You are the salt of the Earth. You are the Light of the world. Matthew 5: 13,14
You are the salt of the Earth. You are the Light of the world. Matthew 5: 13,14
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FUMC has a long history of empowering members to use our voices to stand up for values of inclusion, diversity, racial justice, caring for the planet, and social justice. There has never been a more critical time to amplify our witness. The FUMC Salt and Light team is here to help YOU find YOUR own way of standing up for our democracy and being a ripple of hope.
Ripples Recap
Ripples Recap
Saturday, April 19th at least 22 FUMC members joined hundreds of others at Gene Leahy Mall to Rally for Revolution!
Tuesday, April 24th a few FUMC members gathered with others at Congressman Don Bacon's office to have their voices heard and urge him to support Medicaid and due process.
The People's Day
The People's Day
Join the League of Women Voters of Nebraska at the Nebraska State Capitol on April 24th from 10-7 p.m. to make your voice heard!
Join the League of Women Voters of Nebraska at the Nebraska State Capitol on April 24th from 10-7 p.m. to make your voice heard!
May Day Witness
May Day Witness
Join others across the nation to peacefully witness on Thursday, May 1st!!
We may be getting weary but this is no time to be silent! FUMC members are invited to meet up at the church at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 1st to then walk to 70th and Dodge to peacefully stand for democracy, due process, federal programs that provide crucial services, immigrants, our Black sisters and brothers, the arts, our veterans and the list goes on! This witness will be part of a national plan in cities all over the country. (The organizers are hoping for a long human chain from Memorial Park to Crossroads between 4:30 and 6:30 p.m.) Bring your own sign or we will have signs to share. We will stand TOGETHER until 6:30 and then enjoy a light supper in the church parlor to debrief and offer support to each other for the long haul! (If you can come for only part of the witness, that's fine...just come!!
So we can plan for food, please let us know if you can be there by Monday, April 28th: ripplesofhope24@gmail.com
LB 632
LB 632
The bill would mandate burdensome and medically unnecessary restrictions on patients and providers. The restrictions fail to improve patient care or safety and, instead, would drive up health care costs for patients to push care is out of reach. The bill would effectively be a procedural abortion ban in our state. We must tell lawmakers to stop this latest attack on health care.
While reproductive freedom champions in Nebraska filibustered LB632, anti-abortion politicians still managed to push it through.
Their agenda is clear: make it impossible for Nebraskans to access safe, legal abortion care. While Nebraskans face real problems that demand real solutions, anti-abortion politicians are prioritizing their own unpopular agenda. We demand better.
Click the link to explore the Voters Guide shared by the League of Women Voters of Nebraska for the upcoming May 13th City elections
Stop Attacks on Federal Funding Libraries Petition from EveryLibrary
Stop Attacks on Federal Funding Libraries Petition from EveryLibrary
A new executive order, has targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal agency charged with distributing congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients. The Executive Order says that IMLS must be reduced to its "statutory functions.” We need your help.
To sign the petition, click here
You can also register your opposition through 5calls.org
Give Up Billionaires For Lent
Give Up Billionaires For Lent
From our Friends at Network, a small lobby of Catholic sisters,
Lent is a time for reflection, fasting, and sacrifice. During this season, we fast from things that prevent us from being part of the Beloved Community. This year, we invite you to give up billionaires for Lent.
Billionaires shouldn’t pay a lower tax rate than working families while Congress cuts funding for essential programs like Medicaid and SNAP. This is immoral. Congress must make them pay their fair share—so that our communities can have quality healthcare, paid leave, affordable childcare, and more.
Join Salt and Light members in the Gathering Place Sunday, March 16th to add your name to the list of those "Giving Up Billionaires for Lent" by calling on Congress to prioritize our communities over billionaires.
https://networklobby.org/advocacy-action/?vvsrc=%2fPetitions%2f4089%2fRespond
Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage
Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage
An update on Paid Sick Leave and Minimum Wage bills from the League of Women Voters of Nebraska
Paid Sick Leave Update:
From Nebraska Appleseed:
NO Nebraskan should have to choose between their health and a paycheck.
Nebraskans agree: 75% of us voted FOR paid sick leave for ALL Nebraskans last November. But right now, the Nebraska Legislature is trying to remove paid sick leave protections from 140,000 hardworking Nebraskans – including people working at small businesses, seasonal and temporary agricultural workers, and workers under the age of 16 – through LB415.
Sign the petition NOW to demand the #NEleg honors the will of Nebraska voters and OPPOSE LB415’s attempt to undermine access to paid sick leave: bit.ly/NO_LB415
Minimum Wage Update:
From our friends at Nebraska Appleseed
The minimum wage increase was overwhelmingly passed on the ballot as Nebraskans believe Nebraska workers deserve to be paid a living wage.
LB 258 would harm workers by severely weakening Nebraka's minimum wage law through carving out a subminimum wage for workers under the age of 20 AND restricting the cost of living increases that Nebraskans voted for.
The bill was up for debate Monday, March 31st.
Action Items:
Nebraska Appleseed is asking you to contact your senator now and encourage them to oppose this bill as LB 258 is not what Nebraskans voted for!
LB 89: Stand With Women Act
LB 89: Stand With Women Act
An update on LB 89 from OutNebraska and the League of Women Voters of Nebraska
Following four hours of tense debate, the Nebraska Legislature voted 33 to 16 today to advance LB 89 during a cloture vote. LB 89 is a harmful bill that targets transgender Nebraskans and our ability to use public facilities and resources.
Read OutNebraska's statement here.
The fight is far from over. Contact your senator TODAY and demand they oppose this bill. With two rounds of debate left, we still have time. Find your senator here.
More resources are available on our website.
We will do everything in our power to ensure that trans and gender expansive Nebraskans are celebrated and have the ability to thrive in our state.
Trans people are brilliant, beautiful and resilient, and they belong here in our state.
League of Women Voters of Nebraska:
At 7:00 pm Tuesday night, the anti-trans "Stand With Women" Act moved forward with exactly the 33 votes needed to stop debate and advance the bill. Throughout debate, Senator Kauth, the bill's introducer, repeatedly said the purpose of the bill was to "protect women's rights." Other bill supporters pointed to this as following in the footsteps of other women's rights hard fought wins, specifically referencing the first woman's rights convention of 1848, the passing of the 19th amendment, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the Violence Against Women Act.
As the Nebraska Action Vice President of the League of Women Voters, an organization that was born out of the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848 and has spent the 100 years since our founding advocating for women's rights including as leaders in the fight to pass the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the battle to end sexual violence, I want to be unequivocally clear:
The League of Women Voters of Nebraska opposes LB89 just as the League of Women Voters of the United States opposes all attacks on the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community.
I would encourage you to read the League of Women Voters of Nebraska's letter of opposition which one of our members read as public testimony at the LB89 hearing earlier this year. Fighting for equality and justice for all, especially women, is at the core of what the League of Women Voters has done for over a century. We know what discrimination and silencing a community looks like because we have experienced it, and we flatly refuse the claim that restricting the rights of our LGBTQIA+ siblings moves women's rights forward.
We stand with women every day, not by pushing others down, but by linking arms with people of all backgrounds to fight for justice and equality. It is tempting to feel hopeless but, like those before us found, the remedy to despair is action. Contact your Senator, talk to those around you, speak up about your support of the LGBTQIA+ community, and if you feel moved to be with others in this fight, join us Thursday, April 24th at the Nebraska State Capitol for The People's Day.
Stop Project 2025 Pledge
Stop Project 2025 Pledge
Church World Service has always stood firmly for the right to peaceful protest. Every person deserves the freedom to speak up and demand change, and the government must listen to their voices.
Project 2025 proposes measures that could devastate immigrant communities. But when the government steps back, it’s up to us to step in.
Stand with us against Project 2025, and be a voice for the voiceless.
For more information and to sign the pledge, click here
Persistent Widow Project
Persistent Widow Project
Remember the parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1-8)? She would not shut up and finally the judge gave in because she wore him down!!!! Take that lesson to heart and don't shut up! Phone calls are more effective than emails and certainly more effective than signing online petitions
We are encouraging you to use 5calls to make calls Monday- Friday to your members of Congress. 5calls makes it easy for you to reach your members of Congress and make your voice heard. They research issues, write scripts, figure out the most influential decision-makers, and collect phone numbers for their offices. All you have to do is call!
We are encourgaing you to call both the DC and the Omaha office for your members of Congress. If you can't get through to their Omaha offices, any local office will do. 5calls has all the information you need to contact each of your members of Congress on their site or through their 5calls app.
So, for 10 or 15 minutes Monday through Friday, please use your voice! Silence is not an option! And delivering a handwritten letter to their office is effective as well. (If you do this, take a photo and send to us!)
To access the 5calls website, click here
League of Women Voters of Nebraska
League of Women Voters of Nebraska
2025 Sunday Sessions
The League of Women Voters of Nebraska will be hosting Legislative Sessions every Sunday from 7-8 p.m. via Zoom. These hour-long updates will take place every Sunday during the legislative session where LWVNE leaders will share updates from the previous week and what to anticipate in the coming week. Registration is required, but you only have to register once to attend one, any, or all of the updates.
To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/CuPjJqtlS6yHLhVJxFOIpA#/registration
OpenSky Policy Institute
OpenSky Policy Institute
Founded in 2011, OpenSky is a nonpartisan policy research think tank that prioritizes data and evidence as the basis for recommendations.
Follow OpenSky for sound research, data, and analysis throughout the 2025 Nebraska Legislative session
Follow OpenSky for sound research, data, and analysis throughout the 2025 Nebraska Legislative session
To learn more about OpenSky, click here
Opportunities for Involvement
Opportunities for Involvement
"Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far reaching effects."- Dalai Lama
"Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far reaching effects."- Dalai Lama
News and current events can seem overwhelming. There are forces that are amplifying messages of exclusion, discrimination, chaos, hate and bigotry. It is tempting to feel powerless. BUT we are resurrection people and believe in God's steadfast vision of the beloved community!
So, our Salt and Light team is offering ways in which we can support and encourage each other in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Please let us know what can help you cope, hope and act! And feel free to check more than one option or gift!
Click the link to complete the Salt and Light Questionnaire https://bit.ly/SaltandLightQuestionnaire2025
In The News....
In The News....
Click below to read articles about Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran citizen who had lived in Maryland for about 15 years and was deported to El Salvador despite being granted protections by an U.S. immigration judge
Click the link to read about Harvard University deciding not to submit to a list of demands from the current administration in order to retain their federal funding:
Prayer and Reflection
Prayer and Reflection
Daily Prayer
Daily Prayer
Here's a daily prayer from our 100 Days of Daily Prayers as well as a song to go with the prayer. If you would like to receive these prayers each day, email ripplesofhope24@gmail.com
Prayer through Song:
a. Click the link to listen to "Here Comes The Sun" by the Beatles. This acoustic version is sung by Lauren Ruth Ward. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8Hr5Jd8tvM
On the Lighter Side...
On the Lighter Side...
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