LAKE STREET CHURCH TO HOST COMMUNITY SCREENING OF INEQUALITY FOR ALL, DISCUSSION FOR ACTION NOV. 24 AT 2

 Rev. Steve Van Kuiken, Area Peace and Justice Committees Offer Forum on Next Steps; Film, With Economist Robert Reich, Focuses On How Dramatic, Growing Disparity Impacts You, Working Families and Threatens Economy

Evanston, Ill. – To promote awareness of how widening inequality threatens the average person and the health of the economy, The Lake Street Church Peace and Justice Committee and Rev. Steve Van Kuiken will host a screening of the documentary, Inequality for All November 24 at 2 p.m. at the church’s MacLeish Hall, off its courtyard at 607 Lake Street.

A half hour discussion for action will immediately follow the screening.

The film, by Jacob Kornbluth, features the insights and work of best-selling author, economist Robert Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at University of California Berkeley, former Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, and frequent broadcast commentator.

The film includes interviews with Reich, workers and business people, dramatic graphics of declining middle and working class income while gargantuan leaps in wealth and economic power accrue for a miniscule few, and the laws, practices, rulings and deregulations that have led to the situation, which reduces consumer spending, job creation and leads to economic instability.

In its review of the film, USA Today noted, “eerie parallels between the financial crashes of 1929 and 2008, where a widening gap between rich and poor helped destabilize the economy.”

Low wages in the fast food industry, for example, cost taxpayers $7B annually in public assistance programs for these employed workers, according to a study cited recently in the Chicago Tribune’s “Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry.”

Reich and others suggest remedies that require policy changes and legislation that will demand increased citizen involvement and volume.

Lake Street Church has invited area civic leaders to attend, and is joined by the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, The St. Nicholas Parish Peace and Justice Committee, the Unitarian Church of Evanston's Peace and Justice Committee, area universities and other groups in inviting members, students and friends to attend and discuss the issues and next steps.

A $3 donation is suggested to cover the cost of leasing the film, although not required to attend.

Doors open at 1:40. Over 100 people are expected to attend.

For more on the film: www.inequalityforall.com including trailer.

Lake Street Church is known for its active social justice committee and popular annual interfaith World Community Sunday, celebrating all faiths.

Led by elected lay co-directors, Lake Street Church is a vibrant community of independent thinkers and learners with wide interests. Members create and offer an array of intriguing programs, study groups and events on such topics as meditation, mysticism, creation stories, why evil exists, The Baghavad Gita, Buddhist teachings, dreams, music, Dances of Universal Peace, gender-based affinity meetings, equinox celebrations and outside speakers, such as the Medium for the Oracle of the State of Tibet.

Founded in 1858, Lake Street Church is welcoming and affirming and includes members from sixteen spiritual traditions. Formerly The First Baptist Church of Evanston, it is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches. The current church building, which opened its doors in 1875, is Evanston’s oldest public building and hosts Connections for the Homeless. The Lake Street Church offers weekly services on Sunday at 10:30, and many other weekly programs. It is located at 607 Lake Street in Evanston, Illinois. For more information: www.lakestreet.org, 847-864-2181.

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