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CASI

General Election looming...

With the election year gathering pace and speculation about the likely date growing, CASI is making election material for parish and congregational use a priority. Currently efforts are focused on preparing a resource which can be tailored for use Anglican and Catholic contexts as well as in our own Presbyterian, Methodist, Churches of Christ and Quaker constituency. This spreads the task and widens the input.

 

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A general vision statement and some suggested ways for creating more specific statements.

Finding out about people and policies: starting places, questions to use in evaluating them.

Issues: Identifying and reflecting on the local as well as national issues important to you and your community.

Tips about holding a local all-candidates meeting, and ways to prepare to get maximum benefit.

Suggestions for discerning the strategies politicians and parties use to get your vote(s), and evaluating how they are made appealing.

Voting wisely: A reminder about how MMP works and the way your two votes can be used.

Encouragement to continue the focus on the issues identified, to pray for all leaders and candidates, and to keep up the scrutiny as the new Government puts its promises into action.

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The approach begins and ends with a focus on God and faith. Background papers are being commissioned on topics where parties clearly differ: taxation (including superannuation); environmental concerns; refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers; community response to violence including justice and sentencing issues; Treaty matters; funding and support of public services. The resource will complement material from other agencies such as the NZ Council of Christian Social Services.

Your feedback about both the content and the way the resource is presented would be much appreciated. Contact CASI at P O Box 9049, Wellington, phone 04 381 8295, or email casi@pcanz.org.nz.

Your opinions

Thank you to all who took the trouble to complete the questionnaire about Broadsheet. We had a good response (and it continues.) Preliminary analysis shows readers particularly appreciate the feature material, news and personal comment. Many re-use the information in it and each issue also has a high pass-on rate. Remember: contributions are always welcome, especially news about local groups and social justice activities. Deadline for the June issue is Friday May 31st.

Historical perspective and immediate response

Recently Presbyterian CASI co-convenor David Simmers spoke to a jubilee celebration service in St George's Church, Takapuna. Copies of his address: Social Justice Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow are available. Send an email to casi@pcanz.org.nz for an attachment by return, or write to P O Box 9049 Wellington for a hard copy.

A new Social Issues Group is forming on the North Shore following David's visit. Locals interested should contact Mrs Trisha Robertson, 55 Coronation Road, Glenfield.

Learning from each other

CASI is currently revising the ecumenical Social Justice Resource Kit (first produced in 1994) for use in this century. We plan to include examples of current and recent social service, community development and social justice projects to give users a range of ideas.

If your group or parish has been involved in such work - whether short or long-term, minor or major, simple or complex - CASI would very much like to hear from you. Contact the office and we'll send you an outline of the sort of information we'd like to have. Or if you have a ready-made report (to Session, Parish Council or Presbytery) just send us a copy with a note of who to contact for followup.