Pomona Valley Chapter
PCU Inland Valley is taking off! Our steering committee has been formed (next meeting March 3) and we have scheduled our first major event on March 25, a Peace Concert and Rally with Jim and Jean Strathdee. See our Events page for more!
A Note from Charles Bayer, Inland Valley Coordinator:
WHAT PROGRESSIVES? A few days ago I snuck off to hit a few golf balls, and was paired with two businessmen. When they asked what I did, I told them I worked with a progressive Christian organization. “Who the heck are these liberal Christians? I didn’t know there were any Christians out there other than the Falwell types.” When I told them we recently had 530 for dinner, they were dumfounded. Not only were they unaware of our existence, they believed the only Christians around were fundamentalists. After all, throughout the nation that is what it looks like. These chaps knew the names Falwell, Dobson, Robertson, and others, but asked me to name our leaders. I ticked off Laarman, Borg, Spong. “Never heard of them,” came the reply.
When we talked a bit about issues– the war, wages, human rights, medical care– we were on the same page.
Here is our challenge. How do we tell our story beyond the walls of our churches? While it is true we need to find each other in the progressive religious community, we simultaneously need to let the thousands of folk who agree with us know that we exist, and that they have the opportunity to join hands with us in causes they believe vital. One way to do it is our sponsorship of large, well publicized community events. That is one of the extra benefits of the Strathdee concert March 25th. We hope to draw three hundred people– maybe more–to this event. While many of them will come from our churches, others will be people who love music but who never heard of us or what we do.
There are other options. Why not a cable TV program over the local community channel? I already host one sponsored by the local Democratic club. We would need a handful of volunteers to handle the cameras and work in the control room. Time Warner would provide the studio, broadcast our product and help in the production. If this interests you, let me know.
There are others ways to broaden our message. At our next steering committee meeting (Saturday, March 3) we will discuss them. What we need is your ideas. E-mail me . and/or show up at the Saturday meeting–10am at the Disciples Seminary Foundation, Foothill and Yale, Claremont.