04.30.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 10:04 pm by M Beauregard
Avoid the lines on Election Day and vote at your own convenience!
For a map, locations, and times for Early Voting, click HERE.
Early Voting Details
There are 33 Early Voting locations throughout Harris County. Remember, you may visit any of the early voting locations to cast your vote between April 30th – May 8th. Below is a full schedule for the hours most convenient for you. Please visit the County website for a map with locations: www.harrisvotes.com
Hours:
Monday-Friday April 30 – May 4 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Saturday May 5 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM
Sunday May 6 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Monday-Tuesday May 7-8 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Closest Heights locations are:
Moody Park Recreation Center
Moody Park is ONE major intersection east of I-45 at Patton St. Never a crowd and lots of parking. Avoid the lines at the Metro Multi-Service Center by voting here!
3725 Fulton Rd.
Houston TX 77009-4757
(map)
Metropolitan Multi-Service Center (Montrose)
limited parking, but more in the back.
1475 West Gray
Houston TX 77019-4926
(map)
Downtown Harris County Admin Building
1001 Preston 1st Floor
Houston TX 77002
(map)
Permalink
04.25.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 6:30 pm by M Beauregard
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Huey’s 103rd Birthday is April 25, 2007!
You are invited to Huey’s birthday party at
Gallery M2
325 West 19th St. Houston, TX
6:30 - 8:30 p.m.
Huey Long is the last surviving member of the original Ink Spots.
Come on over to Venus Hair some Saturday afternoon and meet a living legend.
Huey has tapes, CDs and a recently published biography for sale.
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Permalink
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 5:00 pm by M Beauregard
FREE, 5-8:30pm, Houston Community College, Pinemont Campus, Lecture Hall, 1265 Pinemont @ Ella Blvd
5:00 Registration, Pinemont Lobby
5:20 Welcome and Call to Order, Dr. Lois Avery, Dean of Academics, HCC NE
5:30 “Recent Changes in the Attitudes of Houstonians towards the Immigrant Population”, Dr. Stephen Klineberg, Professor of Sociology, Rice University. Klineberg is the creator of the Annual Houston Area Survey, now in its 26th year. This survey monitors the changes in attitudes of Houston residents over the past three decades on numerous community and lifestyle issues. As the size of Harris County’s young Latino population overtakes its aging Anglos, the 2007 Houston Area Survey shows that anti-immigration sentiment is increasing among area residents while admiration for ethnic diversity diminishes. This change in findings on immigration, the value of ethnic diversity, and relations among ethnic groups should concern the leaders of a city that has proudly billed itself as a place where different cultures flourish. While most respondents this year continued to say that Houston’s multiethnic character would be an asset, the percentage holding that view dropped from 67% in 2005 to 62% in 2007. It’s a troubling trend because Houston’s future is a multiethnic future; its past was an Anglo past.
6:00 Introduction by Dr. Aaron Knight, Departmental Chairman, Social Sciences
“Overview of World Immigration Issues, the United Nations, and the Immigration Policy of the European Union,” Max Beauregard, HCC Northeast Faculty; Demographics, Public Administration; & GIS
As a demographer, Beauregard fully understands that the reasons for migration are usually to improve the quality of life for the participants and their families by seeking better jobs. This is both a human condition and a world phenomenon. Thus, when the larger context of how immigration is being addressed by other countries of the world, we can see that the problem is universal and that there are multiple ways to approach similar issues.
6:45 30 minute BREAK (Snacks provided)
7:15 Introduction by Dr. Hal Comello, Professor of Government
“The US /Mexico Immigration Debate: US Immigration Policy, Why We Have Undocumented Residents, and How Social Networks Support Undocumented Immigration”, Dr. Nadia Flores, Assistant Professor in Latin-American Demography, Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University
At the age of 16, Dr. Flores was already a teenage mother, a high-school dropout, and an immigrant from Mexico who spoke no English. Nadia Flores proudly claims that she is a graduate of Long Beach City College (California) where she received an Associate Arts degree; and the encouragement, support, and training to continue and persevere her educational goals. Her current accomplishments (in addition to her five children) now include a BA in social science from UC Irvine, an MS in Demography from U Penn, and a PhD from U Penn in Sociology. Clearly Dr. Flores understands the importance and benefit of the local community college to the development and nurturing of the lives of young Latinos! Hear her remarkable story first-hand as an immigrant who has triumphed by achieving the American dream.
8:00 “Re-engineering Programs of the YMCA to Respond to Changing Demographics and Community Needs”, Jose Rendon, Vice President Public Policy, YMCA of Greater Houston.
Throughout its 120 year history, the YMCA of the Greater Houston Area has been a place where people can find hope, fellowship and healing. The YMCA has always stayed true to its mission, values, and purpose of helping persons grow in spirit, mind, and body. For any organization to stand the test of time it must be able to keep up with the world around it. In the 1960’s, the main program of the Y was to provide hotel services for men traveling out-of-town, but it has since evolved to one of the largest community service and non-profit organizations in the area. The Y continues its mission to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities, but now with a new focus, an Urban Agenda, to target Hispanics and the neighborhoods where they live. These new programs will provide language skills, computer training, nutrition, home economics, and family management.
8:30 Conclusions & Adjournment
Questions are encouraged and will be entertained at the end of each presentation.
Introduction and Background
Immigration has become a volatile, confusing, and divisive issue in the US that has produced numerous, extreme proposals to “control” our borders. These ideas include deportation of an unconfirmed number of 12+ million undocumented workers, building a “wall” along the Mexican border to prevent unauthorized crossings, denying citizenship to children born in the US of undocumented residents, declaring English as the only official language (Nashville TN; Friendswood TX), local communities trying to assume responsibility for immigration enforcement when they feel the federal government has failed them, and prohibiting residency within some cities by restricting residential housing leases to US citizens-only (Hazelton PA; Farmers Branch TX). Thus, reform and consistent enforcement of US immigration policy is desperately needed, yet there is no identifiable timeline for such because Congress remains indecisive and divided across party lines.
Virtually all of the information available to the public through the media is limited to the US situation only, with no discussion or awareness of the changed and evolving situation for immigration, either in the European Union, or the rest of the world. Immigration is a massive, worldwide phenomenon that is affecting the labor force, demographics, and the economies of all countries, yet the policy responses by many countries to manage and accommodate immigration are amazingly different. Unknown to many Americans, the European Union policy on immigration is exactly the opposite of the US. Indeed the choice for Europe has been to dissolve its borders of checkpoints, passport control, and to ultimately create a single “space of mobility” for EU citizens to live, travel, work, and invest. This facilitates free movement amongst its 25 independent countries, thus making it the world’s largest economic confederation, boasting 20 official languages. This unprecedented social decision, which is being created incrementally over time, was begun in 1992 to insure that the EU remains economically competitive within the global marketplace. Some of the cooperative relationships leading to this confederation date back to 1951, and indeed the EU is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. This policy is not without controversy, “growing pains”, and even radical demonstrations as multiple labor forces, diverse languages, unique cultures, and dissimilar religions begin to merge and co-exist at unprecedented levels. Yet the EU is committed to making its “new” confederation work for the benefit of all its citizens and its own success in the global economy.
At the world scale as observed by the United Nations, immigration has historically been such a controversial issue that it simply was not discussed. However in September 2006, the first-ever, dialogue on immigration was convened amongst high-level UN ministers. Their report to the United Nations General Assembly documents the magnitude of world immigration and the importance of diplomacy in negotiating realistic immigration policies for neighboring countries. And since then, the Iraq War has created nearly 6 million refugees, yet the US refuses to allow any of them the courtesy of sanctuary within the US. These people have been displaced as a direct result of US intervention in their own country, yet they are denied a safe harbor to rebuild their lives. Thus, US Immigration policy needs serious reconsideration in light of ever-changing world affairs.
Join us at Houston Community College Northeast, Pinemont Campus, for this provocative and enlightening seminar on immigration.
Permalink
04.23.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 9:41 pm by M Beauregard
Had Enough? Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s
happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody
murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state
right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and
we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.
But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads
when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You’ve got
to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I’ll give you a
sound bite: Throw the bums out! You might think I’m getting senile, that
I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I
hardly recognize this country anymore. The President of the United States
is given a free pass to ignore the Constitution, tap our phones, and lead
us to war on a pack of lies. Congress responds to record deficits by
passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy (thanks, but
I don’t need it). The most famous business leaders are not the
innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq, the
Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press
is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the
promise of America my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.
>>
I’ve had enough. How about you? I’ll go a step further. You can’t call
yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and
willing to have. My friends tell me to calm down. They say, "Lee, you’re
eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people." I’d love to,
as soon as I can pry them away from their iPods for five seconds and get
them to pay attention. I’m going to speak up because it’s my patriotic
duty. I think people will listen to me. They say I have a reputation as a
straight shooter. So I’ll tell you how I see it, and it’s not pretty, but
at least it’s real. I’m hoping to strike a nerve in those young folks who
say they don’t vote because they don’t trust politicians to represent
their interests. Hey, America, wake up. These guys work for us. Who Are
These Guys, Anyway? Why are we in this mess? How did we end up with this
crowd in Washington? Well, we voted for them, or at least some of us did.
But I’ll tell you what we didn’t do. We
didn’t agree to suspend the Constitution. We didn’t agree to stop asking
questions or demanding answers. Some of us are sick and tired of people
who call free speech treason. Where I come from that’s a dictatorship,
not a democracy. And don’t tell me it’s all the fault of right-wing
Republicans or liberal Democrats. That’s an intellectually lazy argument,
and it’s part of the reason we’re in this stew. We’re not just a nation
of factions. We’re a people. We share common principles and ideals. And
we rise and fall together.
>>
Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make
us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of
Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and
Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders
lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders
gone?
>>
The Test of a Leader
I’ve never been Commander in Chief, but I’ve been a CEO. I understand a
few things about leadership at the top. I’ve figured out nine points, not
ten (I don’t want people accusing me of thinking I’m Moses). I call them
the "Nine Cs of Leadership." They’re not fancy or complicated. Just
clear, obvious qualities that every true leader should have. We should
look at how the current administration stacks up. Like it or not, this
crew is going to be around until January 2009. Maybe we can learn
something before we go to the polls in 2008. Then let’s be sure we use
the leadership test to screen the candidates who say they want to run the
country. It’s up to us to choose wisely.
>>
So, here’s my C list:
>>
A leader has to show CURIOSITY. He has to listen to people outside of
the "Yes, sir" crowd in his inner circle. He has to read voraciously,
because the world is a big, complicated place. George W. Bush brags about
never reading a newspaper. "I just scan the headlines," he says. Am I
hearing this right? He’s the President of the United States and he never
reads a newspaper? Thomas Jefferson once said, "Were it left to me to
decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or
newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to
prefer the latter." Bush disagrees. As long as he gets his daily hour in
the gym, with Fox News piped through the sound system, he’s ready to go.
>>
If a leader never steps outside his comfort zone to hear different
ideas, he grows stale. If he doesn’t put his beliefs to the test, how
does he know he’s right? The inability to listen is a form of arrogance.
It means either you think you already know it all, or you just don’t
care. Before the 2006 election, George Bush made a big point of saying he
didn’t listen to the polls. Yeah, that’s what they all say when the polls
stink. But maybe he should have listened, because 70 percent of the
people were saying he was on the wrong track. It took a "thumping" on
election day to wake him up, but even then you got the feeling he wasn’t
listening so much as he was calculating how to do a better job of
convincing everyone he was right.
>>
A leader has to be CREATIVE, go out on a limb, be willing to try
something different. You know, think outside the box. George Bush prides
himself on never changing, even as the world around him is spinning out
of control. God forbid someone should accuse him of flip-flopping.
There’s a disturbingly messianic fervor to his certainty. Senator Joe
Biden recalled a conversation he had with Bush a few months after our
troops marched into Baghdad. Joe was in the Oval Office outlining his
concerns to the President, the explosive mix of Shiite and Sunni, the
disbanded Iraqi army, the problems securing the oil fields. "The
President was serene," Joe recalled. "He told me he was sure that we were
on the right course and that all would be well. ‘Mr. President,’ I
finally said, ‘how can you be so sure when you don’t yet know all the
facts?’" Bush then reached over and put a steadying hand on Joe’s
shoulder. "My instincts," he said. "My instincts." Joe was flabbergasted.
He told
Bush,"Mr. President, your instincts aren’t good enough." Joe Biden sure
didn’t think the matter was settled. And, as we all know now, it wasn’t.
Leadership is all about managing change, whether you’re leading a company
or leading a country. Things change, and you get creative. You adapt.
Maybe Bush was absent the day they covered that at Harvard Business
School.
>>
A leader has to COMMUNICATE. I’m not talking about running off at the
mouth or spouting sound bites. I’m talking about facing reality and
telling the truth. Nobody in the current administration seems to know how
to talk straight anymore. Instead, they spend most of their time trying
to convince us that things are not really as bad as they seem. I don’t
know if it’s denial or dishonesty, but it can start to drive you crazy
after a while. Communication has to start with telling the truth, even
when it’s painful. The war in Iraq has been, among other things, a grand
failure of communication. Bush is like the boy who didn’t cry wolf when
the wolf was at the door. After years of being told that all is well,
even as the casualties and chaos mount, we’ve stopped listening to him.
>>
A leader has to be a person of CHARACTER. That means knowing the
difference between right and wrong and having the guts to do the right
thing. Abraham Lincoln once said, "If you want to test a man’s character,
give him power." George Bush has a lot of power. What does it say about
his character? Bush has shown a willingness to take bold action on the
world stage because he has the power, but he shows little regard for the
grievous consequences. He has sent our troops (not to mention hundreds of
thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens) to their deaths. For what? To build
our oil reserves? To avenge his daddy because Saddam Hussein once tried
to have him killed? To show his daddy he’s tougher? The motivations
behind the war in Iraq are questionable, and the execution of the war has
been a disaster. A man of character does not ask a single soldier to die
for a failed policy.
>>
A leader must have COURAGE. I’m talking about balls. (That even goes
for female leaders.) Swagger isn’t courage. Tough talk isn’t courage.
George Bush comes from a blue-blooded Connecticut family, but he likes to
talk like a cowboy. You know, My gun is bigger than your gun. Courage in
the twenty-first century doesn’t mean posturing and bravado. Courage is a
commitment to sit down at the negotiating table and talk.
If you’re a politician, courage means taking a position even when you
know it will cost you votes. Bush can’t even make a public appearance
unless the audience has been handpicked and sanitized. He did a series of
so-called town hall meetings last year, in auditoriums packed with his
most devoted fans. The questions were all softballs.
>>
To be a leader you’ve got to have CONVICTION, a fire in your belly.
You’ve got to have passion. You’ve got to really want to get something
done. How do you measure fire in the belly? Bush has set the all-time
record for number of vacation days taken by a U.S. President, four
hundred and counting. He’d rather clear brush on his ranch than immerse
himself in the business of governing. He even told an interviewer that
the high point of his presidency so far was catching a
seven-and-a-half-pound perch in his hand-stocked lake. It’s no better on
Capitol Hill. Congress was in session only ninety-seven days in 2006.
That’s eleven days less than the record set in 1948, when President Harry
Truman coined the term do-nothing Congress. Most people would expect to
be fired if they worked so little and had nothing to show for it. But
Congress managed to find the time to vote itself a raise. Now, that’s not
leadership.
>>
A leader should have CHARISMA. I’m not talking about being flashy.
Charisma is the quality that makes people want to follow you. It’s the
ability to inspire. People follow a leader because they trust him. That’s
my definition of charisma. Maybe George Bush is a great guy to hang out
with at a barbecue or a ball game. But put him at a global summit where
the future of our planet is at stake, and he doesn’t look very
presidential. Those frat-boy pranks and the kidding around he enjoys so
much don’t go over that well with world leaders. Just ask German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who received an unwelcome shoulder massage from
our President at a G-8 Summit. When he came up behind her and started
squeezing, I thought she was going to go right through the roof.
>>
A leader has to be COMPETENT. That seems obvious, doesn’t it? You’ve
got to know what you’re doing. More important than that, you’ve got to
surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing. Bush brags
about being our first MBA President. Does that make him competent? Well,
let’s see. Thanks to our first MBA President, we’ve got the largest
deficit in history, Social Security is on life support, and we’ve run up
a half-a-trillion-dollar price tag (so far) in Iraq. And that’s just for
starters. A leader has to be a problem solver, and the biggest problems
we face as a nation seem to be on the back burner.
>>
You can’t be a leader if you don’t have COMMON SENSE. I call this
Charlie Beacham’s rule. When I was a young guy just starting out in the
car business, one of my first jobs was as Ford’s zone manager in
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. My boss was a guy named Charlie Beacham, who
was the East Coast regional manager. Charlie was a big Southerner, with a
warm drawl, a huge smile, and a core of steel. Charlie used to tell me,
"Remember, Lee, the only thing you’ve got going for you as a human being
is your ability to reason and your common sense. If you don’t know a dip
of horseshit from a dip of vanilla ice cream, you’ll never make it."
George Bush doesn’t have common sense. He just has a lot of sound bites.
You know,
Mr.they’ll-welcome-us-as-liberators-no-child-left-behind-heck-of-a-job-Brownie-mission-accomplished
Bush. Former President Bill Clinton once said, "I grew up in an alcoholic
home. I spent half my childhood trying to get into the reality-based
world, and I like it
here." I think our current President should visit the real world once in
a while.
>>
The Biggest C is Crisis Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is
forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on
the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when
you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when
your world comes tumbling down. On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong
leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand
to guide us out of the ashes. Where was George Bush? He was reading a
story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he heard about the
attacks. He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on
his face. It’s all on tape. You can see it for yourself. Then, instead of
taking the quickest route back to Washington and immediately going on the
air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he decided it wasn’t
safe to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the
day, and he told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put
in his bunker. We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our
wits, waiting for our leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay,
and there was nobody home. It took Bush a couple of days to get his
bearings and devise the right photo op at Ground Zero. That was George
Bush’s moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And what did he do when
he’d regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq, a road his
own father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush
didn’t listen to Daddy. He listened to a higher father. He prides himself
on being faith based, not reality based. If that doesn’t scare the crap
out of you, I don’t know what will.
>>
A Hell of a Mess.
So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for
winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the
history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia,
while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care
costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent
energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves.
The middle class is being squeezed every which way. These are times that
cry out for leadership.
>>
But when you look around, you’ve got to ask: "Where have all the
leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are
the people of character, courage, conviction, competence, and common
sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.
Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than
making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?
We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all
we know how to do is react to things that have already happened. Name me
one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has
yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or
demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial
hours after the storm. Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping
it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with
it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.
>>
Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can
restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed
that there could ever be a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese
car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going
to do about it?
>>
Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down
the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care
problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are
eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.
>>
I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on
your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being
hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is
everybody so afraid of? That some bobblehead on Fox News will call them a
name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?
Had Enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here.
I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope. I
believe in America. In my lifetime I’ve had the privilege of living
through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of
our worst crises, the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, the
Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis, and the
struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I’ve learned one
thing, it’s this: You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines
waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it’s building
a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a
role to play. That’s the challenge I’m raising in this book. It’s a call
to action for people who, like me, believe in America. It’s not too late,
but it’s getting pretty close. So let’s shake off the horseshit and go to
work. Let’s tell ‘em all we’ve had enough.
Excerpted from Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
(C) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.
Permalink
04.22.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 12:04 pm by M Beauregard
ProtectingCreation
A Call For Environmental Stewardship
Join us for this community lecture series focusing on the responsibility of communities of faith to protect the environment. The series explores God’s creation, man’s responsibility as stewards of creation, the environmental teachings of different religions, the influence of ideology on faith and environmental concerns facing us today.
For questions regarding this event please contact Ken Martinez at Ken@heightschurchofchrist.org.
Schedule of Events:
Sunday, April 22nd
10:30 a.m. Sunday Sermon
Faith and Food
Eating is the consummate whole experience. It is an act of survival, an act of pleasure, an act of sharing and community, and an act of spiritual renewal. How and what we eat is a reflection of our values and priorities. Eating is a moral act. And food choices are moral decisions. Join this discussion with Dr. Lynn Mitchell as he talks about how we should re-connect ourselves with the act of food production, an act of God’s creation and of God’s people that contribute to our daily bread.
Permalink
04.21.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 12:04 pm by M Beauregard
ProtectingCreation
A Call For Environmental Stewardship
Join us for this community lecture series focusing on the responsibility of communities of faith to protect the environment. The series explores God’s creation, man’s responsibility as stewards of creation, the environmental teachings of different religions, the influence of ideology on faith and environmental concerns facing us today.
For questions regarding this event please contact Ken Martinez at Ken@heightschurchofchrist.org.
Schedule of Events:
Saturday, April 21
10:00 a.m. (on the Heights Blvd. esplanade)
"The Changing World"
Join this story of one man’s journey and the difference one person can make. Geared towards youth and adults. Performed (word and instruments) on the Heights Blvd. esplanade by Jeff and Kent, area residents.
Jeff and Kent are truely gifted performers. I first saw them about 9 years ago at the Houston Arboretum’s Arbor day event and then again this past year at the same event. This is a don’t miss for the adults and youth alike.
10:45 a.m.
Refreshments (Heights Church Fellowship Hall)
Join us for lite snacks and beverage
11:30 a.m.
An Interfaith View of Environmental Obligation
This panel will discuss the protection of creation from the viewpoints of different religions - Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths. Join Imam Zubery Safak, Bruce Yeager and Lynn Mitchell in this discussion.
Join as Imam Zubeyr Safak of the Houston Anatolia Mosque, Bruce Yeager, elder at Central Presbyterian Church and Dr. Lynn Mitchell discuss the various perspectives on creation. (Due to Shabbat or the Jewish day of rest, Dr. Mitchell will provide the Jewish perspective.)
12:30 p.m.
Water, Water
Special guest Barbara Ann Radnofsky will discuss water issues facing Texas and our religious responsibility to address these issues. More information coming soon.
Barbara Ann is a former partner with Vinson & Elkins and she was the Texas Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate 2006.
2:00 p.m.
The Great Moral Issues of Our Times
Should global warming be a moral issue for Christians? This discussion takes up the debate as to whether or not the focus of Christians should be solely on a core set of predefined moral issues or whether Christians should look issues such as poverty, hunger and environmental protection as moral issues as well.
3:00 p.m.
Politics, Ideology and the Environment
Dr. Lynn Mitchell discusses the impact and influence of politics and ideology on our values. More information coming soon.
Sunday, April 22nd
10:30 a.m. Sunday Sermon
Faith and Food
Eating is the consummate whole experience. It is an act of survival, an act of pleasure, an act of sharing and community, and an act of spiritual renewal. How and what we eat is a reflection of our values and priorities. Eating is a moral act. And food choices are moral decisions. Join this discussion with Dr. Lynn Mitchell as he talks about how we should re-connect ourselves with the act of food production, an act of God’s creation and of God’s people that contribute to our daily bread.
Permalink
04.20.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 11:56 am by M Beauregard
ProtectingCreation
A Call For Environmental Stewardship
Join us for this community lecture series focusing on the responsibility of communities of faith to protect the environment. The series explores God’s creation, man’s responsibility as stewards of creation, the environmental teachings of different religions, the influence of ideology on faith and environmental concerns facing us today.
For questions regarding this event please contact Ken Martinez at Ken@heightschurchofchrist.org.
Schedule of Events:
Friday, April 20
7:00 p.m.
Dominion or Stewardship?
Did God give humans dominion over creation to do with as they please or did God place man as the stewards of His creation. Join in this discussion as Dr. Lynn Mitchel explores man’s role in God’s creation.
Dr. Mitchell, minister of the Heights Church of Christ, is the University of Houston’s Resident Scholar of Religion, Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Religion Studies program.
Saturday, April 21
10:00 a.m. (on the Heights Blvd. esplanade)
"The Changing World"
Join this story of one man’s journey and the difference one person can make. Geared towards youth and adults. Performed (word and instruments) on the Heights Blvd. esplanade by Jeff and Kent, area residents.
Jeff and Kent are truely gifted performers. I first saw them about 9 years ago at the Houston Arboretum’s Arbor day event and then again this past year at the same event. This is a don’t miss for the adults and youth alike.
10:45 a.m.
Refreshments (Heights Church Fellowship Hall)
Join us for lite snacks and beverage
11:30 a.m.
An Interfaith View of Environmental Obligation
This panel will discuss the protection of creation from the viewpoints of different religions - Muslim, Christian and Jewish faiths. Join Imam Zubery Safak, Bruce Yeager and Lynn Mitchell in this discussion.
Join as Imam Zubeyr Safak of the Houston Anatolia Mosque, Bruce Yeager, elder at Central Presbyterian Church and Dr. Lynn Mitchell discuss the various perspectives on creation. (Due to Shabbat or the Jewish day of rest, Dr. Mitchell will provide the Jewish perspective.)
12:30 p.m.
Water, Water
Special guest Barbara Ann Radnofsky will discuss water issues facing Texas and our religious responsibility to address these issues. More information coming soon.
Barbara Ann is a former partner with Vinson & Elkins and she was the Texas Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate 2006.
2:00 p.m.
The Great Moral Issues of Our Times
Should global warming be a moral issue for Christians? This discussion takes up the debate as to whether or not the focus of Christians should be solely on a core set of predefined moral issues or whether Christians should look issues such as poverty, hunger and environmental protection as moral issues as well.
3:00 p.m.
Politics, Ideology and the Environment
Dr. Lynn Mitchell discusses the impact and influence of politics and ideology on our values. More information coming soon.
Sunday, April 22nd
10:30 a.m. Sunday Sermon
Faith and Food
Eating is the consummate whole experience. It is an act of survival, an act of pleasure, an act of sharing and community, and an act of spiritual renewal. How and what we eat is a reflection of our values and priorities. Eating is a moral act. And food choices are moral decisions. Join this discussion with Dr. Lynn Mitchell as he talks about how we should re-connect ourselves with the act of food production, an act of God’s creation and of God’s people that contribute to our daily bread.
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04.19.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 5:00 pm by M Beauregard
April 19, 5-7pm "New Findings from the Houston Area Survey" Stephen Klineberg, Rice Univ.
Federal Reserve Bank, 1801 Allen Parkway, $10. RSVP required.
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04.16.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 12:13 am by M Beauregard
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04.14.07
Posted in Events, GHDC Blog at 12:28 pm by M Beauregard
Meeting agenda:
Preciding Officer will be Kevin Hoffman, Vice President
1) Update on activities from the Texas Legislature
2) Information on the state Constitutional amendment for tax relief available to Senior citizens, election scheduled May 12
3) Appeal to recruit block walkers in the Heights to assist Melissa Noreiga Campaign, Candidate for City Council #3.
4) Discussion to change meeting time from 9am to 10 am
5) Discussion to host an evening social event, end of April
6) Discussion of fundraising activities, garage sale etc.
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