The Gospel in Action

Today's Faith & the Common Good highlights the best of denominational outreach as a model for faith-based efforts in society.

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First, a big round of applause for pastors and members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America who have reached out to drought-stricken farmers and ranchers in Texas. The drought has decimated feed crops for livestock and created prime conditions for wildfires that have also plagued the state over the summer. Some ranchers have been forced to sell off their herds at bargain prices before the animals were fully raised.

According to an article released by the denomination's information agency, The Rev. Harold R. McMillin, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Luana, Iowa, learned about the plight of Texas farmers and ranchers at the 2011 ELCA Churchwide Assembly held Aug. 15-19 in Orlando, FL. Unlike Texas, the farmers and ranchers in McMillin's community in northeast Iowa produced an abundant hay crop -- enough to spare some for the beleaguered Texans.

When he got back to Iowa, McMillin helped  to organize a cross-country "hay lift." He told his congregation about the need on a Sunday, and by Monday evening there were four truckloads of hay donated. A farmer at St. John, Iowa, donated about 55 bales of hay, which is enough to fill one flatbed semi-truck. When one considers that a single bale can fetch between $60 and $70 at a hay auction, the monetary value of his donation, well, "ain't hay," as we say.

The word about the need continued to spread, and offers for contributions of hay and financial gifts came from as far as Minnesota to McMillin's congregation. ELCA Disaster Response has provided an initial $25,000 to support the hay lift. Read the full story.

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Across the country in Florida, congregations affiliated with the United Church of Christ served as rest stops and information centers for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers as farm laborers and supporters made a 200-mile interfaith bicycling trip through the state's southwest.

According to an article by Jeff Woodard from the UCC information office, the "Pilgrimage to Publix" was staged in support of better working conditions for the state's tomato pickers. The event began Aug. 29 with a blessing of the riders and a brief prayer service at Naples NCC. It ended Sept. 6 at the Lakeland, FL, headquarters of the major Florida supermarket chain. The article said in part:

"With the support of nine multi-billion-dollar retail food corporations – including McDonald’s, Florida-based Burger King and Publix competitor Whole Foods – more than 30,000 farm workers are hopeful of realizing concrete changes beginning in the fields this season. Among them:

•   Assured access to shade
•   The right to report abuses without fear of retaliation
•   The ability to form health and safety committees in the fields
•   Zero-tolerance provisions for forced labor and sexual harassment
•   A wage increase funded by a 1-cent-per-pound premium paid by participating retailers."

Publix has repeatedly refused to cooperate with the workers' demands. Publix CEO Ed Crenshaw also refused to meet with the farm workers and their supporters, as he has done in the past, when the pilgrimage arrived in Lakeland.

Read the full UCC story.

Details on farm labor issues from CIW.

TPC's Take: No doubt about it, folks: This is the gospel of Jesus Christ in action. Sadly, these are the kind of stories that rarely make it into the mainstream media, leaving people to believe that churches today are irrelevant holdovers from a pious past.

TPC recommends that we all share these stories of Christians doing God's work in the world with people we know Print out this column and post it on the church bulletin board to hold up these faithful Christians as role models when similar opportunities arise in your part of the world.