Report of Advocacy Workshop

Rev. Carmen Lampe-Zeitler conducted an advocacy training workshop for the coordinating team and friends on Saturday, June 11.

She opened the workshop with devotion about a young Lakota Sioux woman, a member of a girls’ basketball team from South Dakota, and of her courageous dance performance in front of a hostile, belittling basketball crowd. Lampe-Zeitler said it was a wonderful example of a young woman who had a strong sense of identity and self-worth and how those characteristics affected the “windows of her soul.” Lampe-Zeitler, too, shared stories of her childhood and those experiences and persons who shaped her “windows.”

In a group exercise, Lampe-Zeitler asked the group to consider both positive and negative issues which deeply touched us and were shaped by the windows of our souls.

She challenged the group to figure out what causes we can affect at all levels – local, state and national –and to name those injustices and “connect the dots” to discover the underlying injustices.

We already know how to “do” advocacy, she said, the greatest challenge is in the “doing.” People and churches have the power to change the world – “We need to get busy and do it.”

She urged the group to find inspiration from books and other sources because inspiration is tied to creative advocacy. And, she said, what inspires us might inspire policy-makers and what inspires us can become a vehicle or catalyst for advocacy. Lampe-Zeitler brought examples of books and music which inspire her.

She closed the workshop by inviting participants to read several poems she had selected.
 

Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace and Justice

Nancy Lister-Settle, Denise England and Mary MacKenzie attended the Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace and Justice from March 10 through March 13 in Washington, D.C. They joined nearly a thousand other Christians from a wide range of denominations and churches throughout the United States. This year's conference, "Challenging Disparity: The Promise of God, the Power of Solidarity," was the fourth such conference to bring U.S. religious activists together.

Participants spent Saturday and Sunday in workshop tracks to focus on a broad spectrum of international and domestic policies. The tracks included Africa, the Asian-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, Domestic, Jubilee and Economic Justice, Eco-Justice and Global Security.

Keynote speakers and worship leaders were Rev. Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, Senior Pastor at the Believers Christian Fellowship and president of the 10,000 member Hampton (Virginia) University Ministries' Conference; Michael Kinnamon, professor at Eden Theological Seminary; and E. J. Dionne, Jr., professor at Georgetown Public Policy Institute and a senior advisor to The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

Monday was Lobby Day and participants met with their legislators from the House of Representatives and Senate to voice their ideas and opinions on the issues and policies discussed in their track sessions. Also on Monday, participants gathered in front of the capitol for an interfaith prayer vigil for peace in Iraq.

More than 30 national organizations, agencies, programs and others were exhibitors at the conference including the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

Presbyterians at the conference gathered on Saturday evening with the staff of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Washington Office. Rev. Jean Marie Peacock, Vice Moderator of the 216th General Assembly brought greetings and the Rev. Dr. John W. Wimberley, Jr., pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C., was the featured speaker.

Representatives from several presbyteries with Joining Hands Against Hunger partnerships gathered for breakfast on Sunday morning with Rev. Dr. Lynn M. Connette, Associate for JHAH Presbytery Support.

For additional information about Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace and Justice go to:
http://www.advocacydays.org/index.php

Gathering for the Prayer Vigil	Mary MacKenzie, center, and Raj Waghray, Church World Service, listening to the service.	Rev. John L. McCullough, Executive Director and CEO, Church World Service, participates in the service.

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