Covenant to Overcome Poverty
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the CTR Covenant
The persistence of widespread poverty in our midst is morally unacceptable. Just as some of our religious forbears decided to no longer accept slavery or segregation, we decide to no longer accept poverty and its disproportionate impact on people of color. In the biblical tradition, we covenant together in a Call to Renewal. By entering this Covenant, we commit ourselves to:
1. Prioritize people who are poor - both in our personal, family, and vocational lives and in our congregational and organizational practices - through prayer and dedication of our time and resources.
2. Decide our financial choices in ways that promote economic opportunity and justice for those in poverty.
3. Evaluate public policies and political candidates by how they impact people who are poor.
4. Challenge racism, dismantle the structures of racial injustice and white privilege still present, and seek reconciliation among all groups in our society.
5. Nurture the bonds of family and community and protect the dignity of each person
6. Organize across barriers of race, denominations, and social boundaries in common commitment and action to overcome poverty in our own communities, our nation, and our world.
The following people endorse Call to Renewal's Covenant to Overcome Poverty and are willing to put their faith into action. The national Call to Renewal hopes to enlist a million signers - people of faith who want to put poverty on the national agenda.
If you are interested in signing the Covenant to Overcome Poverty, please call Mary Heintzelman at 774-2042, ext. 113. She will forward a form to you to fill out and sign.
Please ask your friends, family members, and coworkers to join with you in endorsing this Covenant. Ask them fill out the form with you and get their signatures, as well. Then fax or mail the completed form to us - West Michigan Call to Renewal - 774-2883.
Signers:
Geraldine Baldassari
Mary De Ridder
Donald G. Williams
R. John Thompson
Betty Zylstra
Claudette Byers
Angela Elzinga
Judi Buchman
Kathy Needham
Martha Krzyzewski
William C. Johnson
Rosa Avellaneda
Jayne Von Linsowe
Rev. Ellen Brubaker
Rev. Bobette Hampton
Rev. Archie Vander Hart
Dr. Dick Ter Maat
David E. Hoekstra
Lori Fedewa
Vera Douma
Rev. Mary Martin
Rev. Roger Groenboom
Don Holtrop
James M. Beerens
Kathleen White
Robert Roth, Jr.
M. Chris Lane
Ruth Naylor
Cheryl Molenbeek