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As the evening was wrapping itself up after our Christmas Program and Tasting Party, I was excited – and it wasn’t just a sugar high from all of the great treats! We had shared a really wonderful evening together and that alone was worth being thrilled about, but I’m even more excited to share that we had a really successful night for the Advent Conspiracy – our struggle against the consumerism of the Christmas season. Between our two outreach operations, we worked to help make a difference in the world around us!

Our first ever Offering of Letters, supported by Bread for the World (www.bread.org) was successful beyond my greatest hopes. We have mailed over 50 letters to the offices of Senators Inhofe and Coburn and Representative Boren requesting that they not overlook the working poor in this season of tax cuts and credits. Our letters will remind them that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit make a real difference in Oklahoma and our nation, and we feel that it is not only important, but also our gospel calling, to support those who are in need. This was a great outreach of our congregation – and we didn’t ask anyone to spend even a dollar to do it!

Of course, we did go ahead and pull out our wallets to share a few dollars in our first ever donation exchange. Instead of giving gifts in a “secret Santa” fashion, we exchanged charity names with one another and asked our fellow participants to make an offering of $10 (or more!) to the charity that one of our fellow church-goers had submitted. I’m looking forward to hearing back from everyone who has participated by anonymously returning the portion of the form with the name of charity and the amount of the gift given. After Christmas, we will share a list of all of the charities that were blessed by our generosity this year!

I have to say, the generosity and spirit that has been on display around our congregation has brought great joy to me this Advent. I hope that our efforts to make a difference have been life-giving for you as well – I already know that they are life-giving for those in need.

Your fellow conspirator in the Gospel of Jesus,
Clint

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This week we bring the church budget process to a conclusion with the congregational meeting that will follow our worship service Sunday. This is good news – we have a budget ready for the new year that continues to support our ministries within our congregation and beyond! While this is worth celebrating, I hope you’ll grant me the opportunity to talk about another budget concern – the one that is going on in our nation’s capital.

With the midterm elections creating a shift in power in the House of Representatives in January, we have heard a lot about taxes for the past few weeks – probably more than we ever cared to hear! But in all of the debates over whether to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for everyone or just the middle class, a couple of key provisions in the tax code that are set to expire have been all too conveniently forgotten: the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

Bread for the World (www.bread.org), a Christian organization that works with Congress to promote policies to end hunger and eliminate poverty, promotes an “Offering of Letters.” The offering of letters is a call to Christians to write their senators and representatives and urge them support programs that will work to provide opportunity to low income and impoverished families that often times find it difficult to put food on the table – and this year they are working to support the continuation of the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits.

Why does this matter? In 2006 alone, 309,747 Oklahoma households claimed the EITC and received an average of $1,974 per household in tax breaks. In that same year, 192,848 Oklahoma households claimed the CTC for an average break of $1,028 per family unit. For low-income families that live below the national poverty line, $3,000 a year can mean the difference between basic nutrition or a diet of processed foods high in sugars, salts, and other unhealthy additives. Proper diet for a child can mean the difference between a chance at a healthy life or one lived with recurring illness and disease, a problem we see time and again in the poverty of Cherokee County alone.

So you are invited to conspire to make a difference. The Outreach Committee will be sponsoring a letter writing campaign to our senators and representative, encouraging them to support the renewal of the Earned Income and Child Tax Credits. We will set up a computer and printer at the Tasting Party next Sunday evening to allow you to sign a personalized form letter to our elected officials. Or if you would rather give it a truly personal touch – feel free to write your own letters and bring them to the Tasting Party and we will mail them as a collection to our respective officials. But all you have to do is show up and sign your name to make a difference.

I hope you’ll join me and the Outreach Committee in supporting this important tax credit for fighting hunger and poverty!

Your fellow conspirator in the Gospel of Jesus,
Clint

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Senate Bill 1965 was born on February 1, 2010 in the Oklahoma State Senate to Senator Harry Coates.  It passed from this life around April 4, 2010 in the House Judiciary Committee with numerous family members by its side.

The Oklahoma State Senate in session. (Photo by Becky J. McCray/Flickr, used under Creative Commons 2.0)

Senate Bill “SB” 1965 entered the world as an Open Meetings and Records Act, filled with hope for providing transparency in government and the freeing of information.  Showing great potential, “SB” was quickly enrolled in the Senate Education Committee where it excelled in athletics, maturing into an “An Act relating to schools; creating the Task Force on the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.”  With a bright future before it, SB 1965 graduated, eagerly looking forward to life after education.

However, this new life proved difficult for SB 1965.  Shortly after graduation, it entered into a period of turmoil where it questioned its identity and future.  “SB” was taken in by Senator Steve Russell, a quixotic former military commander who longed to joust the menacing windmills of Federal hate crimes legislation.  With his own child, Senate Bill 2165, dying an agonizing death in the Senate Judiciary Committee, Russell convinced SB 1965 to give up its promising athletic career and join his dubious quest to protect freedom of religion and speech for privileged, straight, peoples.  Looking more and more like Russell’s now deceased bill, SB 1965 emerged from its midlife crisis set on perpetuating injustice in Oklahoma.*

Yet it was in this new chapter of life in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that Senate Bill 1965 finally found redemption.  Coming under the tutelage of Representative Mike Shelton, SB 1965 acknowledged its misspent youth and retired to the obscurity of the Judiciary Committee, where it remained until death on or about the 4^th of April.  Senate Bill 1965 was preceded in death by his adoptive brother, Senate Bill 2165.  It is survived by a host of other Senate Bills that legitimately serve the good of the people of Oklahoma.

No memorial services are planned.  In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Equality Network.

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* The original bill was modified on the Senate Floor by a substitute bill offered by Senator Russell and voted do pass by a count of 39 ayes and 6 nos.  I stand in admiration of the courage of six senators who voted against this unjust bill: Tom Adelson, Johnnie Crutchfield, Richard Lerblance, Andrew Rice, John Sparks, and Jim Wilson.

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Related Posts:

• SB 1965: Destroying Dialogue, Destroying Lives  |  Xenia Institute
• Hate Crimes in Oklahoma: Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell  |  Xenia Institute

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