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Cedar Valley Social Action Calendar

- Spiritual Growth

Local Opportunities
Sacred Ground Discussion Series. Cancelled.

NEW -- Commemoration of the Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Sunday, September 15. 5:30pm. Jubilee UMC Freedom Center, Waterloo. This prayer service, talk and discussion marks the 61st anniversary of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Four young African-American girls, ages 14 and 11, died in the bombing. Reaction to the bombing and the assassination of President John Kennedy two months later galvanized the civil rights movement and helped ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Free and open to the public.
• Learn more about the bombing at: www.nps.gov/articles/16thstreetbaptist.htm

How Faith and Freedom Fit. Sunday, September 22. 2:15-4:30pm. Waterloo Center for the Arts. Cara Lee Burnidge, Associate Professor in UNI's Department of Philosophy and World Religions, and Rev. Belinda Creighton-Smith, Instructor in Social Work at UNI and pastor of Faith Temple American Bible Church, will keynote this discussion about the historical and contemporary role of religion in American democracy. An opportunity to share thoughts in small group discussion will follow each presentation.
Hosted by Cedar Valley Interfaith Council. Free and open to the public.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3WTCEQd

NEW -- Season of Creation Novena. September 22-30. This novena consists of nine days of daily prayer and reflection during the Season of Creation, a month-long ecumenical event which commemorates the sacredness of God’s creation and the responsibility humans have to preserve and protect the world in which we live. The season begins Sept. 1 and ends on Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis. The novena prayers and reflections will be emailed each day to participants. Sponsored by Waterloo Catholic Faith Formation.
• Learn more about the Season of Creation at: seasonofcreation.org/about/
• Register to participate in the novena at: https://bit.ly/season-of-creation-novena

NEW -- Screening of God & Country. Sunday, October 13. 2:00pm. St. Luke Episcopal Church, Cedar Falls. This motion picture explores how an extreme right-wing group of Americans have promoted the concept of "Christian Nationalism" and examines the implications of the belief that America should be defined as a Christian nation. The film features commentary by a variety of respected Christian leaders from a variety of denominations.
• Learn more about God & Country at godandcountrythemovie.com/
• Watch the official trailer for God & Country at bit.ly/GodandCountry-Trailer

NEW -- International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. October 17. St. Paul Lutheran Church, Cedar Falls. Documentary "The End of Poverty" shown at 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Discussion of poverty in Black Hawk County at 3:00pm. This day was established by the UN in 1992 to encourage member nations to review progress in eradicating poverty defined as poverty as a multidimensional phenomenon that includes both a lack of income and a lack of basic capabilities to live in dignity.
• Watch the trailer for "The End of Poverty" at https://bit.ly/3Tn09PB
• Learn more about the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty at https://bit.ly/4ehxuDG

Join the Harvest.  Monday and Thursday mornings, 8:00am. throughout the summer. Help harvest produce from the People's Community Garden, adjacent to People's Community Health Clinic, 1007 Franklin Ave. in Waterloo. Vegetables grown in the garden are available free to clients of the clinic. Sponsored by the UNI Center for Energy and Environmental Education.
• Contact: Kamyar Enshayan at kamyar.enshayan@uni.edu
• Learn more about the People's Garden here.

MLK Freedom Tour. November 11-15, 2024. This week-long journey explores iconic human and civil rights spaces in Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, including local museums, the Lorraine Motel in Memphis; the 16th Street Baptist Church and Kelly Ingram Park in Birmingham; the Equal Justice Initiative’s new Lynching Memorial in Montgomery; Edmund Pettus Bridge and Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma. $450 includes transportation, lodging and entrance fees.
Sponsored by Jubilee United Methodist Church Freedom Center, Waterloo.
• Contact: Nancy Culpepper or Abraham L Funchess Jr. at 319-291-4441.

Designing Safe Neighborhoods. Read this report from the Public Science Collaborative on policy recommendations to create safe neighborhoods in Waterloo.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3P38JQJ
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Regional and National Opportunities

NEW -- Pilgrims on the Journey. This six week online prayer and reflection series combines the themes of pilgrimage and Creation using various insights from the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Sponsored by the Jesuit Institute in Britain. Weekly prayer sessions take place at 2:00-3:00pm CDT.
• Learn more at: https://www.jesuitinstitute.org/news/pilgrims-on-the-journey?
Holding On to Our Humanity.  Friday, September 20. 5:00-6:30pm (CDT). Online. Listen to bereaved Israelis and Palestinians discuss the power of their shared pain and their efforts to hold onto their humanity in the course of events which have followed the October 7 terrorist attack in Israel. Sponsored by the Temple Emanu-El Streicker Cultural Center in New York. Free and open to the public.
• Learn more and register at: https://bit.ly/3yPczZm
NEW -- Ecological Spirituality Retreat. September 25-27. Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, Hiawatha.  This three day retreat with author Diarmuid O'Murchu online from Ireland will explore the challenges of how to spiritually and ecologically ground a new understanding of Creation. Inperson resident, commuter and online options available.
• Learn more and register at: https://bit.ly/4dYJoC7
Discipleship Experience Weekend. Oct. 25-27, 2024. New Melleray Abbey. Peosta, Iowa. This weekend experience focuses on seven themes or principles of Catholic Social Teaching. A team of presenters will explain the components of each theme and facilitate discussion of its implications for daily life. The weekend begins on Friday evening and ends early Sunday afternoon. Registration fee is --, which includes meals and overnight accommodations (commuter rate: --).
• Contact: Ted or Dede Pietryga. 319-541-6306. (email: tedpietryga@gmail.com )
• Learn more at: https://waterloocatholics.org/dew
Election Year Virtual Prayer Space.  November 4-6. The Leadership Conference of Catholic Women Religious is hosting a virtual prayer session during the November election. This opportunity is designed to bridge the divide between culture, religion and politics through the power of collective contemplation.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/4bMkEeV
Election Year Prayer Resources
> Six Ways to pray during an election (World Vision): https://bit.ly/4cZt3N9
> Election year prayers (Xavier University): https://bit.ly/3W1iLVX
> Election novena (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): https://bit.ly/4cDu0La
> Praying Like a Faithful Citizen (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops): https://bit.ly/3y99OBP
> General Election Prayer Guide (Joint Public Issues Team): https://bit.ly/3S4qBNq
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Faith-Based Election Initiatives
U.S. Catholic Bishops' "Civilize It" Campaign. This campaign is designed to help American Catholics contribute to "a better kind of politics" by seeing themselves as members of one family who seek to encounter and to grow by identifying common values, listening to understand, seeking the truth together, and jointly developing creative solutions to the problems that face our world.
• Learn more at:  https://www.usccb.org/civilizeit
Network Lobby for Catholic Social Action. Network's mission and values are rooted Catholic Social Teaching, the witness of all people of faith committed to proclaiming the love of the Gospel and the justice of God’s kingdom in the public sphere, and the courageous commitment of Catholic sisters living out Gospel justice.
• Learn more at: https://networklobby.org/about/
• Network's "Equally Sacred" checklist: https://bit.ly/3yxNEtp

Voting Is An Act of Love. This initiative, sponsored by the Ignatian Solidarity Network, is aimed in particular at empowering Generation Z voters to exercise the right and responsibility to vote for candidates and issues that support the common good and concern for the most vulnerable people in society.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3VCLIqO

Christians Against Christian Nationalism. This project of the Baptist Joint Committee offers a statement and provides resources which focus on the dangers of certain forms of Christian Nationalism which distort Christian teaching and the traditional understanding of the separation of church and state.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/3xp29z7
• Find FAQ about Christian Nationalism at: https://bit.ly/3KU1qJj
Practicing Democracy Project. This online resource provides weekly commentary on political events and resources for practicing democracy in faith communities. A project of Spirituality & Practice and the Fetzer Institute.
• Learn more at: https://bit.ly/46PA7dv
• Find suggestions for incorporating Christian virtues into civic advocacy: https://bit.ly/4dVVgVB
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Take Action--What You Can Do...
Click here for current opportunities for civic action.
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Submit Events for the Calendar
Email information for this calendar to: dbqwcaf@dbqarch.org
Please use this format for announcements:
Event Title/Date & Time/Location/Details/Sponsor/Contact Info/Registration Link

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Related Links
> Catholic Social Principles (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)
Learn More
> Discover the Importance of Small Daily Acts of Solidarity

Waterloo Catholic Faith Formation provides this information for individuals and organizations who are interested in and committed to study, prayer and action for social justice. Information provided here does not constitute agreement or endorsement by the Catholic Parishes in Waterloo or the Archdiocese of Dubuque.

[Last Update: 09.12.24]

Cedar Valley Social Action Calendar

Local Opportunities

Regional and National Opportunities

Faith-Based Election Initiatives

Take Action--What You Can Do...

Submit Events for the Calendar