We meet in the church kitchen at 1:00 to prepare salad, fruit salad, and a vegetable. The entree is prepared by Co-organizers, who take on the shopping and entree every other month. Ellen has graciously baked a dessert for every meal this year.
Either cookies or brownies.
After all is prepared, and the entree heated, we pack all to be delivered at the Samaritan Center between 3:30 and 4:00. We started preparing 20 meals in January of this year, and now are preparing 35 meals.
Volunteers are much appreciated from those who have the 3rd Tuesday of the month free and are available from 1 – 4 in the afternoon.
Buen Vecino invites you to an Affordable Housing Community Gathering on Dec 3 from 10am-Noon at the United Church of Christ of Simi Valley to discuss building a future where our children and neighbors have access to safe, decent, affordable homes to live and raise families in.
Join us to learn about working together to achieve more sustainable housing development and how we can
make Simi Valley a place for all to call home. The event will be held in both English and Spanish.
For more info, or to sign up visit this website HERE.
From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson compares this epic migration to the migrations of other peoples in history. She interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to new data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
Keri Day testifies to structural inequalities and broken promises of inclusion through the eyes of a black woman who experiences herself as both stranger and friend to prevailing models of theological education. Inviting the reader into her religious world—a world that is African American and, more specifically, Afro-Pentecostal—she not only uncovers the colonial impulses of theological education in the United States but also proposes that the lived religious practices and commitments of progressive Afro-Pentecostal communities can help the theological academy decolonize and reenvision multiple futures.
“We cannot be silent as one more black person is murdered unjustly, and the nation erupts with both anger and deep sorrow. We are called to recognize once again systemic racism, especially in law enforcement, by evoking the names of murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minn.; Ahmaud Arbery in Glenn County, Ga; Breionna Taylor in Louisville, Ky.; Eric Garner in New York City; and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. … We cannot remain silent. God calls all of us to speak out. As Christians, Jesus tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. God created and loves people of every color. And yet we create economic, political, and social barriers that oppress African Americans in every sector from housing and education to healthcare and criminal justice. The COVID-19 pandemic magnifies these disparities. We know that black and brown people have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. This moment calls us all together to speak up, stand up and show up.“And now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant to your servants to speak your word with all boldness” (Acts 4:29). This is our time to show our solidarity with all who live at the margins of our country because of their identities. We are called now to build a strong anti-racist commitment in our church so that we can show that Black Lives Matter in the kingdom of God. It is time to see ourselves as God sees us. Jesus is risen and alive in each one of us. May we use that strength to be agents of change.”
~UCC National Board, Rev. Stacy Thomas (in bold)
Resources for Standing Against Racial Injustice
We have highlighted a few resources below. For a more complete list visit resources.uccsimi.org.
NAACP- “We Are Done Dying ” Campaign
Read the Information and Sign the Petition
Anti-Racism Resources Document to Share with Family and Friends
This document is intended to serve as a resource to white people and parents to deepen our anti-racism work. If you haven’t engaged in anti-racism work in the past, start now. Feel free to circulate this document on social media and with your friends, family, and colleagues.
This list is designed to celebrate all the ways that our communities can engage in liberation. By and for those in our communities who can’t be in the streets, we offer a list of concrete ways that we are in the movement, and that we are supporting liberation every day
According to the NY Times: “The goal of The 1619 Project is to reframe American history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as our nation’s birth year. Doing so requires us to place the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of the story we tell ourselves about who we are as a country.”
Families & Friends Living United In Diversity (FFLUID) is dedicated to offering “streams” of unconditional love, heartfelt support and quality resources to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, their families and friends. Our monthly support meetings give our members a safe space to discuss the unique challenges LGBTQIA+ persons face when forming friendships, seeking housing and employment, finding healthcare and navigating complicated family relationships.
Covid-19 Update
FFLUID will resume in-person support meetings in August. We are examining how to include our online guests while maintaining the confidentiality of our participants. Please see contact info below if would like to participate online.
Meetings are held from 7:00 until 8:30 pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month.
