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Use or adapt the
following covenant, adapted from one used by the ELCA
Southwestern Washington Synod,
to help members commit, both personally and together as a
congregation, to fighting - and ending - world hunger. Suggested
places to use it are during worship services, at special
congregational events, such as following a simple
hunger-simulation meal, at educational adult forums on hunger
and poverty issues, or in members’ homes with their families.
Distribute copies to each member or family.
For the Mighty One has
done great things for me, and holy is His name.
His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to
generation.
He has shown the strength of His arm.
He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted
up the lowly;
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has
sent away empty.
>[The Magnificat, Luke 1:49-53]
The call to social
justice is imbedded in the very substance of the Bible. Wherever
one looks, whether at the gleaning laws of the Old Testament,
the words of the prophets or the Magnificat of Mary in Luke,
God’s special concern for the poor is evident. In fact, it has
been pointed out by Jim Wallis of the Sojourner community in
Washington, D.C., that social justice is the second most common
theme in all of scripture, second only to idolatry.
And yet, in today’s
world, 8 million people are estimated to die of hunger each
year. Another 800 million are chronically hungry. Here in the
United States, where we are in the greatest period of prosperity
ever experienced, some 30 million people are unsure at the
beginning of the month whether they will have enough money to
put food on the table for their families. In the United States,
the average age of a homeless person is 7 years. Implausible as
it may seem, these distressing facts are true in a world where
there is abundance, not scarcity, where there is manna for all!
The experts agree.
Chronic hunger can be ended! At the World Food Summit held in
Rome in 1996, a commitment was made to reduce world hunger in
half by 2015. That won’t happen unless we take action...now!
Hunger in the United States could be ended in a couple years,
but if we stick to business as usual, hunger is bound to
increase rather than decline. Right now, the top one percent of
U.S. households has more wealth than the bottom 95 percent.
Since 1977, these privileged ones have seen income rise 120
percent, while the bottom 20 percent has experienced a decrease
of 12 percent. The disparity grows greater with every passing
year.
Hunger will end only when
there is personal commitment from people such as you and me to
do something about it!
The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America made such a commitment in 1999, when its
members pledged to double giving to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal
by 2005.
Now, as a member of this
congregation, you have a chance to do something of substance.
You can join the Covenant to End Hunger. If you agree to this
covenant, you will be asked to do the following:
-
Contribute regularly to
the ELCA World Hunger Appeal (you decide the amount)
-
Contribute in other
ways to a local anti-hunger cause (in the form of food, time
or money)
-
Agree to contact an
elected official about hunger by letter, phone or e-mail at
least twice in the next year (visit
www.elca.org/advocacy or
www.bread.org for help)
-
Pray regularly for poor
and hungry people
Adapted from "Covenant
to End Hunger," ELCA Southwestern Washington Synod. |
