Remembering the good old days before the church went high tech

This is an old photo taken at UALC on Thanksgiving Day--maybe 10 years ago. I don't know what's happening at your church or how other Christians stock food pantries for the poor, but I miss the days of this photo. Now in November we pick up smallish, printed bags with a list of ingredients/food items that will NOT be brought to the front of the church, but quietly whisked off to Lutheran Social Services for the food pantry before the actual holiday. Forgive me staff and pastors, but I think the "high tech, high touch" church has lost even "the touch," the personal involvement, and now it's all about making sure we follow the rules and check the church web page. In seasons past, I usually picked up $10-20 of non-perishable goods a week at the supermarket during November and put them in bags I kept in the kitchen. It helped me think about those who needed help. We were told how much more the food pantry could buy if we just wrote a check. But I also liked the idea I was supporting a local business who employed people who were taking the bus from parts of the city we suburbanites never see, or the truckers out on the free-ways, or the warehouse employees, or those who work in the processing factories and on farms to make sure we all can over-eat on a holiday. Call me crazy, but I liked seeing bags of groceries at the altar. I never remembered the sermon, but I knew my story.

Do something small that won’t change lives

Today I packed a bag for a family or household to have complete sides with the turkey Lutheran Social Services will distribute--mashed potatoes, 2 different vegetables, 2 fruits, a cake, gravy, cranberry sauce and pumpkin. I also packed a bag for "God's Hygiene Help Center" which includes personal care items for women who need to get back their dignity. This was started by Tammy Jewell about 8 years ago who was using her own disability check to buy things for those less fortunate. I packed shampoo, hand lotion, cotton balls, razors, deodorant, hand sanitizer, feminine hygiene products, and new Christmas socks, just for fun.

No one's life will be permanently changed. But the recipient may just be on a temporary slide and can bounce back, but she could be mentally ill and spend the rest of her life on the street. Why not have one good day to feel like everyone else? Would that be so terrible?

A few years ago I was visiting in Mt. Morris around the holidays and my Uncle Gene stopped by to chat. He was feeling great--he and a bunch of guys at the bar had taken up their annual collection for turkeys and were going to distribute them to (there was a list). They felt good and there were some families who had a nice meal--nothing life changing, just people helping people.

I was thinking about this because two Nobel Prize winners won on the basis of small projects enhanced by competition and incentive—finding out that children in Africa learn better if the teacher shows up, and that children are more like to get immunizations if they and the health care worker show up.  So simple.  Yet the author of the article was critical.

https://www.econlib.org/nobel-laureates-aim-too-low-on-global-poverty/

Annual reports for non-profits

I don't like glitzy annual reports for non-profits. If you want to find out how they are using your money and helping society for all their federal tax benefits and huge salaries for CEOs you have to wade through page after page of posed photos and graphs that tell you nothing. Lutheran Social Services of Central Ohio was the latest I was trying to read--but the most recent report is 2012, and for the section for homeless (Faith Mission) it is 2011. I began my search trying ...to find out what had become of the Interfaith Hospitality Network begun by churches in 1988 (became a building run by the YW around 2005), and in the process found the new offices of the LSSCO. Fancy digs in Worthington, far, far away from hunger and homelessness. As they say in DC, bad optics. Also while waiting for pages to load, I discovered there is an app for locating homeless shelters. For the Obamaphone?

I stopped supporting LSS several years ago when I found out their health insurance covered abortion.  This was before the Obamacare push.

Don't look for help from certain Lutherans

Today I was chatting with a Catholic lobbyist about the HHS Mandate. I told him I didn't think he'd see much support for the Bishops from the Lutherans. I explained that I checked with Lutheran Social Services about its health insurance for employees, and found out that yes, it does cover abortions in employees' health insurance. He seemed surprised, because many Protestant groups have come forward to support them. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America--UALC's former synod--and LSS are doing much worse than Obama's mandate! If they step up now, they'll be total hypocrites.

I told the Vice President (of the local LSS) that I would not be contributing to Lutheran Social Services any longer and reminded her that over a third of abortions are for black women.

If the mandate were only about extending contraception coverage, exempting religious institutions would be obvious. But it's more than that. It is about bringing institutions thought to be retrograde to heel, and discrediting their morality. It is kulturkampf disguised as public health.
Read more.

Missouri Synod Lutheran is more Christ-like and Biblical in its response and may remember what happened when the German state socialists (Nazi) took over the church in the 1930s.

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran statement.

“The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod clearly understands and teaches that Jesus has directed his followers to ‘give to Caesar what is Caesar’s’ (Mark 12:17) and that secular government is used by God for the good of all society. Christian citizens recognize their responsibility to pay taxes, support the government, obey its laws, and pray for its leaders. While it is not normally within the sphere of the church to become involved in secular politics, we do recognize that individual Christians have a responsibility to exercise their rights as citizens, to express their beliefs, and to encourage the government to act in the best interest of society.

“Therefore, we encourage all of our members, as Christian citizens, to express their convictions boldly and to urge the government to be faithful in carrying out its primary responsibility to protect and preserve life. We also encourage our members, as many others in various denominations and church bodies have done, to recognize and speak out against this clear threat to the blessing of religious liberty American citizens have enjoyed since the founding of the nation.

“We also confess and affirm that if the government directs us to do something in clear violation of the will of God, ‘we must obey God rather than men’ (Acts 5:29).”

Why I don’t buy 48 cans of soup for $5.00 for Souper Bowl Sunday

Beginning in 2011, I’ve consciously bumped our tithe to 11%, by adding in 1% for food for the Lutheran Food Pantry, although I’d been donating groceries to the LSS box from time to time. This amounts to about $9.50/week, and if you’ve been to the store lately, you know that doesn’t buy much. That’s 4 cans of Progresso Soup, and 2 boxes of Ralston cereal, medium size at Marc’s, a no-frills supermarket.

So why not contribute $5.00 for 48 cans of soup to the Food Pantry which will buy them at the Mid-Ohio Food Bank in Columbus?

Here’s why. 1) I’ve already paid for that food through the USDA’s programs buying food to be processed by companies it contracts with. The acronym is TEFAP, The Emergency Food Assistance Program. The USDA buys the food, including processing and packaging, and ships it to the States which work out details of administration and distribution. The States select local organizations that either directly distribute to households, or serve meals, or distribute to other local organizations like LSS that perform these functions. Our Food Bank is also supported by foundations, non-profits, and donations which receive tax breaks. The quality is nutritious and meets government standards, but it’s not competitive with the brands you would buy at your local supermarket. They are below “house brand” quality. Subconsciously, you know that food processed in this way is actually more expensive in the long run. In 2010 the government food distribution program was $692,900,000. And they were asking government employees to beat the bushes because a lot of the food goes unclaimed.

2) When I pay $1.25 per can for Hearty Tomato Progresso Soup and donate it I’m more in touch with the family who will consume it, and I think that's closer to Jesus’ Matthew 25 idea of how to meet him in person. We meet him physically in the Eucharist and in service. What a wonderful opportunity.

3) And finally, when I purchase something at a local supermarket I’m circulating my tithe. I am indirectly paying the investor, the owner, the staff (many low income part-timers like students, disabled and elderly), my local community’s taxes, the trucking company that transported it, the local utilities, the processor, the box company, the graphic designers, printers and marketers who advertise the product, etc. Although the local, state and federal governments do purchase some of these items in TEFAP, the money has to run through so many fingers from my hand to DC and back again to Columbus to get to the poor, it becomes very inefficient and is the reason that the War on Poverty was already lost before the first shot was fired in the 1960s.

So, that’s why I buy 4 cans for $5.00 instead of 48. It’s actually cheaper and more spiritually fulfilling.

What will you do with your "stimulus" check?

According to the AARP web site:

"More than 52 million Social Security beneficiaries will today (May 7) begin receiving an extra $250 payment, as part of the effort to reinvigorate the American economy and boost consumer spending. The additional bonus check, which also will be sent to older veterans and railroad retirees, is part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act—the so-called stimulus package—passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on Feb. 17.

You won’t have to file any forms to get the money. Payments will show up through May as an extra check or an automatic bank deposit, depending on how you receive your benefits. Couples who are eligible will receive a total of $500.

A spokesman for Social Security says those who usually get their benefit checks during the first week of the month will be the first to receive their additional payment, which could be as early as today.

No one knows yet what recipients will really do with their $250, but that hasn’t stopped the Social Security Administration from asking. On April 9, the SSA posed the question on its website. So far, more than 4,000 people have responded. Their answers suggest that recipients are likely to go out and spend their windfall—exactly what the plan’s architects hoped for."

If you read my blog, you know I've been debating whether to even cash mine--I really can find no evidence in any of the government sites or government media that I am eligible. I don't receive SS, not on my own work account, and not on my husband's, because I receive a state teacher's pension. Back in the 1980s receiving both was declared double dipping--but only for teachers and state civil servants--private pensions weren't affected (but just you wait--I'm sure you too will be asked to save the system). So we called our accountant, and she didn't know either, but there was something new, that I hadn't seen. Apparently at one site, it is reported that people receiving FEDERAL pensions (but not SS) were eligible for the stimulus check. So we're extrapolating from that comment that STATE pensions also apply (civil service, teachers, etc.) Our accountant did say, however, that it is virtually impossible to give back a check from the government, even if they were wrong to send it.

OK, now what to do with it. I'd hoped to donate the entire amount to an organization that doesn't take government grants--so that wouldn't be most church run social services. So I was thinking our *local pregnancy distress center, PDHC--maybe a donation to honor the service of Pvt. William Long, whose death has been covered up by the hoopla over the murder of George Tiller, a man who killed thousands of babies through out his career. President Obama has not commented on Long's death by a Muslim terrorist, but expressed great concern over Tiller's death, which shows who his supporters are. But then last night's Channel 10 news reported that many Southern Ohio food pantries have closed, and they're sending our mobile Lutheran Food Pantry Truck once a week to help some of the smaller cities, like Ironton, which used to be a thriving town. The food banks, which depend on government surplus, warehouses, food processing plants and buy outs are stretched pretty far, and church members are taking up the slack. So I may divide my check by purchasing food for the food pantry to feed the children already here, and donating the remainder to save the children not born yet.

*Other cities in Ohio