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Article published Sep 20, 2008
New Hampshire Council of Churches Executive Director returns from Interfaith Delegation to Israel and Palestine
David Lamarre-Vincent, executive director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, has returned from a unique delegation to Israel and Palestine.
Lamarre-Vincent traveled to Tel Aviv along with 13 other participants from around the U.S. for a two-week trip through the conflict zone. The delegates met with representatives of Israeli and Palestinian civil society, religious leaders, politicians, businesspeople, farmers, students, Human Rights workers and former combatants. The mission of the group was to investigate the question of apartheid in relation to Israel and Palestine.
"Middle East peace hinges upon settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians," Lamarre-Vincent said. "This instability poses the greatest threat to world peace and support for the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements offers hope."
Participation in the delegation was a cornerstone of Lamarre-Vincent's summer sabbatical focused upon stories of interfaith understanding, whole community environmental thinking and ethnic/racial/language diversity in the New Hampshire church community.
The delegation was co-sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. This delegation is the 28th created by IFPB since 2001 to educate more than 400 North American citizens about the Middle East and deepen understanding of its conflicts through eye-witness experiences.
Lamarre-Vincent has served as executive director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches since 1990. The state Council of Churches is an ecumenical and inter-religious advocate for justice and peace, Christian unity and interreligious understanding.
© 2007, Telegraph Publishing Company, Nashua, New Hampshire 
Press Release
September 2, 2008 - 10:06am
Release Date: Sep 2 2008
New Hampshire AFL-CIO Working Families Join National and State Leaders to Celebrate Labor Day, Pledge to Turn Around America
National AFL-CIO Exec. V. P. Arlene Holt Baker, Gov. John Lynch, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes to Join New Hampshire AFL-CIO for Annual Labor Day Breakfast
(Manchester, NH – Sept. 1) Nearly 400 working men, women and their families joined prominent national and state leaders this morning for the annual New Hampshire AFL-CIO Labor Day breakfast at St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Manchester. Workers from throughout New Hampshire were joined by National AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker, Gov. John Lynch, former Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, Reps. Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes to unveil the AFL-CIO’s plans for the largest-ever union member mobilization to turn around America.
“Working people are ready to turn out and vote for candidates who are ready to turn around our economy, our healthcare system – candidates ready to stand up for the middle class,” MacKenzie said. “We’ve accomplished so much over the years, working alongside our friends at the state and national level. We are committed to turning this country around and restoring the respect and dignity to the millions of people who work hard every day to make ends meet and provide for their family.”
New Hampshire AFL-CIO’s effort to “Turn Around America” this year will reach over 39,000 union voters throughout the state. More than 250 local union coordinators have already begun door-to-door efforts, phone calls and worksite leafleting in order to engage fellow union members on working family issues this election year.
A Distinguished Service Award was presented to Betty Lapointe in recognition of her leadership and commitment to her brothers and sisters of the labor movement. Lapointe is a 34-year member and the first woman president of IBEW local 1505.
“I’ve been fortunate to be a member of a great union, IBEW 1505, for nearly 35 years,” said Lapointe. “I’m grateful for all I’ve learned from Mark MacKenzie and the leaders of the New Hampshire labor movement. There are a lot of other people that deserve this honor, thank you.”
David Lamarre-Vincent was the recipient of the Social Justice Award for his work as Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches. In that position, Lamarre-Vincent has lead the statewide association in their ecumenical and inter-religious advocacy for justice and peace and their work for Christian unity and inter-religious understanding.
“This award belongs to all New Hampshire houses of worship who celebrate the dignity of human work,” Lamarre-Vincent said. “May this award remind all laborers and people of faith this Labor Day to lift up the values of work and reflect on our religious teachings on labor.”
The event is the largest annual event hosted by the New Hampshire AFL-CIO. In May 2007 Gov. Lynch signed a bill increasing New Hampshire’s minimum wage. The final rate increase of that bill, to $7.25, went into effect today. Prior to 2007, the state’s minimum wage had not been raised in over a decade. Over 26,500 workers in New Hampshire are expected to benefit from the increase.
“If ever working families needed change we can believe in, it is now,” national AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker said. “Today, we are putting our efforts into highest gear in order to turn around America. Our country is headed in the wrong direction. America needs an economy that works for all, not just a few.”
Holt Baker was elected as Executive Vice President in 2007. She is the first African-American to be elected to one of the AFL-CIO’s three highest offices and the highest ranking African-American woman in the union movement. In her position, Holt Baker builds on her legacy of inspiring activism and reaching out to diverse communities to support the needs and aspirations of working people.
The New Hampshire AFL-CIO is a diverse social justice movement, committed to dignity for all and united in the struggle to improve the lives of working families and our communities.
###
PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
September 10, 2008
CONTACT:
Jacob Pace, Interfaith Peace-Builders
202-689-9790
David Lamarre-Vincent, New Hampshire Council of Churches
603-496-6989
New Hampshire Council of Churches Executive Director returns from Interfaith Delegation to Israel and Palestine
Israelis and Palestinians share insight on the question of apartheid and hope for peace
Washington, DC — David Lamarre-Vincent, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, has returned from a unique delegation to Israel and Palestine. Mr. Lamarre-Vincent, along with thirteen other participants from around the US landed in Tel Aviv on July 28 for a two-week trip through the conflict zone. The delegates investigated the question of apartheid in the Israeli-Palestinian context while meeting with representatives of Israeli and Palestinian civil society, religious leaders, politicians, businesspeople, farmers, students, Human Rights workers, former combatants and more.
The delegation was co-sponsored by Interfaith Peace-Builders (IFPB) and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (USC). This delegation is the 28th such experience organized by IFPB since 2001, successfully educating more than 400 North American citizens about the Middle East and deepening their understanding of its conflicts through eye-witness experiences.
Jimmy Carter’s recent book Palestine: Peace not Apartheid (Simon & Schuster, 2006) makes the former US President the latest in an extensive list of world leaders to apply the term apartheid to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Carter’s observations follow similar judgments by prominent South Africans such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and International Court Justice John Dugard. More recently, strong rhetoric by US presidential nominees regarding military aid to Israel and dialogue with Palestinian groups has raised important questions for US foreign policy and heightened public concern over US involvement in the conflict.
Participation in the Interfaith Peace Builders delegation was a cornerstone of Mr. Lamarre-Vincent’s summer sabbatical focused upon grassroots stories of interfaith understanding, whole community environmental thinking, and ethnic/racial/language diversity in the New Hampshire church community. “Middle East peace hinges upon settlement of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. This instability poses the greatest threat to world peace and support for the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements offers hope,” he explains. “Upon seeing and hearing the frustrations, fears and hopes of Israelis and Palestinians, New Hampshire religious leaders can support peace with justice based upon realities, not preconceptions.”
David Lamarre-Vincent has served as Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches since 1990. The NH Council of Churches is an ecumenical and inter-religious advocate for justice and peace, Christian unity and interreligious understanding. Mr. Lamarre-Vincent has also served on numerous New Hampshire government and nonprofit Boards of Directors and Advisory Councils and provided consultation services to government, business, religious, and volunteer sectors. He has been instrumental in the establishment of unique advocacy coalitions whose disparate members share one common mission for service and justice. He serves nationally as a consultant on social policy and organizational development within the religious community. His efforts have led to the formation of several national ecumenical and interreligious organizations for a just, peaceful and environmentally healthy world.
Mr. Lamarre-Vincent holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College, a M.Ed. in Counseling and Human Resources from the University of New Hampshire, an M. Div. from Yale University Divinity School and has completed post-graduate work at Weston Jesuit School of Theology.
David Lamarre-Vincent looks forward to discussing his trip directly. He can be reached at 603-496-6989 or David@NHchurches.org.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Interfaith Peace-Builders and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation believe in the power of eye-witness experience and transformation through first-hand experience. Given the opportunity to speak directly with Israelis and Palestinians, delegates return to North America better informed, more determined to make a change , and with a deeper understanding of the possibilities for justice and peace in the Middle East.
Begun as a program of the Fellowship of Reconciliation in 2000, Interfaith Peace-Builders’ mission is to give US citizens the opportunity to see and understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict firsthand and to empower these citizens to educate their local communities and advocate for a more just US foreign policy when they return. For more information see www.interfaithpeacebuilders.org.
The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation is a diverse coalition working for freedom from occupation and equal rights for all by challenging current US policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Campaign is based on human rights and international law, providing a non-sectarian framework for everyone who supports its Call to Action. Its strategy is to inform, educate, and mobilize the public so as to change the US role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to support peace, justice, human rights, and international law. For more information see www.endtheoccupation.org.
Contact persons:
Rev. Linda Hanna Walling Mr. David Lamarre-Vincent
Faithful Reform in Health Care New Hampshire Council of Churches
Telephone: 216-548-3125 603 496-6989 cell
Re: Interfaith Health Care Reform Meeting - June 2-4, 2006 - Cleveland, OH
Defining the religious community's distinct vision for and role in transforming U.S. health care was the focus of an Interfaith Health Care Reform Meeting held on June 2 - 4, 2008 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Cleveland, OH. Convened by Faithful Reform in Health Care, 75 local, state and national leaders began with the shared understanding that health care is a human need and that the current system is not working for everyone. They confirmed that faith communities have a moral imperative to be catalysts in
bringing about a health system that is inclusive, just, compassionate and sustainable.
Led by a facilitation team from The Difference, the group identified the values shared by most religious traditions, articulated the role of the faith community in working for health care reform; developed short and long-term action and communication plans; and designed an organizational model to carry the work forward. The shared values on which the work was based included compassion, community, concern for those who are vulnerable, equitable sharing of resources, and acknowledgement that each person
embodies the divine.
Moral theologian Dr. Jack Glaser, founder of the St. Joseph Health System Healthcare Reform Center in Orange, CA, presented two keynote addresses focusing on moral framing and the role of the faith community in public conscience work. Other presentations were directed to the connection between immigration and health care reform; messaging with new media; lessons learned from earlier campaigns; working together within the interfaith community and with secular organizations; and research about how voters think about health care reform.
The interfaith and multicultural group of clergy, laypersons and health care professionals represented 60 organizations from 23 states and Washington DC. With Buddhist, Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Unitarian traditions represented, the meeting's participant list also marked the diversity of faith communities working on this issue. In addition, our country's racial and ethnic diversity was evident with African American, Asian American, Caucasian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islander attendees.
Participant David Lamarre-Vincent, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Council of Churches, said, "Never have I ever been given such an ecumenical and simultaneously interreligious opportunity. Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists - all faiths are fundamentally united at the deepest level to ensure that American society provide affordable, accessible health care for all, redirecting our failing structure to an American system supported by the pillars of human dignity, compassion, stewardship, health, healing and wholeness for all. State and national reform of healthcare has rapidly moved up the societal agenda. The question before us is whether we seize this moment in time of ripeness and redirect ourselves for the next month, quarter, years to fully engage and be present in the public square with a bold, prophetic voice. This is an opportunity for us to knit all of our economic justice, human dignity, immigrant rights, etc. concerns into the societal conversation."
Rev. Linda Hanna Walling, convener of the meeting and Executive Director of Faithful Reform in Health Care, said, "This was the first time in nearly fifteen years that leaders representing the interfaith community have gathered to strategize about getting more effectively engaged in working for compassionate and sustainable reform. The commitment exhibited by those who attended this meeting marks the beginning of the faith community's unique contribution to the cultural transformation that will be needed to move toward a health care future that works well for all of us."
More information about the meeting, including video segments, may be viewed on the Internet at www.faithfulreform.org.
Plans are underway to convene an interreligious faithful health care reform group in New Hampshire at the conclusion of the summer.
__________________________
Rev. Linda Hanna Walling Mr. David Lamarre-Vincent
Executive Director Executive Director
Faithful Reform in Health Care New Hampshire Council of Churches
3000 Euclid Avenue 140 Sheep Davis Road
Cleveland, OH 44115 Pembroke, NH 03275
Tel: 216-548-3125 (cell) 603 496-6989 (cell)
Fax: 216-432-0134 603 224-1352 work
walling@faithfulreform.org david@nhchurches.org
www.faithfulreform.org www.nhchurches.org
All press voice mail and email will be answered within 12 hours.