To return to the overall Matthew 25 Eradicating Systemic Poverty page, click here.
To download PDFs of PC(USA) Resources list and Action Suggestions organized by the Five Spiritual Practices (worship, learn, relate, act, share), please click here.
In our worship, prayers and faith life, we will incorporate confessional, biblical, theological, and ecclesial understandings of poverty.
Worship Resources
- Theological Resources for Systemic Poverty from the Book of Confessions, Book of Order, Book of Common Worship, and the Glory to God hymnal into community worship.
- Use denominational resources to explore root causes of poverty, hunger and homelessness on Self-Development of People Sunday (March) or on Hunger and Homelessness Sunday (November) or another time throughout the year.
- Draw ideas from the Poverty and Liturgy issue of “Call to Worship: Liturgy, Music, Preaching, and the Arts” 54.3 (2020).
Worship Action Suggestions
- Begin to reach out, listen, build relationships and open conversations with other congregations and community partners to explore some possible shared worship times together around eradicating poverty and building communities of well-being.
- Play short videos to explore the complexity of poverty, during sermon, prayers of the people, or minute for mission.
- Poor People’s Campaign, “Pain and Poverty in America”
- Matthew 25 videos
- One Great Hour of Sharing programs’ videos, trailers, and clips:
- Peruse the World Mission video playlist and this recent video about the work in Latin American and the Caribbean.
- Include specific acts of dedication related to poverty eradication at set times (such as 5th Sundays, communion Sundays, etc).
- Consider using assertions on what we believe about poverty eradication as affirmation of faith or other liturgical components
- Include advocacy as part of worship through things such as Bread for the World’s “offering of letters“
- Collect items requested by local non-profits (such as food, diapers, school supplies, winter clothes)
- After hearing from a local movement or organization through a minute for mission, continue to raise support and awareness of that group
To see resources and action steps for other spiritual disciples of eradicating poverty and building communities of well-being, click on one of the other practices. To return to the overall Matthew 25 Eradicating Systemic Poverty page, click here.
