Faith-based disaster recovery groups are key players in the immediate and long-term recovery from disasters.  Links to denominational disaster response groups can be found through NH VOAD (click here for contact details).  Current opportunities include:
     
       Donating a Disaster Recovery Kit to Church World  Service <http://www.churchworldservice.org/>
       Training to become a disaster recovery volunteer
       Donating money
       Organizing or volunteering with NH’s Operation Military Kids. Camps, kid experiences, family support, more for  children of military families (Sara Robinson and Jenna Kline, Operation: Military Kids Program Assistants UNH,  Cooperative Extension Pettee Hall, GO5B 55 College Road Durham, NH 03824-3597 phone (603) 862-0876 fax (603) 862- 3271 < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >.
   

Part II of the Pew Forum's U.S. Religious Landscape Survey explores Americans' religious beliefs and practices as well as their social and political views. The survey finds that most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to their faith; for example, most do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. The survey also finds that religion is closely linked to political ideology.

The online presentation of the Landscape Survey has been updated with the new findings. Start by clicking here.

NRCAT, in alliance with Evangelicals for Human Rights and the Center for Victims of Torture, launched an effort today that calls upon the President o issue an executive order banning torture based on six core principles mbodied in a Declaration of Principles (click here for full text ). We are calling this effort the "Campaign o Ban Torture." Prominent faith leaders from Catholic, Protestant, vangelical, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities, as well top officials rom every Administration since the 1970s, have joined together to endorse he Declaration of Principles. You can click  here to view the list of endorsees.

The success of this effort depends upon thousands of people of faith and other opponents of torture joining together to endorse the Declaration  of Principles.  Your endorsement will help end U.S.-sponsored torture. We urge you to endorse the Declaration. Click here to add your name! 

The NH Council of Churches office will be closed from June 23 to July 28 -- but we will be checking the e-mail and the telephone messages every day!  If you need to call us, make sure you leave your own contact information on the tape at (603) 224-1352.  E-mail to David Lamarre-Vincent at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and laura@NHChurches or info@NHChurches will receive our earliest attention.  We're out of the office, but not out of touch.

 "The New Breed of Volunteer: Understanding & Equipping the 21st Century Volunteer" Downtown Institute on Tuesday, June 24, 2008, organized and presented by the CDFA Downtown Resource Center. 8:30 AM  - 4:00 PM,  Chase House, 312 Daniel Webster Highway, Meredith,  NH 03253
The volunteer management workshop will give participants practical tips and techniques on recruiting and managing 21st century volunteers who want to do it "their way." This is a beneficial workshop for anyone involved with volunteer management/recruitment for a non-profit organization, chamber of commerce or any business seeking to enhance their volunteer opportunities and services.
Topics will include:
• The seismic shifts that have changed volunteer management in the last 5 years and what to do about these shifts.
• The generational differences of volunteers how to recruit them, manage them and get them to work together.
• The four-stage method of recruiting and managing a new breed of volunteer.
Space is limited. Register today!

 View Event Fees 
 View Event Summary 
 View Event Agenda

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) launched its Banners Across America initiative in a telephone press conference describing the nationwide anti-torture banner campaign taking place during the month of June. Hundreds of congregations across the United States have joined this campaign in an effort to mobilize the American faith community in opposition to U.S.-sponsored torture. The "Banners Across America" initiative, organized by NRCAT, is timed to allow local congregations to participate in a nationwide, interfaith public witness during Torture Awareness Month.
To date, 298 congregations, located in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, are participating in this effort by displaying anti-torture banners during the month of June. Most of the large, vinyl banners are black-and-white and have anti-torture messages: "Torture is Wrong" and "Torture is a Moral Issue."

Celebrated during Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 5 through the 11) On Tuesday, October 7, 2008

There is not just one way to celebrate this Day of Prayer. We hope someone in your faith community will consider this ministry and find a way to celebrate in a manner that is comfortable for your community. NAMI NH staff and volunteers are available to provide the following resources: Bulletin inserts, Candle Lighting Ceremonies, Interfaith Messages, Responsive Readings, Sermons, Study Guides, Worship Services, Speaker’s Bureau and Information Booklets and Pamphlets.
For more details, or to register your faith community as one of the Day of Prayer sites , contact Claudia at 225-5359 ext. 13 or email: < This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >.    Click here for flyer and details.

June 28th 11am-2pm, Victory Park in Manchester, NH 
Please join us to find out how the children of our state are really faring in the areas of child well-being. Come hear about the new report just released by Every Child Matters, Geography Matters.
Plus: Fun activities that will put smiles on children’s faces and bring the kid out in you! Activities include face painting, games, arts & crafts, and more!
So bring your children, bring your family, bring your stories, and don’t forget to bring your cameras!

Click here for flyer with details.

Give an Hour is  a national network of behavioral health, counseling and pastoral care professionals volunteering one hour a week of their time capable of responding to both acute and chronic conditions that arise within our society. Their first target population is the U.S. troops and families who are being affected by the current military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. The  chaplain's office of the NH national Guard is asking for your assistance in promoting the registration of behavioral health, counseling and pastoral care professionals to this web site and organization.  Only a few NH providers are listed thus far.

Application Deadline: July 25, 2008

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to tackling childhood obesity and the threat it poses to the health of our nation’s children and families. Our goal is to reverse the epidemic of childhood obesity by 2015 by promoting healthy eating and physical activity in schools and communities throughout the United States.

To assist this effort, RWJF is seeking proposals from faith-based coalitions to advance community policies or environmental changes that aim to increase access to healthy foods and/or opportunities for physical activity among children. We are particularly interested in efforts that reach children at greatest risk for obesity, including African-American, Latino, Native American, Asian American and Pacific Islander children who live in low-income communities or communities with limited access to affordable healthy foods and/or safe opportunities for physical activity.

For more details and application information, click here. 

A recent letter to members of Congress, signed by more than 400 religious leaders, begins:
“We, the undersigned, are U.S. and Colombian people of faith, convinced that God calls us to be on the side of the weak, the victims and the poor.  For this reason, as representatives of numerous faith communities and churches, we come to you because we understand that soon you will consider two piece of legislation that would have a significant impact on Colombia—U.S. military and social assistance through Plan Colombia and the U.S.-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.  We write in the hope that your decisions may build the foundation for dignified life for all and promote the justice and peace that we so desire.”
The letter calls for an end to U.S. military aid and aerial fumigation, for stronger protection of human rights, and for rejection of the U.S.-Colombia Trade Agreement.
You can read the whole letter by clicking here. 

A delegation organized by the NH - American Friends Service Committee has just returned from a 3-day visit with maquiladora workers in northern Mexico, where job creation has been affected by NAFTA and other trade agreements.  The 10-member group (which included David Lamarre-Vincent of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, three NH-AFSC staff, labor leaders and students) met with employees of U.S.-based multi-nationals, who described the long hours, low pay, and dangerous working conditions they face every day.  Yet they also described impressive organizing for change against great odds.
This delegation was part of Lamarre-Vincent’s sabbatical. He returns from sabbatical in September.
To read his blog and view pictures and videos go to www.David-NHchurches-Bibles.com. 
To find out more and invite Lamarre-Vincent to speak with your organization, contact: David Lamarre-Vincent, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The National Observance of Children's Sabbaths Weekend (October 17-19, 2008) is an annual, multi-faith holiday that celebrates children as sacred gifts of the Divine, and provides the opportunity for communities of faith to renew and live out their moral responsibility to care, protect and advocate for all children. To guide faith communities in their Children's Sabbaths weekend and year-round advocacy work, CDF produces a Children's Sabbaths manual. This year's manual entitled When Will We Hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Call to End Poverty in America? focuses on answering Dr. King's call to build and be the blessed community where all children can live out their God-given potential. Click here to pre-order your manual online or call (865) 457-6466.