Feeding the Poor
Bruce Wright - The Refuge
Why minister to the poor?
- It can affect anyone
- It lends credibility to our message
- Jesus' Example
- Scriptural Reasons : Isaiah 58, Proverbs, James 2, Matthew 25, Luke 6, Amos, Mosaic Law
- Economics
- Diminishes Crime
- Lifts up esteem
- Poverty violates human rights
- Just the right thing to do
Who are the poor?
- Young and old
- Men and women, mostly women
- Street youth
- Mentally ill
- Unemployed
- Downsized
- African American
- White American
- Other nationality
- Drug dependent
- Multiple issues
- Most Americans-One paycheck away from the street
Where are the poor?
- Rural
- Inner-city/Urban
- Big Cities
- Appalachians
- The South
- Reservations
How do we minister to the Poor?
- The Poor must participate and lead
- FTH , BTH; PEHRC; Homeless Coalitions; The Ripple Effect; Welfare
- With compassion and not judgment
- Food distribution
- Clothing distribution
- Housing
- Halfway houses
- Communes (Catholic worker, Bruderhofs, JPUSA and Sojourners)
- Treatment
- Squatting (taking over abandoned houses)
- Permanent housing
- Grants from foundations
- Creating sources of income:
- Community garden
- Collectives
- Businesses
- Advocacy:
- Welfare Reform
- Discrimination
- Prison Industrial Complex
- Jobs with living wages
- Unions
- Distribution of wealth - Philosophy
- Using the Arts
- Art of the poor
- Benefit shows for the poor
- Resource Organizations:
- KWRD
- PEHRC
- League of??
- CRYS
- Refuge
- Labor Party
- Critical Resistance
- Books:
- "Rich Christians" by Sider
- "Soul of Politics" by Wallis
- "The Presence of the Kingdom" by ??
- "Communism in the Bible" by Miranda
- "Stupid White Men" by Moore
- "A Theology of Liberation" by Gutierrez
- "People's History" by Zinn
- "Organic Faith" by Sider
- "The Future is Up to Us" by Perry
- Periodicals:
- Catholic Worker
- People's Tribune
- Sojourners
- Crysis
- The Nation
- Cornerstone Magazine
- Prism
- Websites:
- catholicworker.org