Rock Spring Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC)

Our community is firmly committed to demonstrating God’s love in action. Rock Spring contributes a significant portion of its budget to missions and social justice.

The Board is guided by Rock Spring’s Just Peace Statement and Open & Affirming Statement and has two purposes:

• To build awareness by educating our congregation and community on social issues of Christian concern and sharing knowledge about events and activities that will enable us to serve the community and promote social justice;
• To engage our congregation by taking steps for advocacy on progressive social issues of Christian concern and providing the congregation with options for individual action.

How to get involved in the work of the Social Action Board

The Board of Social Action meets every second Tuesday of the month at 7:30 pm in the Saegmuller Room.

Join our Thematic Groups

Members and friends of Rock Spring are invited to join any one of the following three thematic groups and two committees, all of which operate under the oversight of the Board of Social Action:
• Direct service: Thrive DC, Hearts and Hammers
• Gift-giving and fund-raising: School supplies at Barcroft, Secret Santa
• Advocacy: special service on August 9 for world peace
• Eco-Justice Committee
• Open & Affirming Committee

Priorities in 2009

The Board of Social Action had a retreat in March 2009 and selected the following activities for 2009.
• Direct service: Thrive DC, Hearts and Hammers
• Gift-giving and fund-raising: Souper Bowl of Caring, school supplies at Barcroft, Secret Santa
• Advocacy: Special service world peace, peace and justice in Colombia, NRCAT

Direct Service

• Thrive DC (formerly Homeless Women’s Dinner Program, now serving both men and women) – Rock Spring volunteers on the second Sunday of every month at First Trinity Lutheran Church, 501 4th Street NW (corner of Fourth and E Streets). There is a sign-up sheet for volunteers on the Social Action bulletin board. The work is from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. and this program needs the equivalent of four adults. Many (mature) children have participated, some as young as 5 or 6. See one family’s experience with Thrive DC under News below.
• Hearts and Hammers – PRJ Housing’s Hearts and Hammers program is a volunteer home repair program that addresses small repair needs in the homes of low-income omeowners in the area, helping about 45 households each year.

Gift-giving

• School supplies – We provided school supplies for 26 needy children at Barcroft Elementary School in August 2009.
• Secret Santa – We will continue with NOVAM (Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry) this year. In 2008, Rock Spring collected and delivered more than 150 gifts to 36 children and adults in time for Christmas.

Advocacy

• World Peace Day – Social Action organized a special service on August 9 in commemoration of Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945), centered around a traditional Japanese tea ceremony (see News below).
• Colombia – We are continuing support for Ricardo Esquivia and his work for Reconciliation and Peacea in Colombia.
• National Religious Campaign Against Torture – We are continuing support for NRCAT.

Programs offered in 2009:

One-off programs

• Souper Bowl of Caring
• Hearts and Hammers
• Special service for world peace
• School supply drive
• CROP walk to fight hunger
• Secret Santa

On-going programs

• Thrive DC (formerly Dinner Program for Homeless Women)- see article below
• Fair Trade coffee sales
• AFAC: Arlington Food Assistance Center food collections
• Open & Affirming, focusing on the issue of marriage equality, which led to the amendment of the church’s Opening and Affirming statement to support marriage for all couples regardless of gender
• Eco-Justice activities, including Earth Day events and green living suggestions to church members

Committee on Eco-Justice

Please click here for more information on Rock Spring’s Eco-Justice Committee.

Open and Affirming Committee
For information on the activities of this committee on marriage equality and Rock Spring, please go to the Open & Affirming section of the web page by clicking here.

2009 Social Action News

Twenty-seven Rock Springers walk and raise $3,184 to fight hunger
Twenty-seven Rock Springers signed up to march on October 17 in CROP Walk to raise money for those who need food assistance. Because of the bad weather, some walked on other days. The walk helps children and families worldwide and in Arlington – one-fourth of the money raised goes to AFAC, another organization Rock Spring supports. CROP Walk is a community-based, family-friendly event in which Rock Spring has been participating for years. It is organized by ecumenical organization Church World Service.

Rock Spring Hearts & Hammers team transforms a home in Arlington
On October 2nd and 3rd, the Rock Spring Hearts & Hammers All-Stars tackled and vanquished a charming home in South Arlington that was showing its age, much to the delight of its elderly owner. Here is the roster of Rock Spring All Stars:

• Susan Nelson Johnson is a veteran of all our Hearts and Hammers projects and makes everything happen seamlessly. She has the rare gift of organizing tasks, materials, work schedule and partners so that we all keep busy and tasks happen in logical order.
• Stan Calvert and Charles Spencer looked like NBA players in the small bathroom and collectively came up with a number of creative solutions to finally mount a shower curtain rod and 16-inch grab bar.
• Susan “DiVinci” Daniels set a world record for hands over-head painting on the back porch and completed a three-person job going solo.
• John Overholt fixed a dysfunctional dryer with a new heating element and exhaust pipe and, with able help from Chris Sullivan, designed and installed double back step railings on which a Sumo wrestler could slide down.
• John and Robin were joined on Friday night by Michael Bell who dug a couple of 18-inch holes to set in concrete the 4-by-4 posts that anchor the railings. Working outside, Michael, on Friday, and Chris, on Saturday, were unwilling participants in a new weight loss program featuring the biggest mosquitoes north of the equator.
• Robin Overhold was everywhere, helping all, while installing plexiglass in two windows and heavy plastic sheeting in others to make this home much more energy efficient.

The afternoon of October 3rd brought new faces and new activities:

• Janet Parker, Leigh Anne Slonkam and Yolanda Henderson made the living room look so brand new, another volunteer thought he had walked into the wrong house when they were done painting.
• Tom Hall spent much of the afternoon in the dungeon/basement helping design essential railings for the homeowner’s safety purposes. He also handled the power drill like Joshua Bell (they both play violin expertly) in tight quarters and at odd angles. A real triumph when we finished.
• John and Robin were their amazing selves and their skill and dedication were exceeded only by their generosity.

We all had a lot of fun and the residents were misty eyed when they saw the transformation.

Service for World Peace on August 9, 2009
The service on August 9 was centered on the theme of world peace expressed through tea offering. Rock Spring was grateful to have at the service Miyahara Sensei, Director of the DC branch of the Urasenke Foundation in Kyoto, Japan. The Way of Tea dates back to the 16th century and is based on four principles: harmony, respect, purity, and tranquility.

There are many metaphors shared between the Way of Tea and Christianity; there is common ground in the spirit of the tea ceremony and the spirit of the communion table. To enter a team room, you must first pass through the nijiriguchi, or the crawling-in entrace. This very low door forces you to literally bow down as you enter the room. Crawling into the room, social status is erased. Once inside the tea room, the host is to serve every guest as though he or she is a member of the nobility, taking no notice of their status or position.

For thick green tea, the host makes one bowl of tea, enough for several guests. The guests take three sips each and share from the same bowl. For thin tea, the host makes and serves a bowl of tea to each guest, and the guests drink the tea together. These actions mirror the spirit of service and the radical hospitality that Jesus embodied during the last supper, which we remember and re-enact during the communion service.

Miyahara Sensei prepared a bowl of tea before the congregation and placed it at the altar. As she dedicated the tea to world peace, she bowed before the altar, and the congregation followed by bowing in individual seats. The service also included singing in Japanese by Jason Henderson, followed by the congregation, of a Japanese hymn, “Here, O God, Your Servants Gather”; prayers for peace; “How Beautiful are the Feet ” from Handel’s Messiah by Elizabeth Kluegel Niblock; and a flower arrangement at the altar in the Japanese Ikebana style given in a form of requiem for the souls that perished in Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) and for survivors and their families who have continued to suffer radiation effects since.

Family Experience with Thrive DC
My 14-year-old son Max and I helped out in the dinner program for homeless people at Thrive DC on January 11. After we were done, we talked to Bill, a cook for the program, about the possibility of Max coming back and adding to the time we put in that night to achieve his eight hours of community service for the Boy Scouts. Bill said yes, and Max went back for the next 4 nights.

On his last day, Max needed only 45 more minutes. But he stayed for the whole shift and ended up with 10 hours. He enjoyed helping out, and also liked taking the subway there by himself. Every day after school, Max would be dropped off at the East Falls Church metro station and got to the First Trinity Lutheran Church in town on his own, even changing trains at Metro Center to transfer to the red line (they were fortunately across the street from each other). I picked him up each day when he was done.

Through his years of volunteering at this program and because of Rock Spring’s on-going support, Max has learned to appreciate the importance of getting involved and helping out. Thrive DC provides a great opportunity for families to help out in our community in a tangible way. Rock Spring volunteers on the second Sunday of every month. Please consider signing up on the sign-up sheets on the Social Action Board bulletin board next to Janet’s office, or sending an email to socialaction@rockspringucc.org.

Vicki Lindsay

2008 Priorities

International Priorities:
Internationally, the Board has prioritized the issue of peace in zones of conflict, with a special emphasis on seeking peace in Iraq, The Sudan, and Colombia. Additionally, Rock Spring is an active member in the National Religious Campaign to Ban Torture, seeking to ensure that our government never engages in torture.

State and National Priorities:
The Board’s national and state priority is immigration, with particular emphasis on immigration issues facing Northern Virginia.

Community Priorities:
Rock Spring will continue to support a wide range of community organizations and activities, including Arlington Interfaith Council, the Potomac Association, Shaw Ministries and other organizations of historical special interest to Rock Spring. The Board’s primary activity is to support an Iraqi family in Arlington.

In addition, the Social Action Board identified three areas of special concern and interest to Rock Spring that cut across the geographic priorities listed above, including: eco-justice & open and affirming/marriage equality.

 Sub-Committee on International Issues

The Campaign To Ban Torture
Rock Spring believes that torture is incompatible with God’s message of love and compassion for all. Rock Spring is a member of both the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) and the Washington Region Religious Campaign Against Torture (WRRCAT). Rock Spring commemorated Torture Awareness Month in June by displaying a banner reading “Torture is a Moral Issue.” The Board is also hosting an open forum on U.S. sponsored torture in September.

International Peace

Tents of Hope for the People of Sudan — A Journey of Compassion and Peace with the Refugees of Darfur, Sudan: The Youth of Rock Spring (YORS) and the Social Action Board are working together in this community-based effort to draw awareness and action to the genocide taking place in Darfur, Sudan. As part of this initiative, we will decorate and raise a tent on our church grounds this spring. The tent will be used as a venue for educating our congregation and community and raising funds for humanitarian relief in Sudan and Chad. Our decorated tent will join hundreds of tents from over 35 states and 4 countries on the Mall in Washington DC in a national week-end event in early November to advocate for stronger US policies and action in Sudan. We will also sell 1’ by 1’ squares of tent canvas for Rock Spring members to decorate. These squares will be sent to Darfur where they will be sewn into tents to provide shelter and hope to a family in need. Stay tuned for more details.

Colombia: Rock Spring is partnering with church leaders in Colombia working for peace. In April, the Board of Social Action and individual members and friends of Rock Spring signed a letter to members of Congress, asking them to reconsider military aid to, and aerial fumigation in, Colombia and cut them back.

Sub-Committee on State and National Issues

Immigration
The Board of Social Action plans to work with other organizations in the area on immigration issues.

Sub-Committee on Local Issues

Sponsorship of an Iraqi Refugee family:
Since December 2007, Rock Spring Church has participated in a refugee ministry, working intensively with an Iraqi refugee family as well as with other Iraqi refugees. All of these individuals have entered the country on special parole visas, awarded to individuals and their families who have worked in some way with the United States and whose lives were in danger in Iraq. This category of refugees includes translators, embassy workers, and many others. The people in our group were granted asylum in June. Together with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington and Langley Hill Friends Meeting, Rock Spring has helped to supply home goods for nearly 20 people, including two babies in five apartments.

One family has been provided housing through Rock Spring Church. With help from other churches, we have provided this family with many additional services—providing rides, identifying medical and dental support, purchasing grocery food cards, coaching adults on job hunting, and facilitating contact with children’s schools. We are continually reminded that while peace appears elusive in the world at large, our care and support is making peace in a small and tangible way. For information on how you can help, please contact the Social Action Board at: socialaction@rockspringucc.org.