Close to 200 participants from across the United States, Haiti, Malawi and Uganda gathered in Los Angeles October 3^rd – 6^th for an uplifting four-day conference where we shared best practices for faith-based community outreach and organizing, enjoyed multicultural worship celebrations, and learned more about Shalom activities in the city where Shalom Zones originated in 1992.  Click here to see a video describing “Shalom in Los Angeles: The First 20 Years.”

The Local Planning Committee from Cal-Pac Communities of Shalom appreciates the generosity of local funders and sponsors:

 

- The Justice and Compassion Essential Ministry Team of the California-Pacific Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church

- The Los Angeles United Methodist Urban Foundation

- West District of Cal-Pac Conference of the United Methodist Church

- Asian Pacific American Legal Center

 

Thank you also to Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas for presenting the Urban Foundation with a beautiful commemorative scroll from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

 

Summit highlights included:

- An opening reception at the Grammy Museum and Target Terrace in LA LIVE. See photos here.

- Music, dance and spoken word performances from a diverse array of ministries in the Cal-Pac Annual Conference. See photos here.

- Multicultural worship, plenary sessions and over a dozen micro seminars and workshops. See photos here.

- Neighborhood tours and learning sessions at church and program sites throughout the Los Angeles area. See photos from the Pico Union & South L.A. tour and site visits here and view photos from the Long Beach tour and site visit here.

 

More photos to come!

Wednesday, October 3 – Saturday, October 6, 2012 join hundreds of community leaders and people of faith in Los Angeles to celebrate the 20th Anniversary Shalom Summit: “Growing Healthy Communities.”

Online conference registration is now closed. On site conference registration will take place at the Biltmore on Wednesday, October 3^rd and Thursday, October 4^th. Registration is $225 for all conference activities.

Conference hotel:

Millennium Biltmore Hotel

506 South Grand Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90071

T: 213-624-1011

Parking:

Pershing Square Self Park (across the street from Hotel)

Day rate:  $10
Evening & Weekend rate:  $7
Overnight rate:  $16  (no in/out privileges)

Participants are responsible for getting their parking validated at the Shalom Summit registration table to get these negotiated rates.

 

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3

4- 7 PM

Summit Registration / Check In

Biltmore Hotel

6:30 – 9 PM

Reception at Grammy Museum & Target Terrace

Hosted by Actor and “Minister of Shalom” Gaius Charles

LA LIVE Downtown

800 W. Olympic Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90015

 The reception is not a public event, but is for registered Shalom Summit participants only

 

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4

7:30 – 9 AM

Summit Registration / Check In

Biltmore Hotel

7:30 AM – 7:30 PM

Walking the Labyrinth for Spiritual Health

An open Meditation room available for conference participants throughout the day

Bernard Room

9 – 10 AM

Opening Worship Celebration

“Shalom for the World: A Service of Word & Table”

Participants: Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño, Rev. James M. Lawson, Rev. Kelvin Sauls, Bishop John Schol, Rev. Dr. Tanya Linn Bennet, Gwen Wyatt Chorale and Rev. Greg Norton

Crystal Ballroom

 10 – 10:30 AM

Conference Welcome Program

Crystal Ballroom

10:30 AM – 12 PM

Microseminars

“Engaging and Transforming Community Systems”

Michael Mata, Institute for Urban Initiatives, Fuller Seminary

 

“Demonstrating Acts of Isaiah’s Vision of a Healthy Community”

Fr. Paul Bigirwa, St. George Hope Health Centre, Western Uganda

Michael Christensen, International Director, Communities of Shalom

 

“Mapping and Mobilizing Health Assets for Community Development”

Amy Moritz, Center for Transforming Communities, Memphis

Cynthia Abrams, Director, Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care, GBCS

 

“Added Value of Love-in-Action”

Valerie Mossman-Celestin and Paul Prevost, Haitian Artisans for Peace International

Copeland Nkhata, Mzuzu Shalom Zone, Malawi

 

“Organizing to Beat the Devil”

Baldwin Park Shalom Team (Los Angeles), Protecting Downtown Small Businesses

 

“Many Faiths, Many Cultures Weaving the ‘Single Garment’”

Tanya Bennett, Interfaith Coalition for Hope and Peace, Newark, NJ

Baamu Moses, Regional Shalom Trainer, Uganda Communities of Shalom

 

12:15 – 2 PM

Luncheon & Program

“Shalom in Los Angeles: The First 20 Years”

Hosted By Stewart Kwoh, Asian Pacific American Legal Center

Emerald Ballroom

 

2:15 – 3:30 PM

Workshops I: Cultivating the Social Determinants of Health

 

“Politics and Shalom:  How Government partners with neighborhoods to create a City of Shalom”

Mayor Robert Reichert, Macon, GA

 

“The New Jim Crow:  Resisting the Industry of Mass Incarceration”

Kelvin Sauls, Senior Pastor, Holman UMC; Rev. Gary Williams, Holman UMC

 

“The Story of  Binghamton:  How to start a Shalom Zone (and re-start a church) in the Place where you Live, Work or Worship”

Amy Moritz, Executive Director, Center for Transforming Communities, Memphis

 

“Wal-Mart Wants to Move In: Organizing a Community Response”

Aiha Nguyen, Director “Good Grocery Stores” campaign, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy  Maricruz Cecena, Community Organizer for Good Grocery Stores”and opposition to Wal-Mart in China Town, Los Angeles

Sandra Candler, the Jacobs Center, San Diego

Moderated by Stephanie Kimec, GBGM Young Adult Missionary

 

“A Living Wage for the 99%: How to Organize a Living Wage Ordinance in Your Community”

Vivian Rothstein, Deputy Director of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy

Guillermo Torrez, CLUE organizer on the Campaign for a Living Wage ordinance in Long Beach, CA

Rev. Jim Conn, Former Mayor of Santa Monica, CA

 

“The Spiritual Factor: Preventing AIDS and Living Positively with HIV (Learning from Shalom Sites in Africa)”

Dr. Caroline Njuki, Assistant General Secretary, Mission Relationships, GBGM

Pastor Baamu Moses, Jinja, Uganda

Rev. Copeland Nkhata, Mzuzu, Malaw

Fr. Paul Bigirwa, Western Uganda

 

“The UMC Connection: Pooling our Wisdom and Resources in a Time of Downsizing and Accessing Innovative Resources for Ministry with the Poor”

Jeri McKie, Associate General Secretary, Mission and Evangelism

Cynthia Sloan, United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence, General Board of Global Ministries

 

3:45 – 5 PM

Workshops II: Growing Healthy Communities in Hard Times

“Politics and Shalom:  How Government partners with neighborhoods to create a City of Shalom”

Mayor Robert Reichert, Macon, GA

 

“The New Jim Crow:  Resisting the Industry of Mass Incarceration”

Rev. Kelvin Sauls, Senior Pastor, Holman United Methodist Church

 

“Doing More with Less: Funding and Sustaining your Shalom Zone”

Ken Alexo, Office of Advancement, Drew University

 

“Reducing Childhood Obesity: How to Forge Congregation-Community Health Partnerships”

Cynthia Abrams, Director, Alcohol, Other Addictions and Health Care, GBCS

 

“Healthy Families, Healthy Planet: Transforming the World One Mother at a Time”

Katey Zeh, Coordinator, Healthy Families, Healthy Planet, GBCS

 

“Place-Based Strategies for Health: Screening and discussion of training film “Unnatural Causes: Place Matters”

Annie Allen, Coordinator of Training, Shalom Resource Center, Drew University

Frank Tamborello, Hunger Action Coalition, L.A

Leonard Vilches, Union de Vecinos, Maywood, CA, involved in the campaign against the privatization of the city’s water

 

“The UMC Connection: Pooling our Wisdom and Resources in a Time of Downsizing and Accessing Innovative Resources for Ministry with the Poor”

Jeri McKie, Associate General Secretary, Mission and Evangelism

Cynthia Sloan, United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence, General Board of Global Ministries

 

6 – 7:30 PM

Dine-Alogues in Downtown L.A.

Participants who wish to can participate in facilitated discussion groups and will pay for their own dinner.

 

8 – 9 PM

Evening Cultural Celebration

Local performers from the Filipino Migrant Center, Cambodian Choir, Los Feliz Korean UMC Choir, Hawthorne Tongan Choir and Dancers, Kid City Baked Potatoes Jazz Band, and Oportunidad Voces de Esperanza

Crystal Ballroom

 

9 – 10 PM

Film Screening of “Friday Night Lights” episode on racial issues and discussion

Hosted by Actor and “Minister of Shalom” Gaius Charles

 

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 5

 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM

Walking the Labyrinth for Spiritual Health

An open Meditation room available for conference participants throughout the day

Bernard Room

 

8:30 – 10:30 AM

Ted Hart Fundraising Training: Sustaining Shalom

Plenary Session

Crystal Ballroom

 11 – 11:30 AM

Overview of Shalom Tours & Program Site Visits in L.A. Area

All tour/site visit participants must be in the Crystal Ballroom by 11AM  to join tour groups. All buses and the walking tour will leave the hotel at 11:30 AM promptly.

Crystal Ballroom

11:30 – 5 PM

Tours and Site Visits of Shalom in Action in and around Los Angeles

Lunch will be provided on the tours

 Bus Tour: Pico Union and South Los Angeles:  Transitions from 1992 to 2012

Demographic and economic changes in South LA since the 1992 civil disturbances at Florence & Normandie

Bus Tour: Multi-faith Dialogue in Koreatown: Buddhist-Catholic-Protestant Shalom

Guided by Rev. Joe Hyun-Seung Yang, who founded the first Shalom Zone, the Shalom Community Center, this tour will visit several sites in Koreatown

Bus Tour: Building a Healthy Community in Downtown Long Beach

Exploring economic community health projects, including community gardens and grass roots health clubs in “The Neighborhood/La Vecindad United Methodist Church

Walking Tour: Healing and Hope on Skid Row: Rebuilding Lives with Holistic Services

Participants will visit three distinct organizations working to support children, families and adults dealing with homelessness, substance abuse and mental illness

 2 – 4 PM

Workshop in Hotel for those not going on site visits

Ted Hart Fundraising Training Part 2: Sustaining Shalom

Plenary Session

Crystal Ballroom

 6 PM

20^th Anniversary Dinner and Spirit of Shalom Awards Dinner

Crystal Ballroom

 

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6

“The Church Has Left the Building: RETHINK CHURCH at COMMUNITIES OF SHALOM”

11AM – 2 PM

MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, CA

Join us at the southwestern corner of the park, near the corner of 6th and Parkview

Offsite activity Distribution of non-perishable food items, Lunch, Crafts and Worship

Special Guest Rev. Rudy Rasmus, Pastor of St. John’s UMC in downtown Houston, Texas, and host of Sirius XM’s LOVE rEVOLution.

Additional Cost: $10 (no one turned away for lack of funds.)

 

ABOUT COMMUNITIES OF SHALOM

Shalom Zones were created by the United Methodist Church in May of 1992 as a response to the conditions that incited the Los Angeles civil unrest following the Rodney King police brutality verdict on April 29, 1992. The first Shalom Zones developed in the Los Angeles communities of Koreatown, South Central, Pico Union  and East Los Angeles. neighborhood.

Communities of Shalom are committed to:

- Improving community health care and coordination of services
- Developing the prosperity and economies of communities
- Strengthening relationships among neighbors
- Renewing the spirit of God in communities and congregations

To date, faith community members and community residents in over 380 Shalom sites have received training in the United States, West Africa, and Zimbabwe. Currently, approximately 100 Communities of Shalom are active in the world.

On April 29, 1992, Los Angeles erupted in fire and violence in response to a Simi Valley jury’s acquittal of four LAPD officers. They were charged with assaulting and using excessive force against Rodney King, an unarmed African American motorist, whose beating at the hands of these officers was caught on videotape and widely shown. Protests and riots lasted for six days throughout Los Angeles, fueled in varying measure by outrage at uncurbed police brutality and racial profiling, frustration over persistent economic inequality and disinvestment in the urban core, prejudice and misunderstanding among residents from different racial and ethnic groups, and also by opportunities for looting. At the end of the six days, over 12,000 people were arrested, more than 4,000 had been injured, and property damages were estimated to exceed one billion dollars. Fifty-three people died.

What have we learned? How is Los Angeles different now? Could something like the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest happen again?

This month, two decades after one of the worst urban riots in modern history, a number of civic institutions are inviting L.A. residents to reflect on the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest and use the lessons from that event to create a more equitable and unified city in the decades to come.

Tuesday, April 24: L.A. Civil Unrest: A Community Blueprint for the Next 20 Years

TIME: 6 PM- 9PM

LOCATION: City Hall, Board of Public Works Room 350 200 N. Spring Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Los Angeles Human Relations Commission presents “L.A. Civil Unrest: A Community Blueprint for the Next 20 Years.” Co-sponsored by Claremont Lincoln University and many other community institutions, this event marks the 20th Anniversary of the LA Civil Unrest with a discussion that examines current conditions and priorities with an outcome of recommendations for policy makers. Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa will be a special guest. All are welcome.

Thursday, April 27: 20 Years Later: A Day of Dialogue on Civil Unrest

TIME: 9 AM -11:30 AM (8:30 Registration & Continental Breakfast)

LOCATION: FAME Renaissance 1968 West Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90018

This leadership dialogue will consider the causes, impacts, and solutions of the civil unrest as we strive to be a better, more unified community. Event sponsors include Days of Dialogue; Empowerment Congress; and Korean Churches for Community Development, The SAIGU (Serve, Advocate, Inspire, Give and Unite) Campaign. Space is limited, so please register now: http://tiny.cc/dodregistration1

Sunday, April 29: Healing Our Communities

TIME: 6 PM

LOCATION: Holman United Methodist Church 3320 W. Adams Blvd., Los Angeles 90018

Claremont Lincoln University’s Center for Engaged Ethics, Holman United Methodist Church, and Wilshire United Methodist Church are co-sponsoring this special event at Holman for the 20th anniversary of the L.A. uprising. Claremont alumnus and Holman Associate Pastor Gary Williams has been helping to build bridges between African American and Korean communities and arranged this special service of healing and deliverance. Contact revgary@holmanumc.com for more information.

The United Methodist Federal Credit Union is providing financial assistance to college students through its Reverend Frank Witman Scholarship Fund. The fund will offer four $500 scholarships to students attending any institution of higher education for professional, academic or vocational training and development in the 2012-2013 school year. Eligible candidates must belong to the UMFCU (to join, visit the UM Federal Credit Union website), be enrolled for the current academic year with a minimum of 12 credit hours per academic term, have a cumulative grade point average of 2.5 and be enrolled or planning to attend an accredited college or university, campus ministry, community college or recognized technical or trade school at the time the award is issued. Applicants must also write a 1,000 word essay communicating the importance of financial responsibility in their lives and the world around them.

Applications are due April 15, 2012. To learn more and download an application, click here.

The United Methodist Urban Internship is a new program for recent two-year and four-year college graduates who are interested in exploring career opportunities in hands-on, faith-based urban transformation.  This program will launch in September of 2012 and will end in August of 2013.  Interns will work full-time in urban ministry in the Los Angeles area and will receive free housing (in a shared house near the University of Southern California), a food allowance, health insurance, spiritual mentoring and a monthly stipend while participating in the program.  Young people do not need to be United Methodists to apply.

Interested? Visit www.UMurbaninternship.org for more information and to apply online by March 15, 2012.  It could change your life!

As we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, it is important to reflect on King’s concept of the Beloved Community. In summarizing the efforts of the Civil Rights Movement, King stated, “Our goal is to create a beloved community and 
this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.” King envisioned a Beloved Community that was non-discriminatory, equitable, sensitive, and compassionate.

If King could observe America today he would be disappointed with the state of this nation. King would be disappointed that we have lost thousands of lives and spent over a trillion dollars in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He would not buy the argument that either war was necessary. At the heart of the Occupy Wall Street protests are the staggering disparities between the rich and the poor in this country. The top one percent of Americans own approximately 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. King would adamantly agree that the top one percent should not live at the expense of the 99 percent. (Renford Reese, San Bernardino Sun, posted January 12, 2012)

American life is built on the faith that many people can rise from humble origins to economic heights. But many researchers have reached a conclusion that turns conventional wisdom on its head: Americans enjoy less economic mobility than their peers in Canada and much of Western Europe. ”It’s becoming conventional wisdom that the U.S. does not have as much mobility as most other advanced countries,” said Isabel V. Sawhill, an economist at the Brookings Institution. ”I don’t think you’ll find too many people who will argue with that.”

One reason for the mobility gap may be the depth of American poverty, which leaves poor children starting especially far behind. Another may be the unusually large premiums that American employers pay for college degrees. Since children generally follow their parents’ educational trajectory, that premium increases the importance of family background and stymies people with less schooling.  (Jason DeParle, New York Times, published January 5, 2012)

But King would be disappointed in our failure to provide quality education in our urban schools. He would also be disappointed in our biased and hyper-punitive criminal justice system.

At the height of the Civil Rights Movement King was hated by many in this country. They thought he was a rabble-rousing socialist who was cancerous to America. People hated King for trying to do the right thing—for trying to hold this nation accountable for living up to the egalitarian spirit of the Constitution. People hated King and could not explain why. He only became an icon of peace and racial reconciliation over a decade after his assassination.

We should use King’s holiday to deeply reflect on our role in embracing a non-discriminatory, equitable, sensitive, and more compassionate society. In legislative assemblies, schools, and in the workplace, we should embrace behavior that would make King proud, not disappointed. In our private and public lives we should strive to embrace his Beloved Community. (Renford Reese, San Bernardino Sun, posted January 12, 2012)

This blog entry directly excerpts text from two articles posted online by Renford Reese (San Bernardino Sun, posted January 12, 2012) and Jason DeParle (New York Times, published January 5, 2012)

On Friday, January 20^th the Carson Faith & Community Based Funding & Resource Seminar will host a free seminar for faith-based organizations.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Endowment, Federal State and Local Grants
• Forming Separate For-Profit or Non-Profit Organizations
• Separating Church and State
• Developing Affordable Housing
• Using Federal Employment Tax Credits

Location

Juanita Millender-McDonald Carson Community Center

801 East Carson Street

Carson, CA 90745

Time/Schedule

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

(check-in at 8:30 a.m.)

Registration

There is no cost to attend but you do need to register. Click here to register or call 888-847-9652.

Sponsors

This event is sponsored by Jerome E. Horton, Chair of the Board of Equalization. Co-sponsors include the Carson City Council, United Job Creation Council, Korean Churches for Community Development, Chinese for Christ and Chinese for Christ Calvin Chao Theological Seminary.

Congratulations to members and supporters of La Plaza United Methodist Church for waging a successful campaign and negotiating a tentative deal that could allow the church to stay in its historic El Pueblo home for up to 30 more years!

The City of Los Angeles and the church have been at an impasse for five years, since the church’s 1956 lease agreement expired. A 2006 proposal from the city would have charged the church $14,000 per month to rent the structure in which it has been serving the community since 1916. The new deal would charge the church $663 per month for 80 hours of monthly use. The church is required to create a museum and continue to provide community services to all visitors, whether long-term members, tourists or local residents as part of the 15-year deal, which includes an option for another 15 years.

The La Plaza Initiative is directed by Urban Foundation staff member Leonora Barrόn, who has worked with La Plaza Church members, the Bishop of the California-Pacific United Methodist Conference, Olvera Street Merchants, an interfaith clergy group and elected officials, to appeal to El Pueblo City staff and the El Pueblo Commission for over a year to help create a fair lease that would allow La Plaza UMC to continue over 100 years of outreach to the poor in this historic neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Special thanks to Councilmember José Huizar for shepherding this issue through the Los Angeles City Council. While the new lease deal must still be formally approved by the City Council and the El Pueblo Commission Councilman Huizar said that he hopes to see the deal completed by November of 2011.

To learn more about this story, see this report on ABC news.

On Wednesday, August 17^th join supporters of La Plaza United Methodist Church who will meet at the church at 8:30 AM to march to Los Angeles City Hall to appeal to the City Council for a fair lease to allow the church to continue holding services and delivering social services to the community. (See www.saveolvera.com)

La Plaza UMC is located on Olvera Street, and is one of the historic structures maintained by El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, a department of the City of Los Angeles. The church has offered to pay a flat fee per month that doubles the current rate the church is paying to the city. Instead, the El Pueblo Administration wants to charge the church on a per hour basis that discourages the delivery of social services for the poor, which La Plaza has offered on Olvera Street since 1916.

In the summer of 2010, church members were ordered to vacate La Plaza UMC so that the City could correct earthquake damage and make other repair to the church building. The understanding was that the congregation would return to its church building thereafter. The repairs were completed, but abruptly, just prior to the church’s rededication ceremony in November of 2010, City staff changed the locks and the pastor was physically removed from the church while preparing for the big re-opening event.

Through our La Plaza Initiative, the Urban Foundation has worked with La Plaza Church members, the Bishop of the Methodist Conference, Olvera Street Merchants and elected officials, to appeal to El Pueblo City staff and the El Pueblo Commission to give the congregation keys and an equitable and fair lease to continue over one hundred years of social service outreach activities supporting the poor in this historic neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Developers along with willing and compliant City bureaucrats are waging a campaign to discredit Olvera Street Merchants and oust non profits. The La Plaza Methodist Church is their first non profit target!

To learn more, go to www.saveolvera.com

A new book by Claremont School of Theology professor, Dr. Helene Slessarev-Jamir, has just been released by New York University Press. Prophetic Activism: Progressive Religious Justice Movements in Contemporary America is being called the first broad comparative examination of progressive religious activism in the United States. It offers readers a deeper understanding of the richness and diversity of contemporary religious justice movements through five case studies of justice movements that have their roots in progressive interpretations of Scripture: congregational community organizing, worker justice, immigrant rights work, peace-making and reconciliation, and global anti-poverty and debt relief.

Helene Slessarev-Jamir is the Mildred M. Hutchinson Professor of Urban Ministries, a position the Urban Foundation helps endow at the Claremont School of Theology. To order or learn more about Prophetic Activism, click here.