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The
Church Federation asks congregations to pray for Indianapolis Area students
Annual Back to School Sabbath raises awareness of community efforts
to improve graduation rates.
INDIANAPOLIS – Congregations, business leaders and educators
are
being asked to put their prayers to work as area students return to
school.
Sponsored by The Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis, the Back
to School
Sabbath is an annual multi-faith call for people across Marion County
to pray for
students to come back safely and continue to stay in school. The request
is for prayers
to begin with services on the weekend of August 8 and continue throughout
the month
as students start the 2008-2009 school year.
“A great education for our young people is something we
all believe in. That’s why we
ask people of faith to come together to keep this important aspect of
our society in their
prayers at the start of school,” said Reverend Angelique Walker-Smith,
executive
director of The Church Federation.
This year, The Church Federation’s theme will be to “Guide
to Grad” as they join the
business community in asking citizens to help shape the lives of young
people by
becoming a mentor for the Common Goal Initiative of the Greater Indianapolis
Chamber
of Commerce. Common Goal aims to boost the graduation rates in Marion
County
public schools from 70 percent to 80 percent.
Leaders see improving graduation rates in Indianapolis
as crucial to improving the
quality of life and business climate here. And they believe Common Goal’s
efforts in the
schools are making a difference.
“The entire Pacers organization puts our support squarely
behind what Common Goal is
doing to make a difference in our community,” said Pacers Vice President
of
Communications Quinn Buckner. The Pacers Foundation, Indiana Pacers
and Indiana
Fever, sponsor the Common Goal mentoring program. “Indianapolis will
thrive with
more skilled graduates coming into the workforce. And Common Goal, with
partnerships
like this one with The Church Federation, is taking the right steps
to help make this
happen.”
The Church Federation brings together Christian groups
(denominations, congregations,
church-based and parachurch organizations and Christian educational
institutions) to
fellowship, to celebrate diversity, to serve one another and to serve
the community. Its
involvement in educational issues dates back to the 1960s when it founded
the Christian
Youth Council. Their efforts today with the Back to School Sabbath as
well as active
participation in GRADES (Group for Renewal, Accountability and Development
of
Excellence in Schools) established in cooperation with IPS.
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