Attorney, University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Department of Corrections and the Department of Human Services all were willing with no funding of any kind to come forward and be the team that would support that court There are some brochures out on that first table that you came in by that kind of tell you what we do and how we do it The line is we have taken referrals from any source and that would be the number one request I would have for John if you know of anyone That might fit in that category to recommend them either through the DA's office or through the public defender or through any attorney or anyone Or call me directly anyone that might use those services We meet every Tuesday morning at 7.30 We talk about the individuals that are there and then we have court at 8.30 and all the individuals are required to show up And we're off the record but the theory is that judges have some authority to try to direct these individuals This assessment form and measure was to provide the judge with more information about individuals with the bottom line being more treatment, more support, less incarceration And that has worked even in our small court like Drug Court has well established has a waiting list and they have about 25 active members They've saved hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars over a brief period of time and jail costs versus support that is provided by that court Even in our nine months or so of existence I will venture to say we have saved probably $20,000 in jail costs And then the attendant costs of mom goes to jail and children go to foster care That cost has not been figured but you can imagine what that might be because it's one of the single most significant costs to the county Is the placement of children and individuals out of home So the courts are active in this and we would ask for your support We have a very wonderful drug court, we are starting a mental health court For individuals in the criminal justice system we have mental health issues and should not be in jail And we started what we call a collaborating council and we started that a year ago in August And that is gathering individuals like yourselves but are mostly involved in the criminal justice system There's about 12 of us, the sheriff and the police chief and the city attorney, department of corrections, supervisor, human services, DA All those kind of individuals we meet quarterly and we have subcommittee meetings Because of the work of those treatment courts I talked about in the collaborating council I'm fairly sure that the county is going to approve a coordinator for this so that we can become more sophisticated in our record keeping And our feedback, our success rate and those kinds of things Because right now Judge Stark and myself and some other single individuals are doing the work of You know you're being the chief cook and bottle washer every meeting And we need someone to keep records and organize agendas But it's been very successful from the standpoint that we have supported these treatment courts That we have encouraged with I think a positive result because that budget hasn't been voted on for the county But the committees have approved this coordinator position We also approve through the county at least at this level to be voted on in a few weeks Mental health coordinator for the mental health court These are the kinds of things the courts are doing That would certainly seek to get referrals from Jonah Ultimately I would like to see that there would be We have women's way involved youth and social services So the women can go to peer group meetings and learn about things that they didn't have support for Before relative to families and use and abuse of alcohol and drugs And those kind of things we would like to see that kind of support from a Jonah type organization Because what we're working on is trying to keep families together Trying to avoid incarceration Trying to have a long-term goal of reduction of recidivism And I think it's all going to be very successful But it's extremely important to me that I learned about Jonah and that you learn about what we're doing We're working on all kinds of things that directly would affect the kinds of interests that Jonah would have So I would welcome you all to that meeting. Anyway, if you have any questions, let me know. Thank you very much. [applause] You're listening to a Northern Spirit radio production called Spirit in Action And I'm your host, Mark Helpsmeet We're listening to what was called a covenanting ceremony that was held on November 11, 2007 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin The founding date officially for a group called Jonah joining our neighbors advancing hope This is a religiously based group with a vision of really addressing peace and justice concerns of the people Things like compassionate and fair courts, just wages, and realistic and affordable health care While the ceremony included a number of clergy, it also included important lay representatives Like Judge Benjamin Proctor who just spoke We'll continue on to a concerned parent, one who's faced heartbreak and found hope through the work that Jonah is undertaking My name is Cindy Paulson. I'm pleased to follow Judge Proctor because his family has known my daughter since she was adopted by us 23 years ago I'm the mother of an adult seriously mentally ill child who right now is involved in the court system A week hasn't gone by in the last month that the police haven't been at the house looking for her, worried about her She's on probation, breaking probation rules right now One thing I found that I really appreciated through Jonah is the fact that your faith will waver from time to time when you're dealing with a seriously mentally ill child in particular But you still feel the love of your family and friends, maybe not understanding But I had just recently even going through her being in special behavioral courses all through high school and emotionally disturbed class track I really never lost any hope until this March when I had to call human services on my granddaughter because my daughter was probably on her third trip in jail and I couldn't take care of her So when my friend told me about Jonah she said "oh I found a flyer at the business networking meeting, I think you'll like" I couldn't believe it It was finally someone offering me hope and I had none left So I made some great friends, I've learned a lot about mental illness, I'm just so proud of this group to say to the community "hey we can do better" We're spending a lot of money and we're just kind of in a disarray I don't want to be known as a parent of a mentally ill daughter anymore I want to be able to say "I have a daughter in recovery" And I think that the wonderful people of Jonah have taken the message from all of our face which is wonderful to be involved in a group like that and we're going to do some really great things So thank you for coming, really thank you to the churches covenanting here today It's an exciting time and the world is going to change because of Jonah and I believe So thanks for your support (applause) And now I would like to invite Reverend Dr. Mark Pierce to this time The founding churches of Jonah are here today responding to a call by the Holy One to follow Jesus in ways which will bring a greater measure of healing into our community We're here today acknowledging that we are kin in faith and it is our relationship as people of faith which not only brings us here but binds us together trusting that God will work in us and through us both to allow us to discern the path to follow the issues to address and that God will grant us the energy and the resources to pursue this ministry and trusted to us as people of faith In covenanting together as member churches of joining our neighbors advancing hope we're acknowledging a truth that Jesus recognized and which is recorded in the 17th chapter of John's Gospel Jesus' prayer that they may all be one is grounded in the profound reality that in the eyes of God those who follow Jesus are already one we're just slow to realize that that is the truth and often we're slow to engage this as the truth but there are unique times times such as this day when some action of ours however proximate embodies the vision God has for us as people of faith that we are all one so we covenant this day to be who we are and to support each other in a common effort to work toward the strengthening of society and we covenant together in the hope that more Christian churches in this community and faith communities representing other spiritual traditions will join us in this great endeavor and now I would like to invite the representatives of the churches who are covenanting this day to please come forward when I call the name of your church Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Saint Bied Monastery Unity Christ Center First Congregational United Church of Christ First Lutheran Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Friends meeting of Eau Claire the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Eau Claire and Christ Episcopal Church I thought it might be helpful here if I told you what the next eight people are doing as they speak they are the eight covenanting faith bodies of Jonah if you're able just close your eyes and imagine one central candle burning and eight neighboring candles beautiful glass enclosed rather like lanterns the candles are waiting to be lit one by each speaker of each covenanting congregation Hi my name is Linda Campana and I'm with Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and I'm proud to say that Good Shepherd Lutheran Church is a coveting partner in Jonah and our faith community is joining because we believe that more can be accomplished by the shared ways of many and also I have a personal interest being a parent, a mom of a son, juvenile son that with mental health illness currently involved with the juvenile correctional system and my son he wants to be a productive member of society but without resources that's going to be very difficult for him so through Jonah and the Mental Health Court this is going to give me hope and also to help my son become a productive member of society in the name of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church I add our light to Jonah (applause) My name is Sister Margaret and I'm from St. Bead Monastery here in Eau Claire we are Benedictines and we have a tradition that's over 1500 years old it's a tradition whose values are very close to those of Jonah we have a tradition of peace, of justice, of respect for individuals and over the years we've been engaged in works of hospitality, of education, healthcare so we're very happy to be a part of Jonah and our prayers and our good wishes are with all of you who are supportive of Jonah this wonderful program for our community thank you (applause) Hi I'm Frank Noak with Unity Christ Center I'm proud to say that we will be paying our $250 that's our dues to Jonah I will serve on the Jonah Board of Directors and our pastor of Reverend Sandra McKenny we're part of the religious leaders group we have joined Jonah in order to bring positive people power to affect policy by our lawmakers and leaders of our community the name of the Unity Christ Center I add our light to Jonah (applause) My name is Paul Savidiz and I'm from First Congregational United Church of Christ of Eau Claire and I also will be serving on the Jonah Board of Directors we join Jonah because as a church and as individuals we are committed to the causes of justice and peace in our community and in our world we are called by Christ's teaching and example to be compassionate to love our neighbors and to show our love and compassion by ensuring that all people share in the bounty and the goodness and the opportunities of this world we believe that by joining with other churches in Jonah we can be more effective in bringing about the changes that are needed in our community and in forwarding the causes of justice and peace some of the important issues we hope to pursue through Jonah are the formation of mental health and drug courts in Eau Claire County equal access to educational opportunities and the establishment of a true livable minimum wage we say in our church's statement of faith that God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship to be servants in the service of the whole human family and that to all who believe God will grant us courage and the struggle for justice and peace it is through Jonah one of God's instruments on earth that we can share the cost and joy of discipleship that we can be servants in the service of the whole human family and that we can be granted the courage and energy to join in the struggle for justice and peace in this community in the name of First Congregational United Church of Christ Eau Claire we join our light with Jonah I'm Pastor Amy Oddgren from First Lutheran Church, E-L-C-A, here in Eau Claire the mission statement at First Lutheran Church is reaching out in the name of Jesus Christ mission is our understanding of the very core of who we are as people of God and so when Pastor Opadol came and spoke with our social ministry committee as well as our church council it was a very easy yes to say that we wanted to be a part of the unity of faith communities within this greater community of Eau Claire to work for peace and justice and issues that are for the betterment of all of God's people First Lutheran is proud to be a part of Jonah I'm Martha Neiman from Eau Claire Friends Meeting Christ has called us all friends and as such we follow the great commandment to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves since its beginning the religious society of friends has been committed to non-violence modern Quakers have espoused Gandhi's belief that poverty is the cruelest form of violence friends have a long tradition of action for peace and social justice issues to eliminate the cause of all wars we are happy therefore to join Jonah in furthering this work [applause] I'm George Agner from Christ the Episcopal Church in Chippewa Falls Christ the Episcopal Church commits to work for justice as a small group within our congregation and part of the Chippewa Valley as part of Jonah our interfaith congregation based justice ministry as a part of Jonah we also are committed to participating in the statewide justice work of wisdom and the work of the Gamalillo Foundation the National Network [applause] Hello I'm Elte Bragg and I'm a Unitarian We have Unitarians have always believed in the inherent dignity of all people and we find that Jonah is we fit into Jonah and we have a core group that is working within our church or our congregations are we calls a congregation not a church but I'm very pleased to be a part of Jonah I've been a part of Jonah since it began and right now if you pay any money you'll get my signature on it thank you [applause] I want you to recognize that this is not only a symbolic act but this is a literal act of taking individual lights and brightening a room taking people of faith into a public arena taking differences and looking for the ways in which we join together and having the expectation that this does in fact change the world I ask that you would again recognize these churches who are stepping forward today with your applause [applause] Thank you for coming forward and covenanting adding your light to Jonah and these eight faith communities are just the beginning our hope is that we can multiply that eight by many many more and if you are a member of a congregation or faith community that was not one of these eight we encourage you to learn more about what we are about talk to your minister or religious leader and have them learn more about it as well because we want you to be on board the more the merrier and I'd be happy to come and talk to your folks about it and I'll even volunteer Sandy and some others from Jonah I'm sure they'd be happy to as well at this time we would like to hear from a couple of our sister organizations under the wisdom umbrella and I'd invite Mr. Nabi Ella Meen to come forward from Racine Interfaith Coalition and Rev. Curtis Miller as well [applause] Oh, I saw that more they come that means peace beyond to you bringing you readings from Racine, the Racine Islamic Center and the Racine Interfaith Coalition it's a pleasure to have the opportunity to be here this afternoon what you are embarking upon is a great thing in which every community needs our organization and our Racine and the Racine Interfaith Coalition we've been in existence for almost a decade now but we are not in competition with each other we don't compete we complete each other okay by building this organization in this area it enables us to help build the Wisconsin that we deserve [applause] in reference to that I want to share this from you I'm sure you're probably very familiar with it it simply says that oh that you bless me indeed and enlarge my territory that your hands would be with me and keep me from evil that I dare not cause pain okay, I'm thinking that that's pretty very applyable and I want to conclude by sharing with you these passages, it goes like this, it says among his signs okay, talking about our creator's sustain of the heavens and the earth among his sign is this that he created you from dust and then behold ye are human beings scattered far and wide and among his signs are this that he created you male mates from among yourselves that ye might dwell in tranquility with them and he has put love and mercy between your hearts verily in that are signs for those who reflect and among the signs in the creation of the heavens and the earth and the variations of your languages and your colors and customs verily in that are signs for those who know and among his signs is the sleep that ye take at night and by day that you quest for your livelihood out of his bounty verily all of these are signs for those that harken it's a plum pleasing pledge as well as a privilege to have the opportunity to simply share these few moments with you I had to read those things because if I went off the top of my head we don't have enough time because my cup ran it over but I'm going to take you with me as I leave this place and may you go in peace and may we truly become people of justice and witnesses for God That was Nabi Al Amin of the Racine Islamic Center part of the Racine Interfaith Coalition which is one of the sister organizations around the state of Wisconsin under the umbrella of a group called Wisdom you're listening to the covenanting ceremony for the chapter which is to include the Chippewa Valley called Jonah we've heard about the kinds of issues that Jonah is poised to address representatives from eight faith bodies have declared their commitment to the group and now support and encouragement for the group is being shared by other speakers Good afternoon, I'm Curtis Miller I'm the president of AMUS and I am glad to bring you greetings from La Crosse and the congregations and the people of AMUS It was just last Sunday afternoon that we had our launching celebration in La Crosse and it was good to see friends Sandy and Jill there with us celebrating and good to return the favor so quickly at your launching here last Sunday we said that the reason that we chose the name AMUS was because of that verse that says let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a never flowing stream now we said we chose that because we lived beside the Mississippi that described our place and also the justice advocacy work that we were pledging ourselves to I'm here to say that the real reason we chose that was that we live downstream of Jonah and we look forward to all the mighty justice work that you do here upstream and just to watch it flow downstream so that we can just sit back and just live in peace so thank you for all the work that you're doing here and blessings on you as you launch as Jonah [applause] and now I do have a couple of letters of dignitaries unable to be here the first one I will share and then share some information and then I'll share a second one this first one comes from Bishop Dwayne Peterson the Bishop of the Northwest Senate of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America any attempt to organize people around serious matters is difficult you could not however have a more noble cause than to gather people of many faith traditions to build community and to have a powerful voice for compassion and justice the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has been able to provide Jonah with a $4,500 grant for your work in each of the next three years the only requirement is that you have to reach out to ELCA Lutherans you hear that Mike? ELCA Lutherans? and challenge us to be involved the grant comes to you from our denomination through wisdom to support the grassroots work of bringing faith communities together to live out your call of mercy and justice throughout the state of Wisconsin again I offer you my congratulations and my prayers as you begin this great journey to make a difference in the name of Jesus Christ I'm clearly Dwayne C. Peterson it is truly wonderful that we have been able to receive this grant through the ELCA in support of the leadership training that Jonah is embarking on in order to accomplish the goal of the equality that we seek in our society but that $4,500 certainly does not end there it is just the beginning of the nuts and bolts that are needed to create the passion that we have seen so far here today and if you look at the back of your programs you will see some important dates tomorrow and you will probably have this form here this off white sheet of paper tomorrow you have a chance to use this as a tool to contact our county board of supervisors, individuals and let them know how important our mental health court is in Eau Claire let them know that this is an important ministry and you have heard from a couple of people who are directly involved who will be directly touched by this so please do what you can and contact those people as I said it is all about the nuts and the bolts that help make possible the passionate gatherings of like what we have seen today and that first nut that needs to be tightened is the board of directors every congregation that is covenant has two individuals that will be on this board of directors and the inaugural meeting for that is Tuesday December 3 at Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, 1120 Cedar Street from 6 to 9 and that is just like I said the inaugural board we have committed that much time because our intention is that will not be the case all the time a 90 minute meeting should be more than enough to accomplish what needs to be accomplished but that needs to be done on December 13th at 8am, Thursday December 13th and our goal at this point is to every second Thursday at 8am to have a clergy caucus or a religious leaders caucus an opportunity for religious leaders to gather around justice issues and help define what it means to be involved in an organization like Jonah so please religious leaders who are here put that on your calendar and Saturday January 12th is our first public event we want to have all of our core teams from all of our congregations as well as more who are interested to come and learn about what it means to build relationship and on the 12th of January we will again gather at Good Shepherd and learn about what it means and what's basically going to happen is say we've got six people from at least each of these congregations that have covenanted this afternoon at least six of those people from each of those will come to this event and walk away from that event having a list of eight to ten individuals in their own congregations with whom they will meet between January 12th and March 8th to build relationship and get to know them better and discover what sort of mutual passions you may have with that person that has been sitting in that pew next to you for the last 20 some years perhaps whom you really haven't had a chance to get to know very well and then we'll come together again on March 8th and discern what we've gleaned from those conversations to continue to see which direction Jonah wants to go with regard to health care reform, equal access to public education or anything else that we find that rises to the surface through these conversations because Jonah is a grassroots organization and it is about the passions of the people in the pews that we are looking for from you as we get more and more involved and we discern what it means to be a shared public voice in the public arena to let our legislators and other government officials know what it means and how our faith defines who we are in the public arena around these issues that December 13th meeting you'll see is at Unity Christ Center the March 8th meeting is at first congregational UCC here in Old Clare again a reminder that this is a Chippewa Valley organization and we are excited to have Chippewa Valley people involved and Chippewa Falls people and we've got some Menominee people, Rob, on who are in the pipeline and we're going to be getting more than Menominee folks involved it's going to be at least a Tri-County organization, Dun, Old Clare and Chippewa counties we're really excited about that I want to share with you another letter that we received prior to this event and this is from Circuit Court Judge Lisa Stark, Branch I, Circuit Court Judge Dear Reverend Oberall thank you for the invitation to the inauguration of Jonah on Sunday November 11th 2007 at the RCU Corporate Center I'm very sorry that I will not be in town on that day and will be unavailable to participate in the co-ending ceremony for Jonah I could not let this special event pass however without expressing to you my sincere appreciation and support for the work of Jonah I know that you and others in the community have facilitated discussion regarding the expansion of the courthouse Jonah has been a strong advocate locally and statewide for treatment alternatives and diversion programs for non-violent offenders including drug court, AIM court and the restorative justice program in Eau Claire County I am also aware that you are very supportive of our efforts to establish the Eau Claire County Mental Health Court without the assistance of Jonah the participants in the traditional justice system have a very hard time conveying to the community the importance of alternatives to incarceration diversion programs and the need for essential treatment and services for those addicted to drugs and alcohol those with mental illness and others less fortunate in our community that may be involved in non-violent criminal activity in addition to providing information and facilitating discussion you play an important role in conveying the community's perspectives to those in the justice system and the legislature and securing financial and community support for much needed and successful programs we have commenced to date and those that are planned for the future congratulations to Jonah we look forward to continuing to work with you sincerely Lisa Stark with that I will invite Pastor Amy Audvin for her let us pray God of creation God of love and hope you are a covenanting God you have promised that you are indeed our God and we are your people as we have come together in this room today across many faiths and from many places we give you thanks for the unity that has been expressed here in the gifts that are shared and in the promises that are made with congregations that are striving now to do your work in this greater Chippewa Valley area we ask that you would continue to bless our work that you would empower us that you would embolden us that you would strengthen us and as we see these lights that are formed individually come together we ask that you would help us to be a beacon for your mission of peace and justice in our community as we grow together in our unity to do your work we would ask that you would give us the strength to make that beacon brighter that this work and this word of yours would spread throughout our community that we may become yet a bigger group working together to ensure the wellness the livelihood the justice and well-being of all of your children in your name we pray Amen The next thing about being last on the program is you can add all the comments you want and nobody really cares at that point I do want to leave us with an alternative image just for a second if you look at the front of your bullet and you'll notice the typical Jonah symbol is there a whale we think of the whale that got Jonah back on track but I'd like to give you a different symbol one of the things we've heard over and over again today is the word piece coupled with the word justice and for us moderns anyway but for thousands of years one of the primary symbols of peace has been the dove, hasn't it? if I remember my Hebrew correctly the word Joe and Jonah translate to the English as dove and so we're doing more than just striving for justice we are working for peace and every time we are out of the word we become peacemakers we become peacemakers she would pray with me Almighty God who created us in your own image grants grace to fearlessly contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression and that we may reverently use our freedom help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations to the glory of your holy name Amen the Lord bless us and keep us Amen the word make a space to shine upon us and be gracious to us Amen the word lift up is countenance upon us and give us peace Amen We now bring our formal covenant event to a close let us go forth in peace and seek justice that was Paul Opendall, minister at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Eau Claire behind Jonah joining our neighbors advancing hope a newly founded association of faith bodies in the Chippewa Valley united to advance peace and justice the covenanting event you just listened to took place on November 11th, 2007 and I decided to share it with you as today's spirit and action program you can find the link to Jonah's webpage via my own northern spirit radio .org website The theme music for this program is turning of the world performed by Sarah Thompson this spirit in action program is an effort of northern spirit radio you can listen to our programs and find links and information about us and our guests on our website northernspiritradio.org thank you for listening I am your host Mark Helpsmeet and I welcome your comments and stories of those leading lives of spiritual fruit may you find deep roots to support you and grow steadily toward the light this is spirit in action with every voice with every song we will move this world along with every voice with every song we will move this world along and our lives will feel the echo of our healing ♪ Feeling ♪