These forums are sponsored by several  local churches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church

East Elm Ave. & Albany Post Rd.

   Staatsburg, New York 12580   

  845-889-4181

 

Directions:  Route 9 from Poughkeepsie proceed north for approximately 12 miles-bear left at Norrie Point State Park-stay straight on Old Albany Post Rd for 1 mile. The church will be on the right side.


 

 

 

 


 

Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church

         2 Fiddler's Bridge Rd.

    Staatsburg, New York 12580

 

       845-889-4019

Directions:   Mapquest.com

 


 

 

The Hyde Park Methodist Church

Route 9

Hyde Park, New York 12538


845-229-2114
 

Directions:  mapquest.com


 

 

 

 

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie

 

67 S. Randolph Ave.

Poughkeepsie, New York

845-471-6580

 

 

 

 


Poughkeepsie Friends Meeting (Quakers)

 

249 Hooker Ave.

Poughkeepsie, New York

845-454-2870

 


 

 

 

Christ Episcopal Church

 

Barclay Street

Poughkeepsie, New York

 


 

 

 

The First Presbyterian Church of Poughkeepsie


 

 

The Office of Religious and Spiritual Life at Vassar College

 

 

AND

 

 

A Generous Grant from our Partner:

 

TRINITY WALL STREET

 

 

 

Generous Donations

from

Our Friends:

 

Byrnes Message Bureau

Northern Dutchess Pharmacy

June & Aaron Gillepsie  Forum Inc

Joyce & Rich Morse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Members of our 

JUSTICE FOR ALL  planning team & their respective churches are as follows:

 

 

Rich Morse - Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church

 

Joyce Morse  - Hyde Park Reformed Church

 

Barbara Wells - Hyde Park Methodist Church

 

Nina Lynch - Unitarian Universalist Fellowship  of Poughkeepsie


Sue Moshier- St. Margaret's Episcopal Church

 

John Hausam - Poughkeepsie United Methodist Church

 

Gerrit Graham - Rhinebeck

 

Alice Kirn - Poughkeepsie Friends Meeting (Quakers)

 

Judie Buck, Jerry Calvin - Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church

 

 Lou Glasse, Suzanne Williams - 1st Presbyterian Church of Poughkeepsie

 

 

Rev. Blake Ryder-Christ Episcopal 


 

 

 

 

 

 

If you, your church or your organization would like to become a supporting sponsor, or would like to be represented on our Steering Committee, please contact Sue Moshier at:


 SMoshier50@yahoo.com

 

 

Our meetings are held on the Sunday immediately following the Forum at one of the local area churches. If you need transportation, that may be arranged.

   

 

 



  Justice for all
JUSTICE FOR ALL

 

 

                                                         

                                   

 

 

                       

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,

      because the Lord has anointed me

      to bring good tidings to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,

   to proclaim liberty to the captives"

 

 

Dear Friends,

 

Welcome to the web-site of the Justice For All Speakers Forum!  The Forum is brought to you  by a diverse 

group of congregations in the mid-Hudson who are committed to insuring that the voices of those who have

been at the forefront of creating a more just word that can be heard.  The Justice For All Speakers Forum began

in 2004 and has its roots in the small Episcopal congregation of St. Margaret's Staatsburg, New York. Their

hope was to raise awareness about the intimate and  necessary connection between the Judeo-Christian

tradition and action on behalf of justice for the poor, the marginalized, the disenfranchised and the oppressed 

both in our nation and in our world. The Rev. Frank Alagna, Co-founder of Justice For All Speakers Forum had

this to say of the Forum's importance: 

 

"Given the intrinsic and abiding relationship between our faith tradition and the requirements of justice for all,

 an authentic response to human misery can never solely and exclusively rely on simple acts of charity on behalf

 of identified victims. No, faith always urges us to discern and address those underlying social complexities and

 agendas that necessarily produce victims. Believers and all people of good will must remain informed, poised and

 ready to take action with regard to systems, structures and interests that invariably give rise to the pain of humanity."           

 

 Our goal at the Justice For All Speakers Forum is to be provocative. We invite  prophets to move us  beyond the

 expected and the status quo to a realm that inspires thoughtful reflection and effective action. Now some of us may

 not always agree with what these prophets are saying, but we value the importance of providing an  opportunity to

 speak, and in doing so we are hoping that all of us, no matter what our faith background may be, will find out faith

 challenged, broadened and ultimately strengthened.

 

 It is an amazing and diverse collaboration of congregations that sponsor the Justice For All Speakers Forum.  Some

 of them have been on the cutting edge of social justice and others are in the process of developing their mission. 

 Each however is committed to working with the others to present something that they would not be able to do on

 their own.   And for over three years they have offered a remarkable speakers forum, which such speakers as:

 Daniel Berrigan, Martin Marty, Chung Wha Hong and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton.  Join us this year as we once

 again offer a fascinating array of speakers.
 In Peace,

 

 The Rev. Richard Witt
 Executive Director, Rural and Migrant Ministry
 and Shepherd of the Justice For All Speakers Forum

 

 

Where? The Forums move around from month to month to the different sponsoring congregations.

When?  By and large the Forums take place on the third Sunday of each month at 4pm (with a reception that follows at 5pm)

Who?   Take a peek below at the 2008/2009 season:

 

 

 Sunday, APRIL 19th at 4:00 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Poughkeepsie
 "CREATING A PEACEFUL, BELOVED AND ALL INCLUSIVE NATION " (Unitarians)with:
 Samina Faheem Sundas, Founder and Executive Director of American Muslim Voice 
 
 

 Ms. Samina Faheem Sundas, is the founder and Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice, and

 Co-founder of  Fear To Friendship, a group dedicated to subside the fear after 9/11 by forming life long friendships.

 She is also founder of the "Global Peace Partners" .

 

Her focus is on community building, forming life long friendships among all Americans and to create a culture of peace,

 acceptance, mutual respect and harmony She believes that we can achieve that goal through education and interaction.

She is a member of the steering committee for Multifaith Voices For Peace & Justice, Bay Area, Ca, Board Member Friends

of Human Relations, Santa Clara, CA, Chair of the peace building committee of the HRC, Santa Clara, CA, Advisory Board

 member of Peninsula Community Foundation and a founding member of Defense Committee of James Lee Muslim Chaplin.

 She was also the coordinator of the Muslim Nationwide Hot line, to help people regarding INS Special Registration and to

 protect civil liberties for all.

She is a board member of the San Jose Peace Center. Samina is also on the Steering Committee for Olive Branch

 Interfaith Peace Partnership.

 

For the past four years she has been speaking extensively on immigrant and civil liberties, issues, particularly the USA Patriot Act.

She was on the panel of Amnesty International USA National Hearings on Racial Profiling, held in Oakland on September 9, 2003.

Ms  Sundas has personally assisted two counties, ten cities and the state of California in passing resolutions against the USA Patriot Act.

 She is part of the current historical movement working with faith/immigrants right groups to defeat HR 4437 and towards a more

 humane immigration reform.

 

American Muslim Voice Goals:

* The AMV is committed to bridge the gap between all communities and foster life long friendships with all.

*  We will work with all Muslim and non-Muslim organizations/groups who share our dedication and commitment

to protect and preserve civil liberties and constitutional rights for all and protect human rights.

* We regard all humans as equal and will stand by all oppressed and targeted communities in their plight.

We feel strongly about protecting and improving human rights globally.

 

Immediate Goals:

 
* We will promote the cause of the Muslim community in America. Advance public understanding of issues relating to the Muslim community. 
                                        
 * We will try to reach out to our fellow Americans and educate them about the plight of Muslims and Arabs since 9/11. We will Identify and oppose

 discrimination against Muslims and all other minorities.

* We plan to educate and mobilize Muslims in America to stand up to protect their liberties and constitutional rights, particularly related to effects

 of the USA Patriot Act, detentions under Secret Evidence Act, arbitrary detentions by the FBI and INS Special Registration.

 

 

 

 

Sunday, MAY   17th at Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church

 " CREATING THE JUST AND SUSTAINABLE WORLD OF TOMORROW - - TODAY "

      Kavitha Rao and Jeff Golden, Co-Founders of the Common Fire Foundation       

How we came to our life's work:

Growing up, Jeff thought he could make the greatest difference in the world where he perceived the greatest extremes, by getting involved in US foreign policy.  In his time abroad his thinking shifted to look at ways he could create deeper and more lasting transformation at the grassroots level.  He became a high school teacher in the bilingual program in San Francisco, teaching political and literary history of Latin America.  He then spent 5 years starting and running a non-profit that used the Internet to bring traditional and alternative world and US studies to life for over 60,000 students via a free website, and then headed a non-profit that runs two international youth scholarship camps.

All of that work led him to where  he is now.  For five years he has devoted himself to his work at the Common Fire Foundation, seeking to nurture spaces in the world where people and learn about and actually experience on a small scale the kind of world that they would like to create on a large scale.

After working with environmental justice issues in the Bay Area, Kavitha became a correspondent for the Odyssey's World Trek for Service and Education (the internet based nonprofit Jeff refers to above), traveling for 2 years to over 30 countries, reporting on history, culture, contemporary issues and grassroots movements of countries overlooked in most American textbooks for the Odyssey's free educational website. During these 2 years she had the honor to interview several people doing incredible work in their communities, and time and again was moved by their humility, love and commitment.  When she returned to the US she dedicated herself to re-thinking her own activism in the US, and how people with privilege can live and act in solidarity with peoples around the world, making our activism a way of life, not simply a hobby or a phase to burn out from.  Influenced by her yoga practice, her studies of Nonviolence and work with the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and her mother's explorations of intentional communities in the US, Kavitha has focused on her work with Common Fire for the past several years, recognizing the longing so many people have for greater connection and purpose.


How people can join us:

At a core level, the vast suffering and destruction in the world are not the result of political or economic problems.  They are manifestations of the underlying culture from which they surge.  It does little good to struggle to create change in the world if in our own lives and work we are recreating the very norms that give rise to that violence and destruction.  It is essential that we create communities that nurture the greatest aspects of the human spirit while consciously avoiding supporting the systems and cultures that are feeding into the vast problems in the world.

Rather than waiting for a "revolutionary moment" on a national or global scale, rather than waiting for some great leader/s to step forward and turn the tide, we invite people to explore ways that they can create the justice and sustainability

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can help support our forum!!


if you would like Videos or DVDs of past speakers to use with your youth groups, in the classroom
or for individual viewing. The following are now available:

Jeff Cohen:  The Problems of Corporate-Owned New Media: An Inside View
Joshua Casteel:  Abu Graib: An Insider's View
John Fife: No More Deaths  ( A Look at What's Happening Along the US-Mexican Borders)
Dr. Ismail Acar:  Christian-Muslim Relations
Robert Martin:  A Race to Become Human :  The Alternative to Violence Project

Dr. David Woolner: American Foreign Policy in FDR's 4 Freedoms of the 21st Century

Dr. Howard Van Till: What's Real & What Makes Us Think We Know?

 

 

If you are interested in purchasing any of these videos for only $5.00 and/or are interested

in learning more about our forums please contact Sue Moshier at smoshier50@yahoo.com

or by calling 876-6194.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

My dear sisters and brothers,

This fall, Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church, located in Staatsburg, NY, (north Hyde Park), has launched a Speakers Forum, under the title Justice for All, to raise awareness about the intimate and necessary connection between the Judeo-Christian tradition and action of behalf of justice for the poor, the marginalized, the disenfranchised and the oppressed both in our nation and in our world. It is hoped that raising consciousness will serve to motivate more and more good people to bring some of their energy to bear in advocacy for and in service to God’s great ongoing work of establishing justice upon the earth.

Given the intrinsic and abiding relationship between our faith tradition and the requirements of justice for all, an authentic response to human misery can never solely and exclusively rely on simple acts of charity on behalf of identified victims. No, faith always urges us to discern and address those underlying social complexities and agendas that necessarily produce victims. Believers and all people of good will must remain informed, poised and ready to take action with regard to systems, structures and interests that invariably give rise to the pain of humanity. The martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero gave voice to this reality when he said, "If I feed the poor, they call me a saint; if I ask why there are poor, they call me a communist." And the simple truth about the priority of justice is captured in the words of Saint Ambrose, who said, "We cannot give charity to a poor man, we can only return to him what is his by a prior right." Recently, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, commented, "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."

In these difficult and troubled times, filled with war and threats of endless war, we also do well to remember the wise admonition, that those who truly desire peace - will work for justice. When justice is multiplied upon the earth, only then will peace flow like a river.

The Speakers Forum will convene on the third Sunday of the month at 4 PM and will host speakers from various disciplines, backgrounds and organizations. Each will address some aspect of justice


 

 

St. Margaret's Episcopal Church

 East Elm St. & Old Post Rd.

      Staatsburg, NY 12580

            845-889-4181

                  

 

 

        This forum is co-sponsored

by:

 

 

The

Pleasant Plains Presbyterian Church


 

 

 

2 Fiddlers Bridge Road

Staatsburg, New York 12580

845-889-4019

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Speakers Forum

is sponsored by:

 

ST. MARAGARET'S

EPISCOPAL CHURCH

 

East Elm Ave & Albany Post Rd.

 

Staatsburg, N.Y.

 

845-889-4181

 

 

 

 

&

 

PLEASANT PLAINS

PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

 

2 Fiddler's Bridge Rd.

 

Staatsburg, N.Y.

 

845-889-4101

 



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