Divided We Fail: Faith Week

From November 17 through the 25, AARP will be reaching out to more than 200 diverse communities of faith to ask them to reflect on the importance of health care and lifetime financial security issues.

In conjunction with Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference and the National Council of Churches, Faith Week activities will reach more than 100,000 individuals across the nation in more then 50 cities.

"America's faith communities have always led our nation through times of uncertainty," said Nancy Leamond, Group Executive Officer of Social Impact at AARP. "Our churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples provide hope and inspire us to transform ourselves, our communities, and our country. They challenge us to rise above narrow self-interests and become stewards for future generations. AARP's Divided We Fail initiative is honored to be in fellowship with so many congregations to champion affordable, quality health care and long-term financial security for all."

AARP has consulted with faith and community leaders across the nation and will be working throughout the week to open a dialogue in numerous communities. Members of these communities will be able to hear the Divided We Fail message during services and will have access to materials so they can create change in their homes and communities by sharing their stories and learning what they can do to improve the health and financial longevity of their communities.

"Health care and financial security are not just buzz words for politicians and Wall Street executives" said Dr. Iva Carruthers, General Secretary of the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference. "Each day individuals in our faith communities feel the effect of lacking health care or not being able to afford retirement. When voices of faith unite in the name of education and change, the result is incontestable. Divided We Fail is indeed a unique opportunity for faith communities to voice their opinions and create change."

Collectively 45 national religious groups have been engaged to consider participation in Faith Week. Examples include: Islamic Society of North America, United Jewish Communities, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Baptist Joint Committee on Religious Liberty, Catholics in Alliance for Common Good, Church of God in Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church, Evangelicals for Social Action, United Methodist Church, B'NAI B'RITH, Presbyterian Church, Seventh Day Adventist, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church.

Faith Week Resources

If you are interested in bringing Divided We Fail to your faith community, consider sharing copies of the Divided We Fail platform. Or if you are the member of a Judeo-Christian faith, you may find the following sermon seeds of interest for sermons, bulletins, etc. Other faiths may see similar opportunities to explore the Divided We Fail principles (both in health care and in financial security) in relation to their own beliefs.