FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: (Insert name and phone number)
(Insert name of church, clergy association or council) Invites (insert town name) Residents to “Take Back Your Time”
(Insert town name and date release is being sent to the media) -- This fall, members of (insert name of church, clergy association or council of churches) in (insert town name) will join a national “Take Back Your Time” movement to counter the epidemic of overwork and over-scheduling. Individuals and families are being invited to take four “windows” of time off between national Take Back Your Time Day (Oct. 24) and the end of the year to engage in slow, simple life-renewing activities, and to recover the gift of Sabbath observance common to so many religious traditions. “We are inviting people to reclaim time from long hours at work, school and extra-curricular activities for rest, reflection, and spiritual renewal,” said (insert name of spokesperson, title and organization name). “We are encouraging folks to read a good book, have an extended dinner conversation with family or friends, take a walk in the park, play games with children, appreciate a sunset, or reflect on God’s intentions for themselves and the world.”
“Take Back Your Time/ Four Windows of Time” was developed by the Massachusetts Council of Churches. The program reflects the Council’s consistent concern for restoring a healthy balance between labor and leisure, and for renewed attention to Sabbath observance. October 24, 2006, falls nine weeks before the end of the year. This date was selected to emphasize that, on average, U.S. workers work nine more weeks a year than their European peers.
(Insert name of spokesperson) says, “We invite everyone in (insert town name) to take back Four Windows of Time this fall, to reconnect with the spiritual practices of their tradition, and to take time for self, family, friends, community, nature. Just four times! But we hope that this experience will encourage people to adjust their living patterns in ways that make more sense.”
Take Back Your Time Day was started in 2003 by Take Back Your Time, (www.timeday.org), a Seattle-based national organization that fights against the epidemic of time famine in the United States. The Massachusetts Council of Churches (MCC), a statewide partnership of seventeen denominations with over 1,700 Orthodox and Protestant churches, has been joined by the Georgia-based Lord’s Day Alliance of the U.S, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Massachusetts congregations, in promoting Four Windows of Time. The Rev. Dr. Diane Kessler, Executive Director of the MCC, said, “We are developing an intriguing partnership among secular and religious organizations, all of which are committed to drawing attention to concerns we share about overwork and ‘time poverty’ in American culture. We hear the same complaint everywhere — people feel the pace of their lives is out of balance and out of control.”
The Massachusetts Council of Churches has prepared a variety of materials to help individuals and congregations think creatively about taking back their time. The materials also draw attention again to problems caused by scheduling youth sports events and other public activities on Sunday mornings. A sample of these resources, available at www.masscouncilofchurches.org, was sent to congregations throughout the Commonwealth in early fall.
For more information about the “Take Back Your Time/ Four Windows of Time” initiative in (insert name of town), contact (insert contact info).
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