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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
In Time for Christmas, Presbyterians Help Forgive $13.3 Million in Medical Debt Across the Midwest
The Good News:
Wichita, KS, December 6, 2022 – Nearly 15,000 people facing crippling medical debt will get an early Christmas present this year with the help of Presbyterian congregations in Kansas, Missouri, and southwestern Illinois. The churches raised almost $58,000 to acquire and forgive $13.3 million in medical debt held for low-income individuals in five states. Under the sponsorship of the Synod of Mid-America, a regional body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), church members, congregations, and other church organizations were encouraged earlier this year to donate funds to its campaign called “Project Jubilee” to buy medical debt held by low-income individuals.
How It Worked:
In partnership with RIP Medical Debt (RIP), a national nonprofit organization established to relieve the burden of medical debt on persons in need, the Project Jubilee funds were used to purchase past due, unpayable medical debt on the open debt collection market at a substantial discount. The Project Jubilee campaign also opted to extend its reach and acquire medical debt portfolios in both Kentucky and Tennessee, in addition to the congregations’ three home states initially targeted. The total number of individuals benefitting from the campaign numbers 14,815, with an average debt relieved of approximately $900 each. These persons will receive RIP branded letters in the mail this month notifying them that their medical debt has been forgiven in full. Medical debt abolishment is source-based and therefore cannot be requested. RIP purchases and abolishes medical debts only for those who: are four times (or below) the federal poverty level or have a medical debt that is 5% or more of their gross annual income, ensuring those in most need are helped.
Locally, Project Jubilee resulted in 675 individuals in Kansas, and 154 of them in Sedgwick County, experiencing an unanticipated Christmas gift in medical debt relief from the Presbyterians.
What Was Said:
“Our church was delighted to participate in Project Jubilee,” said Catherine Neelly Burton of Grace Presbyterian Church of Wichita, KS. “As Presbyterians, we believe that Scripture calls us to serve the ‘least of these’ because when we do, we are serving Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate on Christmas. Project Jubilee is one small way our church is seeking to bring healing and wholeness to the community we are a part of and serve. This Christmas gift to our most vulnerable neighbors underscores that commitment.”
Who We Are:
The Synod of Mid-America (SoMA) is a regional mid council of the Presbyterian Church, (U.S.A.) encompassing the states of Kansas, Missouri, and southwestern Illinois. The Synod consists of six local presbyteries, their 356 congregations, and their 37,769 members, and supports and resources its presbyteries and congregations in their engagement of mission and ministry. The Synod’s offices are located in Kansas City, Missouri. To learn more: www.synodma.org
RIP Medical Debt is a national nonprofit whose purpose is to strengthen communities by abolishing financially burdensome medical debt. Founded in 2014 by two former debt collection executives, the organization has relieved over $7.3 billion in medical debt in partnership with churches, nonprofits, and other organizations for over 4 million families. RIP Medical Debt’s offices are located in Long Island City, New York. To learn more: www.RIPMedicalDebt.org
For further information about Project Jubilee, please contact Catherine Neelly Burton of Grace Presbyterian, at 316-684-5215 or catherine@mygpc.org.
November 28, 2022
Dear Grace Community,
Earlier I shared a note with you about a decision the Grace Session made to our congregational welcome statement. You can read that letter here >
As I shared in that letter, the Session spent months on this topic with a lot of conversation. In the end, no one on the Session voted against this welcome statement. I asked volunteers to share why they thought this was important for the Session, and I share their thoughts below.
In Christ,
Catherine NB
From Ben Juhnke:
I have had several friends in the LGBTQ community who, when looking for a church home, visit our website and do not find anything on our site that welcomes them into our community. We don’t state what our stance or beliefs are, which can be confusing or misleading.
The best way to compare the hardships they face in being welcomed is to compare their search for a community to the search African Americans had following the civil rights movement. If we don’t explicitly invite, we might not be as welcoming as we say we are. And that possibility will keep a member of the community away from our doorstep. They will never even set foot inside to find out just how welcoming and inviting we, as the Grace family, are to anyone who wants to deepen their love of Christ.
From Elyse Scholl:
Dear Grace Members,
As a member of your Session, I want to share more about our new Welcome Statement. There are people in our community who are not welcomed in all churches. As a PCUSA church, we are privileged to celebrate religious freedom for all. This gives us the opportunity to share the Glory of our God with a community that is underserved and underrepresented; what a gift! To quote a phrase from the 90s, “What Would Jesus Do?” He would minister to and care for ALL. I hope that this Welcome Statement encourages members of our community that have not found a church where they can feel at home to try Grace. As members, we already know that Grace Presbyterian is a welcoming place, and this statement is our opportunity to let visitors know that they are fully welcome here regardless of race, disability, gender, sexuality, politics, or socio-economic status.
From Jody Webster
In the Internet age, many people turn to the web to scout out their church homes before even setting foot in the building. Too many churches are “welcoming” in their Mission Statement or “About Us” on their website, but those who are outliers, including those who identify as LGBTQ+, too often find an unspoken “but…” in how the church includes them in the body of Christ.
God created each one of us and gave each one of us gifts to further His kingdom. By qualifying how a potential member can contribute, we are not authentic in our welcome. I want our church to leave no doubt that we follow the teachings of Jesus detailed in Matthew 22:36-40, loving one another without conditions or exceptions, as we should love ourselves.
Do you ever look at the need in our community and wonder how to help?
Join the Christian Education Team this January as we hear from people in our community who work daily with our neighbors in need. Each Sunday, January 8 – 29, we hear from community leaders. They share what the organizations they work with are doing, and there is time for you to ask questions.
There are, of course, more areas of need than these four, but in discernment with the Mission Distribution Team, these are all places where we’ve had contacts as a church, and we are grateful for the chance to learn more together.
The class meets in the Great Room from 10:00 – 10:45 am on Sundays, January 8, 15, 22, and 29.
- January 8: Mental health
- Mental Health Association of South Central Kansas: https://www.mhasck.org/
- Breakthrough Club https://www.breakthroughwichita.org/
- NAMI Wichita: https://www.namiwichita.org/
- January 15: Housing and Homelessness
- Humankind https://www.humankindwichita.org/
- Union Rescue Mission https://urmwichita.org/
- Habitat for Humanity https://wichitahabitat.org/
- Grace Good Neighbor Team
- January 22: Low Income Healthcare
- Project Access http://centralplainshealthcarepartnership.org/index.php/project-access/
- Francie Ekengren, Wesley Medical ER
- Guadalupe Clinic https://guadalupeclinic.org/
- January 29: Grace Presbyterian Refugee Team and International Rescue Committee
During this Advent Season, we are called to support the Christmas Joy Offering and to open doors for those we might not be able to meet face to face with but who need the support that our gifts provide. We receive this offering at Grace on December 18.
We support the potential of students of color who become our leaders, and we seek to come alongside them, to encourage them, and to open doors for them. And we support church workers and their families who have critical financial needs, and we come alongside them to assist them — we open doors for them. We thank God for being “with us” through the gift of Jesus and for joining us together as the Church and, through our gifts, with those who have need.
The story of God, as we tell it, is not about a barrier, but about a gift. It’s not about the separation, but about the gift of “being with.” Please give generously to the Christmas Joy Offering, in celebration of God’s perfect gift to us. Give because it brings us together, to open doors of relief and opportunity, and to relationships that are part of God’s story, a part of God’s perfect gift to us.
Our gifts reflect our generous God. Our gifts support leaders in our Church and world — past, present, and future. – PCUSA Special Offerings
