Worship, study and dialogue with hundreds of people of faith at the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days.  (Janet Parker will be co-leading a workshop on the intersections between eco-theology and immigration on Saturday morning.)  On Monday, we go to Capitol Hill to advocate for our members of Congress to remedy these global injustices.  The 2010 conference will be held March 19 – 22 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia.  Register online at http://advocacydays.org/registration/index.php.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation.  The United Church of Christ is a sponsor.

On Sunday, March 21, Rock Springers will participate with members of other V.O.I.C.E. congregations and houses of worship in the national March for America: Change Takes Courage and Faith march for immigration reform on the U.S. Capitol. Thousands of people of faith and other immigrant advocates from across the country will gather in Washington, DC, to call on Congress to pass just, humane immigration reform this year and deliver a robust jobs program that puts people back to work.

The event will begin with an interfaith prayer service at 1:00 pm at the Lincoln Memorial and the march will take place from 2:00-5:00 pm.  V.O.I.C.E. is organizing buses to the march for its members. Let Megan Fletcher know if you would like to join Rock Spring’s group of marchers. For more details on the march and its sponsors, see http://changetakesfaith.org/.

Do you know what Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement is? Did you know that Rock Spring UCC recently became an “exploratory member”? Do you know what opportunities V.O.I.C.E. offers for Rock Springers? Do you know what “relational meetings” are?

Come join Rock Spring’s V.O.I.C.E. core team for lunch, an opportunity to connect or re-connect with fellow Rock Springers, and an intro to VOICE’s social justice mission and the issues around which it is organizing people in Northern Virginia. We’ll also show a short video on the organizing model of the IAF, the umbrella organization to which V.O.I.C.E. is affiliated.

We will hold this session twice: first on Sunday, April 11th and, second, on Sunday, May 23rd. Both will be held from 12:30-2:30 pm in Carpenter Hall.

Arlington Food Assistance Center needs food on a daily basis to meet the growing stream of low-income families, especially children. Average clients coming to AFAC are up 100 percent from two years ago; the number of children is up 150 percent. Non-perishable items are needed continuously to meet this demand. The seasonal surge from end-2009 holiday season is now exhausted, and food is being dispensed almost the same day it is received.

There are red barrels in the corner outside the office and in the Narthex to collect non-perishable foods for AFAC. Preferred food items are cereal, canned fruit, canned vegetables including canned beans and canned tomato products, canned tuna or chicken, and peanut butter. There is a chronic shortage of all of the above food types. Regular sizes are easier to distribute equitably than jumbo containers. AFAC also welcomes monetary donations to buy eggs, milk, and meat and to fill in other foods as needed. For questions, email socialactionandmission@rockspringucc.org.

Envelopes are in the mailing and can also be found in the pews. Or you may write a check to Rock Spring Congregational UCC with “OGHS” in the memo line and place it in the offering plate (with or without an envelope). Don’t worry if you miss March 14, gifts can still be made through Easter.

Find out more about One Great Hour of Sharing at www.ucc.org/oghs. You can also read about two of the global ecumenical organizations through which the UCC implements a large part of its relief and development budget: the Church World Service www.churchworldservice.org and the ACT Alliance www.act-intl.org . Or send a question or comment to socialactionandmission@rockspringucc.org