Partnering for education and vocational discernment

TO:                  Educational Institutions: colleges, universities, seminaries, and theological schools

FROM:            J. Herbert Nelson, Director for Public Witness

                        Leslie Woods, Representative for Domestic Poverty & Environmental Issues

RE:                  On Becoming Partners in Training Servant Leaders

DATE:             August 23, 2012

We celebrate with you as you begin a new academic year of education and vocational discernment. We join with you in faith and eagerness to prepare new servant leaders and ministers for the church and broader society.  Because of this commitment to formation and vocational discernment, we would like to introduce to you our Internship and Summer Fellowship for Public Witness programs.

The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness in Washington, DC, believes that the formation of servant leaders and advocates is essential to our ministry.  Having maintained a presence in our nation’s capital since 1946, this office serves as the prophetic social witness and advocacy office of the PC(USA), representing the General Assembly’s statements on social justice and peace to national decision-makers and to Presbyterians across the country. In 2010, we revamped our internship program to provide more opportunities for young adults (and the young in spirit) to experience a broad range of experiential, professional, and vocational learning, and to study and engage in the ecumenical and interfaith political advocacy community in Washington, DC.

Our commitment to ecumenical and interfaith political advocacy is the cornerstone of our work. Members of our staff, together with other faith partners, advocate for legislation that achieves, or at least moves us toward economic justice and poverty alleviation; comprehensive immigration reform; an end to gun violence; Middle East peace; greater support and access for persons with disabilities; a torture-free world; fair (not free) trade policies; just and sustainable food and farm policies; environmental justice, and a host of other issues.

Further, we engage the PC(USA) in this work, empowering Presbyterians at all levels of the church to exercise their rights and responsibilities as Christian citizens of a wealthy and diverse nation.  We believe that this is an excellent training ground for persons desiring to learn more about social justice work in the twenty-first century.

As you prepare your students to be responsible citizens and leaders in society and/or the church, whether ordained or lay, we hope you will consider us as a partner in your task to educate, equip, inform, and transform the minds and lives of the theological students in your care.  Our Internship and Fellowship for Public Witness programs are excellent opportunities for your students to gain new experience and new knowledge, and we are happy to comply with institutional requirements, including field education/supervised ministry requirements, so that students may receive academic credit for their service with us.

Please invite your students to visit our website or to contact our Internships coordinator, Leslie Woods at leslie [dot] woods [@] pcusa.org, by email or by phone at (202) 543-1126.  Please distribute this information to interested students and encourage them to apply.  We look forwarding to partnering with you in the education and formation of your students.

Home Care Workers should have Wage Protection too

Tell Your Senator: Don't Prevent Home Health Workers from Earning Minimum Wage

In December of 2011, the Obama administration announced that it was proposing updates to regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act that would ensure minimum wage and overtime protections to in-home care workers. More information about the proposed changes is available from the Department of Labor. Office of Public Witness Director, Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, submitted comments to the Department of Labor in support of this proposed regulation:

In light of our theological understanding of vocation and stewardship, and of the inherent value of work, we believe that all persons deserve the opportunity and have a responsibility to productive work at a fair wage.  This proposed rule will serve the common good by making working and living situations that much better for a segment of the population.  As our neighbors rise, so do we all.  Emphasizing the common good has clear implications for improving the economic security of older adults and for the workers who care for them.  We strongly support this proposed policy, which will improve the quality of care for people living with age-related and other disabilities, and the quality of the jobs of those who provide that care.

While this proposed change was intended to respond to the changing nature of the growing in-home care industry, some in Congress are working to prevent home health workers from accessing basic minimum wage and overtime protections. Tell your Senator today that home health workers deserve a living wage.

With respect to home care workers, in 2001, the Presbyterian General Assembly, "encourage[d] the church to be diligent in its covenant responsibility to its older members and their caregivers, advocating for living wages for all in this important industry." And in 2006, the General Assembly approved Economic Security for Older Adults, in which it advocated a system that "provide[s] workers in the formal, long-term care system decent wages, benefits, and working conditions." Home care workers provide skilled care for their patients and clients. They are much more than sitters and companions. Take action today to ensure that they get the wages they deserve.

This graphic outlines some statistics about home health care workers in this county. The facts are clear: home health workers deserve a living wage. Don't let Congress prevent them from earning one.