Ecumenical Advocacy Days

Last weekend I joined a group from LSTC in attending the annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering in Washington DC. “Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues.” See advocacydays.org for more info. A young adult group also gathered, see: www.faithconnectsus.com

People from all over the country and from different church bodies came together to attend workshops on a broad range of social issues. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, we attended plenary sessions and workshops and on Monday we lobbied (primarily on the issue of climate change) on Capitol Hill.

The theme this year was “Enough for all Creation,” focusing on connections between climate change and other global issues like migration and poverty, which were discussed at plenary sessions. The plenary sessions emphasized the interconnectedness of the world, and how global warming and increasingly scarce resources (the global food crisis, etc.) is driving more and more people into grave living conditions. Climate change disproportionately affects poor countries, who have contributed least to the causes of global warming, but will be affected the worst. The disproportionate and excessive emissions from the United States is causing and will continue to cause even greater suffering to people in the world's most vulnerable communities. The plenary speakers emphasized how climate change is a justice issues, and how our faith calls us to advocate just policies that protect the most vulnerable communities and care for all of God's creation.

We also heard from staffers of a few members of Congress (including a staffer of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi) about possible legislation on climate change. They agreed that of the possible options for addressing the issue, a cap and trade system would be the most effective.

There were also different “tracks” which dealt with more specific issues or regions. I went to workshops in the Latin America track, where we learned about issues like the Cuban travel ban, the humanitarian crisis in Colombia, indigenous peoples' rights, drug cartel violence in Mexico, immigration reform, trade agreements, etc.

Participants also met with their various church bodies. We heard from the directors of the ELCA National Policy Staff as well as representatives from Lutheran Services in America, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services and Lutheran World Relief. The ELCA is actively involved in advocacy work on a broad range of social issues. To learn more about ELCA advocacy or to receive advocacy e-alerts, see: www.elca.org/advocacy

We heard from Mara Vanderslice, a religious advisor to President Barack Obama, who talked about the White House Office for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. Vanderslice explained that the Office’s top priorities will be making community groups an integral part of our economic recovery, fighting poverty, address teen pregnancy and how to reduce the need for abortion, encourage responsible fatherhood (an issue close to Obama's heart), and interfaith dialogue with world scholars and leaders. She boasted the work of the ELCA Washington Office, and the advocacy work Lutherans are engaged in. Participants extended an invitation to President Obama to choose to a Lutheran church for his new church home.

There was a hopeful sentiment from presenters with the possibilities that working with the new Obama administration will bring. At the same time, there was a recognition of the scale of the problems, particularly the economic crisis, facing the nation and world.
We also participated in advocacy workshops which offered tools for our lobby visits. We lobbied with congressional aids to the Senators and House Representatives from our home states. Overall the experience at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days was both daunting given the challenges our we face, but a cause for hope given the active engagement of the church in struggling and advocating for policies that foster a more just and sustainable world.