Keeping the Faith in Rural America:
A local and national conversation


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HELP ORGANIZE A SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION TO KEEP THE FAITH IN RURAL AMERICA

With your help, NCRLC will celebrate its 84th anniversary in many places, addressing many issues, and in a truly national manner. We ask you to, sometime during the two-week period of October 27 – November 11, 2007, bring together 5 personal friends around your kitchen table or 50 people (or more) in your parish hall to discuss group-selected issues of local and common concern, reflect on their faith, and decide what they will do to begin to address the issues. This will be a wonderful way to begin your Thanksgiving celebration early by talking about our food, where it comes from and who provides it. We’ll provide you with tools to do just that.

We’re calling this gathering of gatherings, Keeping the Faith in Rural America, A local and national conversation. The issues below are not geographically "rural." They affect all Americans directly and/or indirectly. So, if you’re located in New York City or another urban center, we hope you will participate. Your small group participation is valued as highly as that from Oshkosh, Nebraska.

We’re interested in many issues, but participants will be encouraged to select the issue of greatest importance and common interest in the group. Your group might focus on HUMAN HEALTH, such as the build up of pesticides (agricultural/home) in human bodies or impacts of confined animal feeding operations (air quality, water quality, antibiotic resistance). The focus might be SUSTAINABILITY, such as water distribution and use (irrigation, drinking water, groundwater use in mining, bottling groundwater for sale), or sustainability of agriculture (local foods, organic foods, GMOs, lack of processing facilities). Some groups may want to focus on issues of GLOBALIZATION, such as the global food system (hunger, trade, food aid, food security, corporate control). Others on SOCIAL JUSTICE, such as agricultural workers (safety, wages, health, immigration, documentation). Another big area is the ENVIRONMENT, such as global warming (energy sources, lifestyle, solidarity, adaptation, mitigation) or increasing water pollution (agriculture, commercial, municipal). And of course COMMUNITY, such as rural community development (capital, assets, leadership, participation).

Most importantly, we hope this initial gathering will lead to another gathering, study, reflection, prayer, personal or collective action. Feedback NCRLC receives from each group will become part of the national conversation on the issues through NCRLC’s outreach to religious and civic leaders and their constituents at all levels.

We hope you will invite your friends and networks to organize similar small gatherings in their neighborhoods, communities, or parishes.

For tools to help you organize this small-group gathering, click here . Please do it now. We need your help and you can make a difference!

Join this national gathering of local conversations October 27 – November 11, 2007 and help Keeping the Faith in Rural America! It’s a new beginning!

Please let NCRLC Executive Director (interim) Tim Kautza, ncrlctk@mchsi.com, know your name, email, and location if you plan to organize Keeping the Faith in Rural America in your community.