PRIORITIES FOR 2025

COMMITTEE LEADERSHIP

Steering Committee Co-Chairs: George Hodge and Cathy Kimble

Strategic Planning Meeting Meeting | Sunday, August 3 | 11:15 a.m.

Our annual strategic planning meeting will be held on Sunday August  3rd at 11:15 (following the 10 am service).  This is a great opportunity for those interested in social justice issues to get involved. A light lunch will be served. 

To help us plan for food and beverage,  please RSVP to George Hodge.

SACRED GROUND: A Race Dialogue Series
September 2025 - February 2026

Join us on our journey to Becoming Beloved Community by peeling away the layers that have brought us to today. Through film, reading, and discussion we will reflect on our own  family history, church history,  as well as overall narratives that shape the American Story. To bring SACRED GROUND to as many parishioners as possible, we have divided the series  into 3 sections. You may choose to participate in one, two, or all three sections. Facilitators: George Hodge and Chris Aycock

SECTION  I
Sundays  |  September 7, 14, 21  |  11:15 a.m.—12:00 p.m.

View the film American Creed, introduced by Pulitzer Prize winning historian David M. Kennedy and former U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. The film presents interviews with people from across the country expressing  a cross section of views on what it means to be an American? The movie will be shown in three parts and include brief reflections. 

SECTION  II
Thursdays  |  October 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 and November 6  |  6:00—7:30 p.m.

Attend six sessions built around discussion of a powerful curriculum of documentary films and readings focusing on the early history of all the peoples of this country and how their histories have intersected. Expect one hour of preparation study for each session.

SECTION  III
January and February

Dates and times  to be announced.

Attend  a  five session program that focuses on the more recent histories of all the people in this country. 

Past participants of this Episcopal Church developed series found it to be a profound experience of gaining knowledge, rich discussion with fellow parishioners, and spiritual growth. We invite you to experience this dialogue series, grounded in faith.

Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) at St. Michael’s

On January 23, 2024, 80 people, including St. Michael’s clergy and the CEO of The Green Chair Project, participated in a Poverty Simulation cohosted by St. Michael’s and The Green Chair Project. Everyone was cast either as a member of a low-income family or a community service provider. Each family biography detailed the personal challenges as well as specific financial constraints. The structure of four “15-minute weeks” instantly created stress as the head of the household—perhaps a single grandparent raising two children—had a number of crucial tasks to accomplish. If the grandmother has a job she must be “at work” for 8 minutes, leaving only 7 minutes to take the bus to the bank, to go to the grocery store, to attend to health appointments for a child. There was never enough time.

By the end of the evening, participants understood on a visceral level the heroic energy it takes to cope with the challenges and the psychological impacts of poverty, especially on children.  Participants learned that 5,143 North Carolina children experienced homelessness in the 2022-23 school year, up from 2,174 in the 2015-16 school year. The Green Chair Project reports that 1 out of 30 Wake County students do not have a bed of their own.

The poverty threshold is $30,000 for a family of four; 92,000 residents of Wake County (8% of the population) live in poverty, while 13% of people in North Carolina live in poverty. 17% of North Carolina children live in poverty.

The federal minimum wage, last raised in 2009, is $7.25. A worker earning minimum wage earns $1,257 a month; the median Raleigh rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is $1,499.

Poverty data from Wake County, HUD, and The Green Chair Project.

Bill Duff runs the Pawn shop. Sally Norton recruits workers. Lining up for work.

RESOURCES AND PAST EVENTS