Dear ,

It’s hard to believe that August is almost over. Students are returning to school. September will be here soon.

Remembering Labor over Labor Day Weekend. If you haven’t arranged to put an insert or sheet in your congregation’s bulletin or newsletter over Labor Day Weekend, now is a good time. CLICK HERE for the Labor Day resources for use in your congregation.   

And it is time to gear up for registering voters and encouraging people to vote. Although we are supporting and promoting many activities, I want to highlight two things that are proven to increase voter participation. 

• Postcarding. We are inviting you to send handwritten postcards to low-propensity voters. You tell me how many cards your group/congregation can do, we send you the cards (in batches of 100) and a script, you write, stamp, and mail them. CLICK HERE to email me at: kim@virginiainterfaithcenter.org 

• Emailing Friends and Family. Communicating with people we personally know and building relationships with new people are the most effective ways to encourage voting. VICPP will be offering a weekly training session on how to use Impactive -- a phone app -- for using your phone to encourage people to vote. The first training will take place on Thursday evening, September 1 at 6 p.m. The identical session will be offered every Thursday evening until the elections. Join us on September 1 and then invite your friends and family to join us on a following week. I’m not the most tech savvy person around, so if I can do it, you can, too! Here’s the info: 
  

Register for Impactive Training: 
Every Thursday evening at 6 p.m. (Sept. 1 – Nov. 3) 
Register for the training date of your choice at: tinyurl.com/vicpp-impactive

Using my phone for justice,

Kim Bobo 
Executive Director

It’s time to get connected to form your regional chapter’s fall legislative team! VICPP encourages advocates to coalesce constituents into small groups to meet with their legislators during the fall to discuss their support of our 2023 platform. In preparation for the 2023 General Assembly, we will hold a statewide legislative preview via Zoom on Friday, September 16 from noon to 1:30 p.m. We will outline the key provisions of the bills anticipated to be on our policy platform, discuss the process and priorities for our fall schedule of district-level meetings with legislators, and review fundamental tips and strategies to ground these advocacy meetings.

To get connected to form a legislative team, CLICK HERE to visit our Chapters webpage for the link to email the coordinator team for your respective chapter.

Click the button below to register!

VICPP is proud to be a community partner of National Voter Registration Day again this year, for the tenth anniversary of the holiday. Observed this year on Tuesday, September 20, the day aims to share voter registration opportunities before state deadlines and help people get vote ready. Volunteers and organizations from all over the country will engage in voter registration on a single day of coordinated field, technology, and media efforts. Since 2012, nearly 4.7 million voters across all 50 states have registered to vote on National Voter Registration Day. Click the button below to check out the 2022 library of resources to help you organize events leading up to this annual celebration of democracy!

VICPP extends our thanks to Bishop J.C. Richardson, pastor of the historic Mt. Sinai Apostle Church, for hosting a meeting for Black clergy in Martinsville to learn more about engaging with VICPP on August 16. This meeting has laid the foundation for new relationship-building and organizing in the Southside region in collaboration with our Danville affiliate. If you live or work in the Martinsville area and would like to get connected to support our advocacy efforts as an individual or through your congregation, please email VICPP Engagement Director, Dora Muhammad, at dora@virginiainterfaithcenter.org or click the button below so you can get updated on the next meeting that will be scheduled. 

You are invited to join VICPP and other faith leaders as we head to the Eastern Shore of Virginia on Sunday, August 28. We will hear from farmworkers and advocates, and later join a farmworker mass in the fields. We will meet with advocates and partners in the afternoon. In the evening, we will get to meet with farmworkers, and celebrate a sacramental Mass with them and other representatives at the Eastern Shore Farmworker Ministry. For more information, email VICPP Faith Organizer, Sheila Herlihy, at: Sheila@virginiainterfaithcenter.org
Click the button below to register!

Mark your calendars for 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 10 and register today for the first follow-up to the Together in Faith Symposium as VICPP continues to look at ways to combat racialized and religious violence in Virginia. We will be hosting a virtual screening and discussion with the producer and writer of the new documentary short (36 minutes), “Are We There Yet.” The film follows the cross-country road trip of Marisa Prince and Calvin Lee, co-founders of American Awakening, to better understand the Doctrine of Discovery, its connection to contemporary Christian Nationalism, and if it's possible to chart a new course for the American Christian Church. Join us via Zoom for this noon matinee event! 

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER.

Click the button below to register!

For a more comprehensive list of upcoming events, please click the button below to check out the VICPP Events webpage.