Austin Interfaith Victory Pages A newsletter on the successes of Austin Interfaith member institutions January 26, 2011 New Member Institution: Austin Interfaith proudly welcomes St. John’s Lutheran Church as our newest member institution. St. John's has both English and Spanish worship services, and is located just south of Ben White near S. 1st street. They join St. Ignatius, Wildflower Unitarian, Prince of Peace Lutheran, San Jose, and Travis Heights Elementary as part of our Southside cluster. We look forward to our collaboration. Leadership Development – During January-March of 2011 Austin Interfaith institutions will be focused on leadership development through house meetings, civic academies, and local trainings. So far in the past three weeks over 200 leaders attended trainings and civic academies…and 30 house meetings were held with 300 people. Below are some of the highlights: Education Organizing Institute – On Saturday, January 8, 40 leaders from Austin Interfaith congregations, AISD schools, and Education Austin attended the first Austin Interfaith Education Leadership Institute. The focus was on equipping a collective of parents, educators, and community members with the skills necessary to improve student achievement by addressing issues facing families and schools. Austin Police Commander Pedraza attends AI safety action in Dove Springs with 30 leaders – San Jose Catholic Church hosted small group “house meetings” with APD commander Pedraza and 10 other officers as well as a county deputy and constable and 30 members of the Dove Springs Community. This was in response to yet another vandalization of a San Jose parishioner’s car the previous week. The purpose was for APD and the county to hear stories of crime incidents in this southeast Austin neighborhood. A follow up meeting is set for February 3, at 6:30 pm at Widen Elementary School. Chamber of Commerce official speaks at San Jose Civic Academy on Scholarships – San Jose Catholic Church hosted a “Civic Academy” on college scholarships on January 10. Access and affordability to college was addressed this past year through a small group “house meeting” campaign at San Jose. Gilbert Zavala from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce presented on financial aid availability. College affordability has been identified a pressing issue by several Austin Interfaith member congregations, many of which offer scholarship programs of their own from fundraisers. AISD Budget 101 workshop presented to AI leaders by top brass at school district – Fifteen leaders talked with Austin Independent School District Superintendent Meria Carstarphen and Assistant to Superintendent, Chief Human Capital Officer Michael Houser about the drastic budget reductions for 2011/2012. In the current proposal, full day pre-k is maintained, which was an item Austin Interfaith leaders have been advocating for. They also discussed next steps for the Innovation School project, a joint-initiative with Education Austin to partner with AISD schools. 40 leaders attend AI leadership training at St. Albert the Great Catholic Church – On December 18th, 40 leaders from Austin Interfaith institutions attended a leadership training focused on the scriptural basis for social justice and the elements of a Broad-Based Organization. We plan to offer these trainings on a monthly basis for new and experienced leaders. Next Steps: 1. AUSTIN INTERFAITH MONTHLY LEADERS MEETING – CHANGED TO 4TH THURSDAY OF EVERY MONTH. NEXT LEADERS MEETING THURSDAY, JANUARY 27TH AT 7pm AT SAN JOSE CATHOLIC CHURCH (2435 Oak Crest, Austin 78704) 2. AUSTIN INTERFAITH CLERGY CAUCUS – Thursday, January 27th, 12:00-1:30, St. David’s Episcopal Church (301 E. 8th Street, Austin 78701). Please RSVP to Austin Interfaith office as St. David’s will be providing lunch.

Austin Interfaith Victory Pages
October 15, 2010
A newsletter on the successes of Austin Interfaith member institutions

New Member Institutions: Austin Interfaith proudly welcomes four new member institutions which have joined the organization since the beginning of the summer!
St. Josephs Catholic Church in Manor
Workers Defense Project
Cristo Rey Catholic Church in Austin
Cab Drivers’ Association of Austin
Each of these institutions have already begun participation in our collective efforts to improve the lives of Central Texas families. We look forward to a long and effective partnership.

Austin Interfaith Votes: Following an assembly with 600 leaders at San Jose Catholic Church on August 8th, Austin Interfaith institutions launched a non-partisan Get Out the Vote effort to sign up and deliver 20,000 voters to the polls around its agenda of issues. Right now the signature count stands at 4,000, and over 100 block walkers have held hundreds of conversations in neighborhoods around Central Texas to talk about issues affecting families. Austin Interfaith Votes weekend is October 23rd-24th where over 200 leaders will conduct GOTV walks and congregations will encourage people to early vote after services.

AI leaders at City Council: Over 50 Austin Interfaith leaders appeared before City Council on September 30th to urge the Austin City Council to make long-term job training programs like Capital IDEA a distinct city budget priority. Several council members reaffirmed their commitment to Capital IDEA from the dais and during face to face meetings throughout the preceding week. Austin Interfaith leaders were also recognized by council members from the dais.

Over $100,000 New Funding: Austin Interfaith would like to recognize two local foundations: The Alice and Michael Kuhn Foundation and the Sooch Foundation for generous new grants to Austin Interfaith in 2010 to support organizational expansion and workforce organizing respectively. Additionally, Austin Interfaith will partner with member institution Education Austin on an “Innovation Fund” Grant that Education Austin secured to organize community-based schools in AISD. Collectively these three new grants represent over $100,000 in new funding to Austin Interfaith this year.

Readers’ Corner: Malcolm Gladwell, in a recent article entitled Small Change, compares the “strong ties” that bound the leaders of the civil rights movement with the “weak ties” that connect people through modern social networking through the internet and text messaging. While he concedes that social networking can be effective for some types of communication, the thick network of relationships developed through churches and face to face conversation are what ultimately gave civil rights leaders the capacity to overcome segregation.

Upcoming Actions and Events
• Austin Interfaith Votes Weekend! October 23rd-24th. All congregations are urged to deliver their members to the polls this weekend as well have blockwalkers out in full force!
• Austin Interfaith Monthly Leaders Meeting: Tuesday October 26th, 7:00pm Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (1711 E. Oltorf St., Austin, TX 78741)
• Early Voting Runs Monday, October 18th through Friday, October 29th!
• Election Day Tuesday November 2nd

Three new members have joined Austin Interfaith since the start of the year. 

Congregation Kol Halev:  a Jewish congregation with a focus on community that meets at the Dell Jewish Community Center in Northwest Austin :

ACC/AFT (Austin Community College American Federation of Teachers Union):  
local branch 6249 of the national and state federation of teachers and represents all non-administrative employees of Austin Community College . 

Simpson United Methodist Church :  a historically African-American, central East Austin congregation established in 1880 that has played a significant role in the city for over 100 years.

We want to welcome the two newest members of Austin Interfaith, St. Thomas More Catholic Church, a northwest Austin church with 3000 members, and San Jose Catholic Church, a central south Austin congregation with 4000 members. 

Pastors and leaders in both parishes have been conducting dozens of house meetings where congregation members have come together to have conversations about the pressures affecting their families.  They have been finding new leaders and have also begun to identify some of the issues that are most important to them. 

By formally joining Austin Interfaith, St. Thomas More and San Jose are now part of an organization that helps them build the power necessary to relieve some of those pressures. 

Welcome, Saint Thomas More and San Jose!