By Rev. Dustin G. Wright, Messiah Lutheran Church in Schenectady, New York

 

About a month back during the Week One action of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, I sat with a diverse group of justice-minded folks from across New York State blocking the doors to the Capitol Building in Albany. Wearing my collar and favorite stole, I was trying to accompany children, women and people living disabilities in saying how unnecessarily hard it is for so many in a state that puts itself out there as one of the most progressive places in the country. I was simply doing what I thought people on the Way of Jesus should be focusing on, and in the midst of all the singing and chanting, I got into a conversation with a young woman from Brooklyn sitting next to me.

Seeing my collar, she said something like, “Wow, there’s a lot of religious leaders here.” A little surprised, I responded with something like, “Of course there is, this Poor People’s Campaign is just picking up where MLK left off after all fifty years ago!” And then, she said something that struck me to the core after four years of ordained ministry… “Wow, I didn’t know religious people cared about important things.”

It was in that moment that I really began to realize how truly important the Poor People’s Campaign is. A lifelong Lutheran, I was born in 1986, and despite my childhood pastor preaching against the 2003 Iraq War and teaching about issues like hunger and poverty, I also spent my entire life in a context where many Americans, for a bunch of different reasons, seem to think following Jesus is more about making LGBTQIA folks feel unwelcome; telling women what to do with their bodies; and saving souls from eternal torment in the next life rather than saying much of anything good at all about how we ought to live both individually and collectively in this life.

Jesus was a refugee, a day laborer, after all, lynched in the manner of a political revolutionary by one of the most powerful empires the world has ever known specifically because he sought to challenge and change that system. While he talked about getting into heaven, for sure, this world, not the next, was the focus of his ministry. As it says on the stoles of two leaders of the Poor People’s Campaign, Rev. Liz Theoharis and Rev. William Barber, Jesus was a poor man. How then could followers of the Way of this poor revolutionary become identified with policing folks’ bedrooms but not saying much of anything about the systemic sins of poverty, racism, militarism and ecological devastation?

The “moral narrative” of this country, influenced in part by a false, ahistoric and heretical brand of Christian Nationalism that has almost nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus, has quite simply become distorted.

“A New and Unsettling Force: Confronting the Distorted Moral Narrative” is the theme for this week of the Poor People’s Campaign, and I pray you will join me, people of faith and others of good will across this country in doing just that.

In Christ,

Rev. Dustin G. Wright

Pastor, Messiah Lutheran Church in Schenectady, New York

President, New York State Council of Churches

By  the Rev. Amy Reumann, Director of ELCA Advocacy

 

   When the Attorney General and the White House Press Secretary invoked St. Paul’s instruction “be subject to the governing authorities” to quell criticism of the Administration policy of separating families seeking asylum at the border, faith leaders reacted swiftly to the misuse of Scripture. The ensuing uproar focused on a narrow interpretation of Romans 13 that ignored the larger meaning of the passage, which holds all persons and structures to God’s higher standard of love. It can in no way be used justify the horrific practice of tearing children away from their parents or any unjust law. Many have weighed in on the misapplication of the text to falling in line behind this new interpretation of immigration policy.  But it also raises a larger question. Just what is our relationship to government, as Lutherans? When do we submit, and when is resistance called for? 

Luther had a lot to say about this. He bequeathed us with a unique take on the role of the church in society. As branches of the emerging Protestant movement wrestled with how to relate to the ruling powers – full separation from the irredeemably sinful affairs of state and society, or fully combining royal and church leadership – the Lutheran movement forged its own path. Luther’s reading of the Gospel and understanding of God’s ordering of the world led him to believe that Christians can make use of the governing structures, because they are gifts from God for order, for peace and for providence for those who have little.  

In the Large Catechism, Luther stresses the place of government three times, with an emphasis on the ways it is a means by which God cares for the most vulnerable:

• Fourth Commandment:civil government is an extension of the parental role, responsibility and authority, and is to serve so that children can live full and productive lives.
• 1st Article of the Apostles’Creed:“good governments” is lifted up as a gift of God,  alongside necessities like body, soul, life, food, drink, spouse, child, air, water, peace and security.
• 4th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer:daily bread includes all the necessities we need for our daily life and the role of the rulers was to ensure daily bread for all.

Luther drew on the poetry of the Psalms to speak further regarding governmental care for the poor. In his commentary on Psalm 82 he addresses the duties of a prince and their virtues that include furthering the Word of God by ensuring “justice for those who fear God,” and just laws to prevent the oppression of the poor, wretched, widows and orphans. The government itself is a “divine hospital” to care for those in need, to ensure no one will become a beggar.  

Luther is very clear on what makes a good government. Cooperation, participation and submission to the just laws of a benevolent government are in line with these emphases. But submission to the governing authorities is never blind nor automatic. We are to evaluate laws, discuss policies as a faith community and discern a faithful response. As the ELCA, we do so within the framework and guidance of our social teaching documents.

The ELCA Social Statement “Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective” sums up this up when it states that:

This church must participate in social structures critically, for sin also is at work in the world. Social structures and processes combine life-giving and life-destroying dynamics in complex mixtures and in varying degrees. This church, therefore, must unite realism and vision, wisdom and courage, in its social responsibility. It needs constantly to discern when to support and when to confront society’s cultural patterns, values and powers. (Church in Society, p. 3)

Lutherans are called to careful discernment on social issues and, rooted in our understanding of the Gospel, to affirm laws that align with it, oppose those that are contrary to it and to speak up in all cases. Laws and policies that do harm to the most vulnerable are to be strenuously opposed. The social statement continues:

As a prophetic presence, this church has the obligation to name and denounce the idols before which people bow, to identify the power of sin present in social structures, and to advocate in hope with poor and powerless people. When religious or secular structures, ideologies or authorities claim to be absolute, this church says, “We must obey God rather than any human authority” (Acts 5:29). With Martin Luther, this church understands that “to rebuke” those in authority “through God’s Word spoken publicly, boldly and honestly” is “not seditious” but “a praiseworthy, noble and … particularly great service to God.” (Church in Society, p. 4)

Lutherans have some wonderful theology here that we need to dust off and put it back in use. Now. When rhetoric dehumanizes or demonizes people of different races, nationalities or religious traditions the church is called to name and denounce idols of white supremacy, ethnic nationalism or religious intolerance, inside itself and in public life. When public policies perpetuate the poverty or oppression of our neighbor, we are to work tirelessly to change them. Family separation spectacularly fails the test of our faith values and has earned our rebuke and resistance. Should all the children be reunited with their parents, there are still families torn apart by our nation’s policies, caught in our broken immigration system, separated by this Administration’s travel ban, or locked up in our system of mass incarceration. If children at the border horrifies us, so should these other cases.

Faith community leaders, including Presiding Bishop Eaton, have spoken resoundingly in opposition to family separation. When the Presiding Bishop speaks, it is a call to action for the church to join in confronting not only the policies but the values and powers behind them. We must speak God’s powerful Word publicly, boldly and honestly in these days. ELCA Advocacy is here to help you with that.

 

Be sure to join the ELCA e-Advocacy Network.

By John Johnson,Program Director for Domestic Policy

 

Not everything is broken in Washington DC. Last Friday, Senate leaders released their long-awaited version of the farm bill and there is good news for farmers, hungry people, people of faith and frankly the whole country. The Senate’s version of the farm bill renewal is a good bill that addresses many ELCA priorities by maintaining strong support for anti-hunger programs.  It is a model of how legislation in Washington with bi-partisan leadership ought to move in Congress.

Senators Pat Roberts (R-KS) and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI)—the chair and ranking member respectively of the Senate Agriculture Committee—are fulfilling their early commitment to work together on the farm bill. Their press-release statements quote each other positively, a relief in this fiercely partisan climate. A bill that affects every person and every community in the United States and beyond deserves no less.

Hunger advocates, farmers, environmentalists, international aid stakeholders, businesses and law makers now begin pouring over the 1000-page bill in preparation for a planned “mark-up” of the bill on June 13. At this time committee members will amend and tweak the legislation before voting to move it to the Senate floor. That’s the easy part. What lies ahead gets complicated very quickly.

The House bill (H.R. 2) contains language that would restructure the program in ways that would increase food insecurity. The Senate bill contrasts starkly with the House version by making technological investments in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps) and making it easier for states to manage the complex requirements for work and job training while receiving benefits. It also includes restored funding for conservation programs, maintains our commitment to international food aid, includes funding for research and development and protects the farm “safety net.”

The House bill passed out of the House Agriculture Committee on a party-line vote with no cooperation between Democrats and Republicans last month. It failed on the floor to get enough support to pass out of the House and was dramatically pulled and tabled. It is expected to return to the House floor around June 22. That bill’s fate is uncertain, and it is unknown now if leaders in the House will be able to muster the votes needed to send it to a conference with the Senate.

The Senate draft now puts pressure on the House, but as of this writing, several scenarios exist.  Ideally, both chambers should pass their respective bills, meet in conference to iron out differences, vote again on the compromise of the two versions, and send it to the President to sign into law. It all must happen before the current farm bill expires at the end of September. If the School House Rock episode of, “I’m Just A Bill” comes to mind, that’s the way the legislative process is supposed work.

The differences in the bill, however, could become a mountain too steep to climb for some members. If managed poorly, ideological gridlock could create a stalemate in both chambers as the deadline looms closer and stakeholders become more impatient. If the deadline is not met, it’s very likely that lawmakers could toss up their hands and let the outcome of the 2018 mid-term elections drive what happens in a lame-duck session after the November 6 elections. This outcome leaves farmers in the lurch and states with more uncertainty that neither can afford. While unlikely, some have floated the idea of a short-term extension, but this also creates uncertainty and chaos.

As Lutherans, we are reminded of the holy commitment we have to each other in our common life when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” As we find in the Large Catechism, “When you say and ask for daily bread, you ask for everything that is necessary in order to have and enjoy daily bread and, on the contrary, against everything that interferes with enjoying it. You must therefore expand and extend your thoughts to include not just the oven or the flour bin, but also the broad fields and the whole land that produce and provide our daily bread and all kinds of sustenance for us.”

Now Lutherans need to get to work. We need to call our lawmakers at 202-224-3121 with a simple message: work together, do no harm, don’t put farmers and hungry people in peril and do it sooner than later. Our voices will be critical in the coming weeks and they make a difference. Time and again when we lift our voices in the thoughtful ways that Lutherans approach issues like the farm bill, we become a catalyst that lawmakers can’t ignore. It is time do that Gospel work of advocacy now more than ever.

Interested advocates can follow the Senate’s hearing on the farm bill on Wednesday, June 13 starting at 9:30 a.m. EST by clicking on this link.

By The Rev. Dr. Clint Schnekloth of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church  in Fayetteville, Arkansas 

 

Prescott, Helena, Conway, Yellville, Ponca, Bull Shoals, Benton, Springdale, Beebe, Monticello, Little Rock, and Fayetteville.

That’s just a few of the communities represented this weekend at the Arkansas Citizens First Congress (CFC) Legislative Convention. This convention gathers representatives from dozens of organizations across the state. It is intentionally racially and economically diverse, and centers the progressive Southern voice.

The Congress follows a very democratic process. Organizations participate in caucuses and vote up issues they believe CFC should advocate for at the state level. Once the priorities are selected, the whole organization votes, and then those become the priorities staff members advocate for at the state house during the next legislative session.

A researcher with the Institute for Southern Studies is interviewing here all weekend, because the Institute, among many others, sees the new Southern progressive community exposing injustice, strengthening democracy and building community for change in the South.

This isn’t necessarily the story the rest of the country tells about the South, but it is our story. This is the new South, and the South you never knew, but should have. There are emerging populations in our state, and all across the South, who are strengthening the progressive perspective. For example, 40,000 Latino youth will turn 18 this year in Arkansas, and we hope they will vote.

The Arkansas Poor People’s Campaign (APPC) is another organization, pursuing a shorter-term and focused campaign strategy to effect change in many of the directions CFC pursues as well. Where CFC takes the long and lobbying approach, the APPC is attempting to re-center the moral narrative in our nation, lifting up the voices of the poor and especially the voices of those affected by racism, poverty, militarism and ecological degradation.

Through all of this, one slowly emerging voice is that of the progressive faith community. Because the noise of voices of faith on the right has been so very loud, it seems Southern progressive people of faith have had to walk slowly, disambiguating themselves from misunderstandings and misuses of the faith in order to clearly proclaim the way they see their progressive moral commitments as aligned with the way of Jesus.

But it is happening, more and more, and it is beautiful. I believe we are seeing through the Poor People’s Campaign, and many other initiatives in our state and in the South, what the PPC is calling “a new unsettling force.” A different story is going to be told about the South than has been told. It’s a new civic imagination, a world in which many women are elected to public office, young Latinos increasingly gain voice and votes, rural and urban progressives work across the geographical lines that frequently divide us, and we all grow spirituality as our increasing awareness of intersectionality contributes not to fracture or division, but maturity and moral vision.

But it is happening, more and more, and it is beautiful. I believe we are seeing through the Poor People’s Campaign, and many other initiatives in our state and in the South, what the PPC is calling “a new unsettling force.” A different story is going to be told about the South than has been told. It’s a new civic imagination, a world in which many women are elected to public office, young Latinos increasingly gain voice and votes, rural and urban progressives work across the geographical lines that frequently divide us, and we all grow spirituality as our increasing awareness of intersectionality contributes not to fracture or division, but maturity and moral vision.

 

 

ELCA Advocacy Office, Washington, D.C.

The Rev. Amy Reumann, director                                                              ELCA.org/advocacy

June 21, PRAY.FAST.ACT.: On Thursday, June 21, we join with The Episcopal Church in our monthly commitment to #PrayFastAct. This month our focus is on disaster preparedness. The United States and its territories are facing extreme weather patterns more frequently. In the past year, fires, floods and hurricanes have displaced millions of people, destroyed homes and other structures and led to deaths. Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands continues to face many challenges in the wake of Hurricane Maria, including infrastructure damage, a plummeting economy, loss of jobs, closure of schools, cuts in peoples’ pensions and other factors that have contributed to a mental health crisis. ELCA congregations and organizations are among many groups that work tirelessly to help Americans when disaster strikes, but their efforts are often hampered by bureaucracy, which delays getting valuable assistance to those who most need it. The federal government must work to streamline the process for getting aid to those who need it and invest in disaster preparedness to minimize the effects of emergencies and major disasters.

HUMAN RIGHTS: The House of Representatives has passed the National Defense Authorization Act. The bill includes an amendment that imposes new financial and visa sanctions on Myanmar military officials. The amendment also limits U.S. military-to-military assistance to the Myanmar military until it makes progress on human rights and perpetrators of the current crisis are held accountable.

MIGRATION AND AMMPARO: A Health and Human Services (HHS) official testified that the department does not know the whereabouts of approximately 1,400 children who had been in their custody. The children were released to sponsors and the HHS could not contact them in follow-up calls. HHS has the child-welfare expertise to screen children for trafficking. It is important to provide the department the resources needed to follow up with sponsors. Interested advocates can learn more by reading “Explaining policies separating children and families” on the ELCA Advocacy blog.

CREATION CARE: ELCA Advocacy participated in the international meeting to prepare for the December U.N. Climate Change Conference (COP24). This meeting, held in Bonn, Germany, May 1-May 10 was designed to produce a strong foundation for the development of a robust rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement at COP24. An additional meeting to build on this work will be held in September in Bangkok. Critical issues discussed included climate finance and raising the commitments of parties to the Paris Agreement in reducing greenhouse gases to minimize the global temperature increase to less than two degrees Celsius. The first Talanoa Dialogue was successfully held at this meeting. The dialogue is a means of facilitating the negotiations and involves sharing ideas, skills and experiences through storytelling in which participants build trust and advance knowledge through empathy and understanding. Interested advocates can learn more about the Bonn meeting and the Talanoa Dialogue process on the ELCA Advocacy blog.

ELCA Advocacy and The Lutheran World Federation are organizing concurrent Talanoa Dialogue sessions to be held as an affiliate event during the Global Climate Action Summit in September in California. Session 1 covers just transition (transitioning to energy sources derived from renewable energy in a manner that creates resilient communities while leaving no one behind). Session 2 addresses the livelihood of people dealing with disasters caused by the increased intensity and frequency of severe weather patterns and storms. Invited participants include representatives from vulnerable regions in the world that are most endangered by climate change.

 

Lutheran Office for World Community, United Nations, New York, N.Y.

Dennis Frado, director

CHALLENGES FACING MIGRANTS: Marking the start of the May negotiations toward a U.N. Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, the ELCA and The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) offered an event on May 14, “Grassroots Perspectives on Migrants’ Lived Realities in Different Contexts.” The presenters discussed the challenges migrants face during their journey, as well as when they return to their home countries.

Silvia Raquec Cum (photo, third from right) is program director of Asociación Pop No’j (“weaving knowledge and wisdom” in the Mayan K’iche’ language), a non-profit Guatemalan organization. She reported on the causes of migration from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, and the politics of detention and deportation. Asociación Pop No’j works on the return and reintegration of child and adolescent migrants back to their communities of origin.

Katrine Ringhus (far right), advocacy director with LWF–World Service in Colombia, reported on work on the nation’s border with Venezuela and on the Pacific coast. LWF offers risk management and human rights assistance to people contending with illegal access routes, inadequate shelter, malnutrition, endemic disease, trafficking, extortion and violence.

Rados Djurović (second from left) is executive director of the Asylum Protection Center in Belgrade, Serbia, a non-profit serving asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. He outlined the legal, psychological and integration and inclusion support offered to migrants while advocating for improving the system and fighting prejudice and xenophobia.

The panel was made possible by a grant from ELCA Global Mission. Also participating were the Rev. Cindy Halmarson (far left), ELCA Global Mission area director for Europe, the Middle East and North Africa;  and Alaide Vilchis Ibarra (second from the right), ELCA Advocacy program director for migration policy, who also provided interpretation. The compact under negotiation is expected to be adopted at a U.N. conference in December.

California

Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy                                                                  loppca.org

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE: May 31 concluded consideration of legislation, and activity has intensified on the 2018-19 state budget, due on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk June 15. The bill process cycles again until final adjournment of the two-year session at the end of August. Faith advocates, who had worked together to support increasing the CalWORKS/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families support to 50 percent of the federal poverty level, part of an effort to tackle child poverty, were amazed to see diverse senators speaking in support with an unexpected final vote of 39-0! Perhaps a more challenging task is continuing work to reach the two-thirds threshold to enact a very small fee on water bills to support safe and affordable water in disadvantaged communities.

STATE UPDATE: California has been blessed with a revenue surplus of about $9 billion, much of that a result of volatile personal income taxes on capital gains. Besides the CalWORKS proposal, Gov. Brown, a fiscal moderate, will be challenged by legislative proposals, supported by LOPP-CA, for income-eligible Medicaid coverage of 19- to 25-year-olds and people 65 and older, regardless of immigration status (#Health4All),  expansion of census outreach efforts, and continued rebuilding of deep cuts to child care during the recession (#SpringforKids #BillionforBabies).

SYNOD ASSEMBLIES: LOPP-CA Director Mark Carlson participated in the Pacifica Synod Assembly in Palm Desert, and the Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly in Sacramento. Mark was blessed to take Bishop Medardo Gomez and his wife, Abelina, of El Salvador to the Capitol for lunch during the final hectic deadline day, meeting staff, a state senator and the Spanish-speaking advocate for the California Environmental Justice Alliance. They participated in the LOPP-CA synod breakfast with guest speaker Eric Guerra, a Sacramento City Council member brought to the U.S. without documents at preschool-age.

Colorado

Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Colorado                                                  lam-co.org

LEGISLATIVE ADJORN: The Colorado General Assembly adjourned on May 9, having acted on 721 bills during the session. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado took a “support” position on 12 bills, of which six were passed and sent to the governor. We also took an “oppose” position on three bills, all of which were defeated.

HUNGER: We supported SB 13, which would expand an existing program that subsidizes children on reduced-price lunch from grades K-5. This bill would expand the subsidy through middle school and passed with bipartisan support.

FAMILY-SUSTAINING INCOME AND LABOR: Our flagship bill was HB 1001, to create a paid family and medical leave program in Colorado. It passed the House but failed in the Senate. We also supported a bill to provide federal disability benefit application assistance (failed) and one to support economic resilience in rural areas (passed).

HOUSING: We supported a successful bill, SB 10, to require landlords to provide a lease copy to tenants and receipts for rent paid in cash or money order. We also supported several bills that did not pass: SB 120, to give tenants time to cure unpaid rent, and HB 1432, to prohibit source-of-income discrimination in housing.

HEALTH CARE: We opposed a bill to put up roadblocks to health care access for Medicaid recipients, SB 214. The bill was defeated on a bipartisan vote.

CIVIL RIGHTSWe supported the successful reauthorization of the Colorado Civil Rights Division, as well as a referred measure that would ask voters to abolish an exception to the ban on slavery in the Colorado Constitution.

Minnesota

Tammy Walhof, Lutheran Advocacy–Minnesota                                                tammy@lcppm.org

SYNOD ASSEMBLIES: Kendrick Hall represented Lutheran Advocacy-MN at the Minneapolis Area Synod Assembly. He was also one of three young adult keynote speakers for almost 500 voting members and guests at the Saint Paul Area Synod Assembly. After his keynote, traffic at our display picked up considerably! 

Director Tammy Walhof had the opportunity to speak individually to almost 200 people at the Northeastern Minnesota Synod Assembly and spoke briefly at one of the plenary sessions.

LEGISLATIVE SESSION: Bills presented with little time for consideration made for a chaotic end to the session. “Trust me” from House leaders was met with skepticism, given tricks after negotiations last year.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING: HUGE WIN! With our champion lawmakers, hardworking team and advocates like you, Homes for All secured $90 million in affordable housing! Additionally, coalition partners secured $30 million for mental health crisis centers. We could not have done it without you! Thanks for acting on the alerts shared (by the hundreds) at synod assemblies and on Facebook – and for sharing them broadly in your networks!

CLEAN ENERGY: Clean energy policy was largely protected. (See details from partner Fresh Energy: fresh-energy.org/2018legislativeupdate/.)

Improving Minnesota’s renewable energy was not passed. Your efforts with us in the Faith & Clean Energy Campaign have helped move the issue forward. The Faith & Clean Energy letter with many of you among 1,200 signers was delivered (with prayer) to the office of Sen. Osmek (Energy chair) the morning after the session ended. That work needs to continue through the fall and into next session, when we intend to win that change!

 

 

 

 

New Mexico

Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–New Mexico                                         lutheranadvocacynm.org

2018 LEGISLATIVE INTERIM BEGINS: Since the Legislature meets for relatively short sessions, a good deal of legislative work is done during the “interim,” which occurs between May and December. At the first meeting of the Legislative Health & Human Services Committee, LAM-NM Director Ruth Hoffman urged the committee to study public-benefit programs to facilitate understanding and alleviate misunderstandings regarding the programs. LAM-NM will be monitoring, attending, and providing testimony to several interim committees that deal with issues relating to the LAM-NM Advocacy Agenda.

 

Ohio

Nick Bates, Hunger Network Ohio                                                            Nick@HungerNetOhio.com

Faith Leaders across Ohio continue to speak out on the federal farm bill. Pastor Bob Swanson of First Lutheran in Dayton, Ohio, spoke at a news conference (see photo at left) on proposed cuts to SNAP. First Lutheran is an inner-city congregation that serves breakfast every Sunday. “But that is one meal. SNAP ensures more than one meal. It ensures sustenance,” said Swanson. We were very pleased to work collaboratively with the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, ecumenical partners in the United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church, along with Faith in Public Life.

UPDATED GUIDEBOOKS!: The Hunger Network has ordered additional copies of our Advocacy Guidebook for the faith community. The last guidebooks were distributed during the United Methodist Women’s conference held in Columbus in mid-May where the Hunger Network was honored to speak during the advocacy workshop alongside our Texas partner, Texas Impact.

STATEHOUSE UPDATE: As of May 31, the Ohio House of Representatives remains without a speaker and unable to do the work of the people. The former House speaker, Cliff Rosenberger, R-Wilmington, resigned in April as a result of an FBI investigation raising legal and ethical concerns around his behavior and gifts from lobbyists. Legislation on the environment, payday lending and funding bills remains stalled as a result. We pray that ego and hubris may be put aside, and the work of the people may move forward again. We remind the Legislature that they are servants of the community, and the servant must be willing to humble themselves at the feet of their neighbor and wash their feet.

 

Pennsylvania

Tracey DePasquale, Lutheran Advocacy – Pennsylvania                             lutheranadvocacypa.org

LUTHERAN DAY AT THE CAPITOL More than 120 people attended Lutheran Day at the Capitol on May 21. Highlights included worship, workshops, recognition of Advocacy Honorees from Pennsylvania synods, an inspiring address by keynote speaker Dr. Richard Alley and legislative visits.

CHILD NUTRITION SUMMIT: Several LAMPa advocates joined Tracey DePasquale at the first statewide child nutrition summit, held in State College. In addition to learning about best practices in addressing child hunger, we were able to share the work of ELCA World Hunger and connect Lutheran hunger ministries and school staff – including some Lutheran teachers who are now going to seek hunger grants for  programs they are starting.

SCHOOL BREAKFAST MINI-GRANTS ANNOUNCED: Gov. Tom Wolf recently announced $900,000 in grants to help 200 schools make breakfast available to all students and expand options for the children.

Child nutrition advocates joined First Lady Frances Wolf  (fourth from the left in the photo at right) as she announced the awarding of mini-grants to improve school breakfast participation in 200 schools. LAMPa has been working for years to expand school breakfast participation in Pennsylvania. Improving education from preschool through higher education has been a priority for the governor and first lady since day one.

SYNOD ASSEMBLIES: LAMPa provided a display and information at the Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod Assembly, May 4-5. The Rev. Patricia A. Davenport was elected bishop. Davenport is the first African-descent woman to be elected a bishop in the ELCA.

 

Virginia

Neil Caldwell, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy

The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy’s more than four-year struggle to expand health care access finally came to a successful conclusion on May 30 as the General Assembly approved a state budget that includes Medicaid expansion. After much wrangling, the Legislature agreed to accept the federal money available to cover nearly 400,000 low-income Virginians who do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford to buy insurance. Congress’ failure to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, as well as large gains by Democrats in last year’s election, helped spur several state Republican lawmakers to change their positions after years of opposition. This has been the Virginia Interfaith Center’s top legislative priority since 2014. “I am so proud of the work the faith community has done to support expanding health care in Virginia,” said Executive Director Kim Bobo. “Although we recognize the economic benefits, we have focused on the moral dimensions of helping our neighbors.” Virginia becomes the 33^rd state, plus the District of Columbia, to expand Medicaid. On another key issue that the center has advocated for at least three years, on May 21 Gov. Ralph Northam signed into law an increase in the state’s felony threshold level from a national low of $200 to $500. It was the first increase since 1982. While the Virginia Interfaith Center wants the threshold raised to $1,000 or more, it agrees that this is a long overdue first step in that process.

 

Washington

Paul Benz, Faith Action Network                                                                                             fanwa.org

REGIONAL SPRING SUMMITS: Each year, FAN holds our four regional summits in Seattle, Spokane, Yakima, and Vancouver, where we gather advocates to hear about the good social-justice work they are doing, share what FAN did this past legislative session and what we’re working on in D.C. and for state initiatives. The last summit will be on June 10 in the Seattle area. Click here to download a flyer.

Last year at the Seattle Summit, advocates gathered into issue working groups to discuss priorities and strategize for the legislative session ahead.

STATE INITIATIVES: Advocates have until July 1 to gather the signatures required to put statewide initiatives on the ballot. This year, FAN is supporting:

• 1631 – which would establish a price on our state’s highest emitters of CO2’s and a board to implement, monitor, and govern this new and innovative approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced in our state. Click here for more information.
• 1639 – which involves gun responsibility. It would raise the age to purchase assault-style weapons, enhance background checks, extend wait times for those purchases, and establish a formal and confidential school-safety system. Click here for more information.
• 1644 – which would amend state law to allow the government to remedy discrimination against historically disadvantaged groups, including military veterans, in the areas of employment, education and contracting. A governor’s commission on diversity, equity and inclusion would be established as well.

CONGRESSIONAL ISSUES: FAN is working with the ELCA Washington Office, other D.C. faith groups and our in-state partners on three congressional issues:

• The farm bill: specifically trying to move three Republican delegation members to oppose it.
• Sentencing reform: FAN is opposing the House First Step Act and supporting the Senate Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act.
• Immigration: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and immigration reform.

STAFF CHANGES: Sadly, next month FAN will be saying goodbye to our ELCA seminary intern organizer, Sarah Derick, and our wonderful communications and development specialist, Erin Parks. Sarah is going back to Chicago to finish up her Master of Divinity degree, and Erin is going to Vanderbilt Divinity School to work on her master’s degree. We are now in the interview process for an ELCA Hunger Fellow and a new administration and development coordinator.

Wisconsin

Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin                                              loppw.org

SYNOD ASSEMBLIES:

(Photo at left) The Rev. Eleanor Russey and Mary Lou Blomquist of the Northern Great Lakes Synod ELCA World Hunger Committee with a resolution they initiated on the farm bill. Their committee will offer resources with assistance from LOPPW.

Advisory Council Member Deb Martin managed a table in the East Central Synod Assembly. She surprised LOPPW by telling us afterward that she got a resolution passed encouraging people to sign up for LOPPW’s and ELCA Advocacy’s action alerts and becoming more aware of advocacy.

The director managed a table and led a workshop on the draft of the women and justice social statement at the South-Central Synod Assembly after meeting with the Rev. Viviane Thomas-Breitfeld, who was a co-author of the draft and is now bishop elect.

MORE ON THE FARM BILL: LOPPW sent out two action alerts that mirrored our D.C. office’s alerts on the bill. LOPPW was also part of a webinar on the farm bill organized by the Wisconsin Council of Churches.

STRATEGIZING FOR FUTURE LOPPW met with Lutheran Social Services to discuss ways of working together on issues related to children and refugees.

HUNGER FELLOW: The director worked with Nancy Sifuentes on the interview process.

CHURCHWIDE ORGANIZATION: The director was part of a conference call of relators to directors for evangelical mission and is assigned one director to relate to.  The director also was part of a conference call with Lutheran Social Services (LSS) and Lutheran Disaster Relief (LDR) to discuss LOPPW supporting efforts of an LSS representative working with LDR in Wisconsin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By The Rev. Donna Simon, St. Mark Hope and Peace Lutheran Church

 

Natalie is married and has three children. She works at Popeye’s, hoping for full time but subject to the scheduling whims of management. Natalie was in the gifted program all through school, but when she got pregnant at eighteen, her college plans were put on hold. She still hopes to go one day.

DeSean lives with his fiancé and their two children in a small apartment on the east side of Kansas City. He works at Burger King, like his mom before him. He is also a local and now national spokesperson for the Fight for 15, the movement seeking a living wage and union representation for persons working at the bottom of the wage scale in America.

These are rough portraits of two of the hundreds of workers I have come to know since our congregation started hosting Stand Up KC, Kansas City’s branch of the Fight for 15. These workers are some of the smartest, funniest, hardest-working people I know, and they are struggling—struggling to feed their kids, to pay the light bill, and to hold up their heads in a country which denigrates and even vilifies poor people, most of whom are working hard and falling further behind as wages stagnate decade after decade¹.

When Rev. William Barber shared his vision for a new Poor People’s Campaign, continuing the work started by Martin Luther King shortly before King’s death, the workers and allies of Stand Up KC were early adopters. We knew that this campaign would do what the Fight for 15 has done: put the people being cast to the economic margins of our country at the center of a narrative of justice and equity. And it has. Our workers have told their stories in Kansas City, Jefferson City, and Washington, DC. Over one hundred workers and allies from Stand Up KC have taken arrest so far in our state capital to protest its systematic dismantling of policies which protect working people and the preemption of properly instituted wage hikes in St. Louis and Kansas City.

I put my body in a street in Jefferson City because I am tired of living in a country which tacitly accepts the concept of the “working poor,” a concept which violates the stated values of our nation and the values we profess as people of faith. People who work hard in the richest country in the world should not be poor.

The Poor People’s Campaign follows Dr. King’s blueprint in allowing poor people to tell their own stories, thus also following Jesus in giving people agency in their own healing. “Stand up, take your mat and walk,” Jesus said to a man who had suffered for thirty years [John 5:8]). “Speak out against the four evils of racism, economic exploitation, militarism, and environmental degradation,” says the Poor People’s Campaign. It seems obvious to me that the second command follows closely upon the first.

 

¹Sixty-three percent of persons 18-64 in the U.S. who are eligible to work are employed, most of them full time. The rest are disabled, in school, looking for work, and not working for a variety of reasons. Source:  Economic Policy Institute

 

 

By The Rev. Dr. Stephen P. Bouman, Executive Director, ELCA Domestic Mission Unit 

 

“Did you know that currently 53 cents of every federal discretionary dollar goes to military spending and only 15 cents is spent on anti-poverty programs?…Instead of waging a war on poverty we have been waging a war on the poor, at home and abroad for the benefit of the few.”  

– “A Moral Agenda,” Poor People’s Campaign

This week’s focus of the Poor People’s Campaign is about the resources dedicated to military strength and its relationship to mitigating poverty. In a sermon preached at Riverside Church in Manhattan in 1967, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made clear the connection between the war on poverty and the war in Vietnam.

      “There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor, both black and white, through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam, and I watched this program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything on a society gone mad on war. And I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic, destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.” ¹

An early lesson in street level community organizing is if you want to know the root causes of issues and challenges faced by local and regional communities, there is one simple axiom: “Follow the money.” Budgets are a primal form of values clarification: whether national, state, city, congregation or family, the decisions you and I make every day about how we will use our resources reflect our values.

One of the things I find so heartening about the 2018 Poor People’s Campaign is that grassroots leaders and people of faith are willing to take to the streets to engage the architects of our budgets in a moral conversation to connect the dots between various issues. They “follow the money” to paint a picture of why poverty is so pervasive and implacable.

Former President Jimmy Carter updates and pushes the connections King made in his sermon between military spending and poverty in his new book “Faith: A Journey For All.” He reminds us that in 2017, “there were 240,000 American troops openly stationed in at least 172 foreign countries, plus more than 37,000 others in places classified as secret. Meanwhile, as we spend millions on these outposts, our own “infrastructure gap” is the largest of the 50 richest nations.” ²

He also follows the money as he considers that the U.S. has the highest level of incarceration to support a booming prison-building and maintenance industry. Additionally, our nation is the only one that has refused to ratify the international Convention on the Rights of the Child, primarily because this treaty prohibits execution for crimes committed by children.

We can also connect the dots and follow the money around immigration issues as we witness the militarization of our southern border.

This communal conversation about the common good and the well-being of every child of God is a superb way for the Body of Christ to accompany civil society with the Gospel. It is a way that we can put legs on our baptismal covenant “to work for justice in all the world.”

 

 

¹Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “Beyond Vietnam.” April 4, 1967. Riverside Church, New York.

² President Jimmy Carter, “Faith: A Journey for All.” Simon & Schuster, 2018.

By Alaide Vilchis Ibarra, Program Director for Migration Policy

 

“Because we understand each person to be made in God’s image — without distinction based on race, ethnicity, gender, economic class or country of origin — and have heard God’s call to serve the needs of our neighbor wherever she or he may be, we recognize ourselves to be in mission and ministry together for the benefit of all God’s people.”

-ELCA Social Statement, ‘‘Freed in Christ: Race, Ethnicity and Culture,’’ 1993

 

In the past few weeks, the Trump Administration announced they will begin separating all children from their families at the border, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) disclosed that it lost track of over 1,000 children that made the journey alone to the U.S. and the American Civil Liberties Union reported cases of abuse of children by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) during the Obama Administration.

The criminalization of children and families seeking protection in the U.S. is, unfortunately, nothing new. To respond to this crisis, the ELCA passed the AMMPARO Strategy in 2016 to accompany these vulnerable populations in their countries of origin, in transit and in the U.S. As this Administration continues to harshly target people who are seeking safety, here are four things you need to know and two ways to get involved.

• Central American children and families arriving in the U.S. are fleeing violence, impunity, lack of opportunities, environmental degradation and poverty. While policy makers and news organizations often refer to this population as undocumented, many children and families are lawfully seeking protection through our asylum system – a system formalized after World War II allowing people to seek protection in another country. Asylum applications from the northern part of Central America increased 58% globally from 2016 to 2017 as a result of political violence and oppression and continued high rates of murders, violence against young people and extortion. While ripping children from the arms of their parents at the border is being used as a “deterrence” mechanism for people to stop coming to the U.S., the Administration’s policy is hurting children who have already escaped terrible situations and are seeking safe heaven.

• Under current law, children from most countries who arrive in the U.S. alone or are separated from their parents are screened by an expert to ensure that they are not victims of trafficking or other crimes. This critical step to protect children from trafficking and abuse passed in 2008 with bipartisan support in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA). Many legislators today refer to provisions in this act as “loopholes” and are actively trying to strip protections for these children in order to detain and deport them as soon as possible. For example, the Securing America’s Future Act(H.R. 4760) and the Border Security and Immigration Reform Act in the House of Representatives would make it easier to deport children without proper screening for child trafficking or abuse if passed. ELCA Advocacy has repeatedly stood against efforts to take away such protections for these children.

• After arriving at the border,most unaccompanied children are put in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and may eventually be released to the care of a sponsor in the community while awaiting their immigration process. On April 26, 2018 an ORR official testified that between October and December 2017 the U.S. Government had reached out to 7,600 sponsors and could not determine the location of 1,475 children during the period in which the calls were made. These children were not lost in U.S. Government custody but rather ORR was unable to reach them by phone when the calls were placed. Unlike the Department of Homeland Security, ORR has the child welfare expertise to properly evaluate children. ORR must be provided the resources needed to follow up with all cases.

• Despite being the largest law enforcement agency in the country, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lacks the requisite accountability and measures for transparency. In Fiscal Year 2018, Congress allocated $16.357 billion to CBP, a 15 percent increase from the previous year. CBP’s consistent increase in federal funding, however, does not come with a corresponding increase in oversight when the agency engages in abuse or excessive use of force. As the ACLU report on the abuse of children in CBP custody and the killing of Claudia Patricia Gomez Gonzales, who was shot and killed by a CBP officer, highlight, accountability and transparency are key in ensuring the safety and humane treatment, not only of migrants but of border communities. Congress and the Administration must provide for oversight of CBP to ensure accountability and transparency.

As policies continue to target vulnerable children and families, people of faith of have been leading the charge in providing services and advocating alongside these communities. Here are two ways in which you can help children and families facing these policies.

• Join a Network that accompanies these children and families. The ELCA has the AMMPARO strategy in which congregations can form part of a welcoming congregations network around the country. These congregations commit to accompany children in their community, pray and advocate for migrant children and families. Lutherans can also learn more about these issues from Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service.
• Advocate. Advocate. Advocate. Whether in the budget process or through stand-alone bills, Congress can provide much-needed oversight and regulation to policies that are hurting children and families. They must hear your voice. Join our Action Network and check our Facebook page and twitter to stay current on these policies.

 

By Ruth Ivory Moore, ELCA Advocacy Program Director for Environment and Energy.

 

“He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

Luke 10:27, NRSV

The intersessional meetings for COP24  held in Bonn, Germany from April 1 – May 10^th were supposed to produce a strong foundation for development of a robust rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement, but this was not the outcome of the intersessional. The parties were not able to achieve sufficient progress to be assured of the upcoming COP24 success.

Therefore, a second intersessional meeting must be held pre-COP24. The intersessional will be held in Bangkok in September to resume technical discussions. Key issues lacking sufficient progress include: climate finance matters; the mechanism for raising the commitment of parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions (NDCs); and transparency issues that cover all aspects of the Agreement. These issues are critical to developing a strong rulebook coming out of COP24. The parties also need to determine how to deliver negotiation/legal text for the rulebook in Bangkok. Consideration may be given to having expert and informal workshops to help resolve points that are barriers ahead of the meeting in Bangkok. They also need to determine how to operationalize the technical discussions of the Talanoa Dialogue into political principles for facilitating rulebook development.

 

While the level of progress made during the intersessional was a disappointment, determination and resolve replace concerns when one understands just who we are working on behalf of in this process.Created in the image of God and as stewards of all of creation, we are working on behalf of:

Those whose lives are impacted by flood waters;

Our children;

Those working to reduce emissions;

All of humanity;

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And Animals and plants.

 

We are working on behalf of our neighbors and all of creation. “Such caring, serving, keeping, loving, and living by wisdom sum up what is meant by acting as God’s stewards of the earth. God’s gift of responsibility for the earth dignifies humanity without debasing the rest of creation. We depend upon God, who places us in a web of life with one another and with all creation.” (ELCA social statement: “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice,” 1993) We are reminded that:

“The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these…”

Mark 12:31, NRSV

 

By Ruth Ivory Moore, Program Director for Environment and Energy

 

“Nations should seek their own common good in the context of the global common good. International bodies should work for the welfare of all nations.”

                                                                                           ELCA social statement: “For Peace in God’s World” (1995)

 

Implemented by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for the first time this Spring, the Talanoa Dialogue exemplifies the message of seeking the common good and welfare for all nations presented in the 1995 ELCA social statement: “For Peace in God’s World.”

The Talanoa Dialogue grew out of a larger process related to the Paris Agreement (PA) on climate change. In December 2015, countries around the world reached a landmark agreement to address the impacts of climate change via the Paris Agreement as part of the UNFCCC meeting. The aim of the PA “is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.” The PA “brings all nations into a common framework to undertake efforts to combat climate change, adapt to its effects, and support developing countries in their effort.”

Since the adoption of the PA in 2015, 197 countries have signed on and are now embarking upon a to develop a rulebook for its implementation. The process includes a meeting of the parties of UNFCCC at the Conference of the Parties (COP) annually in November or December, with each led by a different president. The most recent COP (COP23) was held in 2017 with Fiji (represented by Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama) serving as the president. At this meeting, Prime Minister Bainimarama instituted a new means of negotiations to replace the facilitative dialogue process that had been in use: the Talanoa Dialogue process.

Talanoa “is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The process of Talanoa involves the sharing of ideas,skills and experiences through storytelling. During the process, participants build trust and advance knowledge through empathy and understanding. Blaming others and making critical observations are inconsistent with building mutual trust and respect, and therefore inconsistent with the Talanoa concept. Talanoa fosters stability and inclusiveness in dialogue by creating a safe space that embraces mutual respect for a platform for decision making for a greater good.”

Leading up to the annual COP meetings, the UNFCCC hosts at least one meeting typically held in the spring of the year in Bonn, Germany where the parties’ current mandate is to negotiate terms of the rulebook for implementation of the Paris Agreement. This pre-COP meeting is known as an intersessional meeting. The intersessional meeting for COP24 was held from April 30 through May 10, 2018.  The  Talanoa Dialogue process was used for the first time at this intersessional meeting session.

The Talanoa Dialogue closing plenary was held on May 9th, and featured opportunities for parties and non-parties to offer interventions. A few common themes resonated: appreciation to the Fiji COP23 presidency for implementing this form of discussion; asks for continuation of these types of dialogues through COP24 and beyond; clarification on how the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on 1.5^o to be released in October of this year will be used in these discussions; and further discussion on how  these technical discussions will be operationalized into a political path forward to shape ambition for addressing climate change. It was universally agreed that the Talanoa Dialogue provided a comfortable space for parties and non-parties to build trust and to share knowledge and experiences in a storytelling manner.

Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama ended the plenary with his story. He stated that he took this job to make a difference because he was heavily influenced by Fiji’s experience of being hit with two cyclones this year in the span of 8 days. He made two pleas to those in the plenary on behalf of the people he had just visited a week earlier: (1) a call to action; and (2) to get the Paris rulebook done on time.

It is truly a time to act on the environmental degradation caused by the warming planet as our calling to protect all of God’s creation. As the ELCA social statement “Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope and Justice” (1993) states, “Christian concern for the environment is shaped by the Word of God spoken in creation, the Love of God hanging on a cross, the Breath of God daily renewing the face of the earth.” (A Social Statement on: Caring for Creation: Vision, Hope, and Justice) The Talanoa Dialogue is one tool that allows us to carry out our work as stewards of God’s creation.

 

 

 

¹  In June 2017, the United States gave notification of its intention to withdraw from the PA unless more favorable conditions can be negotiated. However, the PA process dictates that withdrawal will take at least three years.