http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/06/21/episcopal-migration-ministries-hosts-world-refugee-day-interfaith-conversation/

[Episcopal News Service] Judaism, like all religious traditions, calls Rabbi Victor Urecki to welcome the stranger, the refugee. In the Torah, God tells the Jews no less than 36 times to “love the strangers in their midst,” reminding them they were once strangers in Egypt, he said.
Still, it’s not Urecki’s Jewish faith that drives him to welcome and to assist refugees arriving in Charleston, West Virginia. “As a Jew, I feel I’m called to be there for refugees because the refugee story is very personal for Jews,” said Urecki, a West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry adviser. “It’s my people’s story. The image of every refugee should be an image imprinted on every Jew’s heart.”
Urecki spoke on a six-person panel during a June 20 interfaith conversation and prayer for World Refugee Day hosted by Episcopal Migration Ministries at the Episcopal Church Center in New York. An iftar, the meal eaten by Muslims after sunset during Ramadan, followed the panel conversation. (The holy month of Ramadan, observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Qur’an to Muhammad, began May 26 and ends June 24.)
EMM encouraged congregations across the country to host similar interfaith conversations, and the June 20 panel was recorded on video for future use, said moderator Allison Duvall, EMM’s manager for church relations and engagement.
The refugee narrative is encoded in Jews’ spiritual DNA. They were forced to flee pogroms in Europe, withstood anti-Semitism and hatred across the globe and endured centuries of war and bloodshed. “We’ve been swept up as bystanders and brutalized as victims. We’ve been killed in our homelands … because of who we were, what we believed and what we practiced,” said Urecki, an immigrant whose grandparents and father were refugees.
Refugees are forced to flee because of who they are, what they believe and their religious practices, as another panelist confirmed. Anastasia Orlova is an asylum seeker from Russia. She arrived in the United States last October with her wife. Russia’s intolerance of LGBT people meant the couple kept few close friends, and Orlova would tell acquaintances she had a husband. She didn’t realize how depressed she was until she left Russia.
“When you are scared or ashamed of yourself, you live in inner isolation,” Orlova said. In the United States, Orlova and her wife can be married legally, practice their beliefs and speak up for themselves. “Here in the U.S. we finally feel protected.”
Refugees on the panel acknowledged that though they feel secure and free to be themselves in the United States, the country’s polarized politics and overarching economic and security fears are worrisome. The Trump administration has sought to suspend and reduce the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program; as a result, EMM was forced to reduce its resettlement work.
“Maybe the stakes now are so high and the fear is so deep and the walls are so thick that the only way we can heal the soul of a nation is for a wider-than-ever circle of allies to gather around to stand with refugee and resettlement agencies,” said the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the presiding bishop for evangelism, reconciliation and creation. Spellers represented the Episcopal Church on the panel.
In Charleston, for example, West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry operates, “in the heart of Trump country,” said Urecki. But if anything gives him hope, it’s that the people, even those who fear for their security and the economy, are open to conversation. “If you can get your foot in the door and have a conversation, you can win,” he said.
West Virginia Interfaith Refugee Ministry became an EMM affiliate in December.
As the Episcopal Church’s refugee resettlement agency, EMM is one of nine agencies partnered with the U.S. State Department to welcome and resettle refugees; it operates 31 resettlement affiliates in 26 dioceses, providing direct assistance to recent arrivals. The Episcopal Church has worked to resettle refugees since the 1930s. The federal government formalized the U.S. Refugee Resettlement Program in 1980, partnering with religious and secular organizations to provide direct assistance to newly arrived refugees in communities nationwide. Six of the government’s resettlement partners are faith-based; the program has historically, for the most part, enjoyed bipartisan support. Over the last two years, however, Americans’ attitudes toward refugees have begun to shift from quiet acceptance to fear of the other.
Recently, EMM held a conference to train refugee supporters as advocates. EMM also offers ways for congregations to engage in refugee resettlement in their communities. The agency encourages Episcopalians to join the Episcopal Public Policy Network and advocate for policies that protect the rights of refugees and asylum seekers.
World Refugee Day is held annually on June 20; the day is set aside to commemorate the strength, courage and perseverance of millions of refugees. An unprecedented 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Among them 22.5 million have received refugee status and less than 1 percent will be resettled. Over half of all refugees are younger than 18 years old. Many were born in refugee camps where the average stay is 20 years.

-Lynette Wilson is managing editor of the Episcopal News Service.

Friday, June 2, Great Falls

“Pedal for Peas” is a fundraising bicycle ride to benefit ELCA World Hunger. Riders are coming from across the Montana Synod.

How can we support this effort?

Join the Ride!
Register online at http://www.ourredeemerlives.org or Contact Pastor Kendra Wilde for registration information at 406-442-7842 or kendraw@ourredeemerlives.org''

Sponsor the Ride!
Sponsor the ride or offer pledges for a rider from your congregation! Make checks payable to ELCA World Hunger with Pedal for Peas in the memo line, and place your gift in the offering plate. 100% of your gift will go to ELCA World Hunger. Our fundraising goal is $10,000

Donate now to Pedal for Peas with 100% of your gift to benefit ELCA World Hunger - CLICK HERE


Click here for more information!
Click here for the registration form!

Montana Life After Hate Tour: Lessons From A Former White Supremacist
 
When former white supremacist skinhead Christian Picciolini left the movement he helped build, he began the dramatic shift to work to disengage youth from white supremacist groups and violent extremism. The Montana Human Rights Network will be hosting Christian for his “Life After Hate” Montana tour to share his story and offer ways to counter the movement his was part of promoting.

Rachel Carroll Rivas, Co-Director at the Network said that, “This tour is prompted by recent hate activity in the state. We know we can combat violent extremism by understanding how good people get caught up in bad movements, politicians manipulate our unrest by blaming certain groups, and coded language leads to extremism. Christian’s story is just that, a story about how people are pulled into these hate movements looking for identity and community. The white supremacist movement offered him and too many others a sense of purpose and someone to blame for his problems.”

In the midst national uptick in hate activity, Montana was the center of national news because of the mainstreaming of white supremacist ideas by operatives like Richard Spencer, whom has connections to Whitefish. Spencer is the most well known of the white supremacist “alt-right” movement and even incited a crowd after the election with “Hail Trump” chants and Nazi salutes. Recently, Spencer and his mother precipitated and encouraged an online troll storm against Jewish women and human rights activists in Whitefish.  

Montana has long been a target of the white supremacist and violent anti-government “Patriot” movements. Similarly, Montana made headlines in 2016 as the state exported a number of extremist activists central to the standoff at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada and at the occupation of the Malheur Refuge in Oregon. Montana is also home to the extremist group the Oath Keepers, whose predecessors in the movement included the Militia of Montana and Freeman.

While radicalization is all too common in the Montana, the state is also known for having a unique watchdog group in the Montana Human Rights Network. While Christian Picciolini was promoting racism with skinheads in the 80s and 90s, the Network formed as part of a number of local groups nation-wide that produced reports about the radical Right and engaged in a basic community organizing to counter hate. Most of these groups around the country disappeared, but the Network continued as a steadfast model of how to oppose the radical Right as they switched issues and targets and emerged stronger, as we see today. That sustaining effort has meant that the Network’s local affiliate Love Lives Here in the Flathead, for example, has been reported as a national model for how to successfully respond and counter the white supremacy they faced in the last few months.

“The most important part of Christian’s story how he changed and he believes it’s everyone’s job to stand up to bigotry and violence everywhere we see it,” Carroll Rivas said about what the Network hopes is the outcome of Christian’s visit.

Christian Picciolini is an Emmy Award-winning director and producer, an author, and a reformed extremist. His work and life purpose are born of an ongoing and profound need to atone for a grisly past and to contribute to the greater good. After leaving the violent hate movement he helped create during his youth, he began the painstaking process of rebuilding his life. In 2010 he co-founded Life After Hate, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities implement long-term solutions that counter racism and violent extremism. Christian published his memoir, Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead, where he details his involvement in the early American white power skinhead movement in 2015. In 2016, Life After Hate launched ExitUSA, North America's only program run by former extremists, focused on helping people disengage from white supremacist ideologies. Last year he won an Emmy Award for producing ExitUSA's anti-hate PSA, "There is life after hate."

The Montana “Life After Hate” tour will be in the following locations in the state. More information can be found athttp://www.mhrn.org or www.facebook.com/MTHumanRights
April 2017
Fri 21st 7:00 pm, Great Falls
Dark Horse at Celtic Cowboy, 116 1st Ave S
 
Sat 22nd 7:00 pm, Helena
Plymouth Church, 400 S Oaks
 
Sun 23rd 3:00 pm, Hamilton
River Street Dance Theater, 421 N 2nd
 
Sun 23rd 7:00 pm, Missoula
University Center, RM 332, UM Campus
 
Mon 24th 7:00 pm, Whitefish
O’Shaughnessey Center, 1 Central Ave 

The Daring Way for Church Leaders
May 8th - Our Savior's Lutheran in Great Falls/ 9am to 5pm
Led by Rev. Sarah Ciavarri, ELCA Pastor

Would you like to strengthen your leadership and increase your capacity to be courageous in uncertainty?  Are you wanting to be more resilient personally and model that in your congregation?  This retreat will position us at this rich intersection of social science research and Scripture, faith, and theology.  Based on the groundbreaking work of Dr. Brené Brown, this workshop will empower you to more effectively handle stressful situations in ministry, provide tools to clarify your core values, the role of vulnerability in ministry and create greater resiliency for handling the ups and downs of life and ministry.  This workshop is a combination of short lectures, self-exploration, sharing and skill building exercises.  We will learn with and from each other, create sacred ground where our stories are honored and where you can explore how faith, Scripture, and ministry connect for you and practice new skills to empower you to lead with increased joy, authenticity, and purpose. 

Our retreat is based on the Daring Way™ developed by Dr. Brené Brown.  The primary focus is in developing shame resilience skills and developing a courage practice that transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead.  Dr. Brené Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston and a bestselling author.  Her Ted Talk on vulnerability is the 2nd most popular talk.

8 Contact Hours
$90 Clergy/ $75 New to Ministry, Retired, LPA

Northern Rockies Institute of Theology is a continuing theological education ministry of the Montana Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. 

NRIT exists to provide and promote lifelong learning for the people of the Montana Synod (and their neighbors) , for the purpose of equipping them in their lives of ministry.

For more information about NRIT click here.
To download additional educational resources click here.

Sojourners Camp for at-risk 11-13 year olds
 
Once again Christikon is offering a camp experience for at-risk 11-13 year olds. 
The camp is July 12-18, 2017.

This program was started decades ago by the Montana Association of Churches, and is open to children of all backgrounds. 

For more information, to receive brochures, or to make a referral, contact Christikon at 406 656 1969, or secretary@christikon.org.

From the Montana Human Rights Network

Anti-Muslim Legislative Action Alert

Next week, the State House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on SB 97.  SB 97 is a thinly veiled attempt to target people of the Muslim faith. It is part of the growing anti-Muslim movement in the country. Montana hate groups are perpetuating fear of refugees and immigrants effort to build bolster the radical right and support for Trump.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, falsely claims the bill is an effort to protect the rights of women and children in an effort to divide supporters. If  legislators truly want to protect women and children there are many other pieces of legislation that do so, like fully funding public education or supporting "Equal Pay for Equal Work" and "Paid Family Leave."

This bill is about spreading hate, fear and bigotry and promotes religious discrimination. In additional, the bill is legally unnecessary and confusing for international business contracts. Human rights, women's rights and religious freedom supporters need to speak up against hate.

We need IMMEDIATE messages and phone calls to members of the committee,and ask you to contact your Representative. Click the link below, and let your representative know that Montana has no room for hate. 

Send Message HERE!