Over 1.8 million nonprofits and charities for donors, volunteers and funders
291 Pageviews Read Stories
- EIN 94-1186187
- 408-297-2660
- 1710 Moorpark Ave San Jose CA 95128 USA
- www.councilofchurches-scc.org
- Add to Favorites
Promote This Nonprofit
Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Civil Rights, Interfaith Coalitions, Intergroup & Race Relations, Race, Religion
Mission:
The Council of Churches is dedicated to creating a more just and peaceful society for all people and works with many diverse groups to achieve that goal. The Council is focused on issues of intergroup relations and with others works to address unemployment, job creation, better educational opportunities, just tax polices and a criminal justice system that reduces recidivism. The Council sees its mission in the context of a global community and therefore defines its work in relationship to the global human family.
Results: In order to understand the work of a council of churches one needs to understand the difference between direct service programs and programs that focus on education and advocacy about the causes of problems and avenues to public policies that can address those causes. For example, as a hypothetical, if we were to focus on the causes of homelessness, or home foreclosures, we would seek to identify ways for people of faith to witness for policies that address such problems. Building new homes for the poor js very worthy but if we can influence policies that make more resources available for home construction, it will mean that instead of a Habitat for Humanity program building a hundred houses, tens of thousands of homes may be built as a result of changes in public policy.
Target demographics: Our target is the leadership and adult population of local congregations.
Direct beneficiaries per year: During the recent controversy over construction of Islamic Mosques, and the extremist call for Christians to burn copies of the Muslim holy book, The Koran, the Council convened some 50 religious leaders to speak against such sentiments at a press conference. The Council created a public letter expressing opposition to any abrogation of American Muslim rights signed by more than 200 clergypersons. Later the Council held a public rally at the James T. MacEntee Plaza of Santa Clara County. The general public of 1.7 million people was helped to understand the moral principles at stake for the public good.
Programs:
The Council staff created power point programs for regional meetings and for local congregations on “The Moral Stakes in Health Care Reform” emphasizing the need for (1) accessibility, (2) inclusiveness, (3) afforability and (4) accountability. The Council posed these questions for discussion: which is better: a private insurance system using a for-profit business model; a public single-payer system in which profits are not part of health care costs, or a mixed system of federal subsidies combined with regulation of employer payment requirements. The Council cautioned all proposals to acknowledge the rise of health costs drastically disproportionate to the rise in costs in the general economy, noting a Kaiser Health Foundation study showing the share of health care expenditures as a percentage of gross national product rising from 5.2 % in 1960 to nearly 15% in 2008. In 2009 alone costs were projected to increase by 14.5 %. The ethical meaning of these figures is that the number of uninsured or under-insured people in the country would rise rather than decline if wise reform measures are not introduce. In presenting these programs the Council drew on faculty and other experts from Stanford, University of Santa Cruz and independent think tanks.