Americans United

for Separation of Church and State - Orange County

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AU-OC

3337 S. Bristol, #251

Santa Ana, CA 92704

orangecountyau@yahoo.com

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2007 in Review

The Annual Address of the Chapter President, Stephanie Campbell

November 19, 2007

Elections

The following officers were elected for 2008 - 2009 and will assume office in January 2008:

Stephanie Campbell, President
Allison Young, Vice President
Carl Weibel, Treasurer
Richard Gillock, Secretary/Webmaster

Programs

In 2006 we were able to accomplish many things, including some interesting programs regarding church/state separation:

January – Jim Armendaris, Orange County Human Relations Commission: "Religious Hate Crimes in Orange County"
February – Activist Training with Rich Gillock: How to Monitor your School Board and City Council
March – Dr. Gavin Huntley-Fenner, Trustee of the Irvine Unified School Board: "Exploring the Role Religion Plays in Schools"
April – Flicks for Thought: “Jesus Camp”
May – Dr. Michael Newdow, Doctor, lawyer, and plaintiff for religious liberty: Litigation in two lawsuits, “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance, and “In God We Trust” on our currency.
July – Dr. C. Ronald Koons, UCI Professor, Oncologist, and Ethicist: End of Life Choices, Hospice Care, Physician Assistance in Dying, Health Care Directives, and Religious Opposition to Your Choices
August – Flicks for Thought: “Whose Death is it Anyway?”
September – Dr. Sam Coleman, Orange County Chapter of Veterans for Peace: "Conscientious Objectors and the Separation of Church and State"

By far our most successful meetings were the showing of "Jesus Camp" and our two part series on Compassionate Choices with Dr. Ronald Koons and the showing of "Whose Death is it Anyway?" The Compassionate Choices series was the brain child of Roy Kobayashi, who received the AU-OC volunteer award for 2007.

On the Horizon for 2008

On the early agenda for 2007 meetings are:

January – Flicks for Thought: “God in Government” documentary and discussion
April – Barry Lynn, Executive Director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Comes to OC: Major Fundraiser and Membership Drive for 2008

Report from the National Advisory Council, Stephanie Campbell

The National Advisory Council to AU meets annually in Washington to discuss and plan chapter objectives and bring chapter representatives up to date with the activities of the national organization. Some of the highlights were:

New Organizing Manual and Bylaws
Lobbying Activities Policy
Lobbying with the offices of our Senators
Religious Earmarks on the Rise
- $100,000 for a state organization to promote Creationist theories (Vitter, Louisiana) – [Pulled]
- Millions Funneled into Teen Challenge $1.9 Million to “Advancement of the Kingdom of God”
- Refurbishment of active churches – such as Mission San Luis Rey (Oceanside)
Political Action & Religious Free Speech
- 501(C)(3) organizations may not endorse or oppose individual candidates or work in concert with political parties.
  This includes non-partisan candidates
- Issue advocacy is permitted and is constitutionally protected free speech
- No more than 10% of budget can be spent on issues without filing with the IRS

Membership Report

Financially we are stable and growing. We have continued to grow our membership this year in Orange County.

One reminder, please renew your membership through the Orange County Chapter. By doing so you remain on our county chapter list at the national headquarters and it also means that part of your membership dues stay here with the county chapter. This makes it easier for us to hold expensive events like the Interfaith Forum and to cover expenses of the newsletter, website, and other chapter communications.

Volunteer

We hope that many of you will become active in the chapter. Our steering committee meets monthly, the time and date are on our website, though we are trying to have our meetings at 12:30 pm on the same date and place as our General Meetings at the Irvine Ranch Water District.. All members are welcome to attend. This is where we plan our events and prepare our communications with National.

We need your ideas and your efforts to make this a successful chapter. A chapter cannot sustain on the efforts of a few officers, it needs for its members to involve themselves and share the work. It is both interesting and rewarding and I hope you will become a volunteer in 2007.

Submitted by: Stephanie M. Campbell, President

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