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.

By Pastor Betty Landis, member of Grace Lutheran Church, Evanston, IL

“The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “Where do we go from Here: Chaos or Community?” (1967)

My excitement has caused me to wake up before dawn on a Monday morning. After months of meetings, training sessions, phone calls, rallies, social media posts and paperwork, I soon will board a bus from Evanston to Springfield, Illinois. It is the second week of an intensive six weeks leading up to the launch of the revived, reignited Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Last week, the 40 Days of Nonviolent Moral Fusion Direct Action began with a rallies and demonstrations in 39 states and the District of Columbia focused on Somebody’s Hurting Our People: Child Poverty, Women and People with Disabilities. National campaign co-chairs the Revs. William J. Barber II and Liz Theoharis were among hundreds arrested nationwide in the most expansive wave of nonviolent civil disobedience in U.S. history, kicking off six weeks of direct action demanding new programs to fight systemic poverty and racism, immediate attention to ecological devastation and measures to curb militarism and the war economy.

Today, our focus is on the connection between Systemic Racism, Poverty and Voter Suppression. We will visit our legislators to demand an end to racist gerrymandering and a reversal of state laws that prevent municipalities from raising minimum wages. Just days after our President referred to undocumented immigrants as “animals” who “aren’t people,” our protest will also demand a clear and just immigration system that strengthens our democracy and provides a timely citizenship process that guarantees the right to vote. We have been asked to accompany and be witnesses for the Illinois Fight for 15 coalition – the leaders of today’s nonviolent moral fusion direct action. One of our principles is always to follow the lead of those who are most affected. Another covenant reminds us that our political, economic and moral movement is not from above, but from below – building up the power of people and state-based movements.

Two years ago, I was invited by my colleague, now my pastor, Rev. Daniel Ruen, to participate in the Moral Mondays protests focused upon changing Illinois’ unjust tax structure in order to allow for a people- and planet-first state budget. After two arrests, multiple Kingian nonviolence training sessions, and significant faith-based community organizing efforts, I am more convinced that ever that this is a critical time for people of faith to put their bodies on the line for their neighbors in need. The PPC is a natural progression made even more necessary by the increasing incidents in racism, homophobia, xenophobia, gun violence/militarism, ecological destruction, wage disparities and white nationalism – often promoted by religious extremists.

It has been an honor to support Rev. Ruen’s leadership, my fellow Grace Lutheran members and Evanston’s interfaith community members in preparing trained, passionate and creative folks to join this movement in whatever way they are called by the Holy Spirit. I am grateful to be able to continue in the covenant God made with me in Holy Baptism which includes discipleship that “strive[s] for justice and peace in all the earth.” Like the on-going nature of discipleship, this is not just a finite moment. The PPC is a long-term, creative, non-partisan, nonviolent movement of faithful people intentionally opening themselves to God’s will done on earth as in heaven. Won’t you join us? It is my prayer that you will gladly share with your children and your grandchildren that you did!

The Farm Bill is an omnibus legislation that helps to fund our national and global food programs. Reauthorized every five years, the Farm Bill is among legislation that Congress needs to pass this year. To learn more, check out the Farm Bill Resource and ELCA Advocacy’s Farm Bill recommendations here. 

The House Agriculture Committee passed H.R. 2 – Agriculture and Nutrition Act of 2018 (Farm Bill reauthorization bill) on April 25, 2018 by a vote of 26-20. This marks one of the first times that a Farm Bill passed out of committee on a party line vote. The Farm Bill is usually one of the most bi-partisan bills in Congress with the last vote being a 68 in favor, 32 in opposition result in the Senate, and a 251 in favor and 161 in opposition in the House of Representative. ELCA Advocacy opposes the House bill in its current form for several reasons detailed below.

Nutrition

The House bill includes new work requirements for able-bodied adults receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps). These requirements put many people at greater risk of hunger as they divert funding away from direct food assistance to pay for ineffective work mandates. There are already work requirements under current law and creating additional requirements will lead to unnecessary and complicated burdens, which come in the form of added bureaucracy and verification that ultimately reduce the effectiveness of SNAP. Mandating additional work requirements, education and job training will create more barriers for low income people who are already struggling to free themselves of the cycle of poverty. We urge Lutherans to advocate to their representatives for protection of SNAP programs without hidden cuts to benefits, to ensure our neighbors have access to food.

Environmental

The House Farm Bill appears to be a mixed bag: it creates positive changes to help farmers, but there are uncertainties that linger over some of the benefits of some changes. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is expected to be eliminated and some funding will instead be diverted to the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). These programs help improve farming practices through reducing fertilizer use, better management of manure and building fences to manage livestock movement so as to keep them away from streams.

Additionally, the bill redesigns the structural funding of programs, and switches many of them from permanent to temporary or a one-time funding. These programs include the Conservation Stewardship Program which is rolled into the Environmental Quality Incentives Program; the Rural Energy for America Program; the Biomass Crop Assistance Program; and the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical & Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance.  Some of the benefits for the Farm Bill includes the way it boosts other items such as agricultural trade, crop insurance and creation of a national vaccine bank to fight foot-and-mouth disease.

The forest management provisions would be changed to allow for bigger and faster forest-thinning projects under the current exclusion from certain reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) with the purpose being to reduce wildfire risk or address disease and insect infestation. This revision also includes the elimination of the requirement for a consultation under the Endangered Species Act as long as the listed species are deemed not to be harmed. It is too early to fully determine the impact of the changes. We must proceed cautiously, to provide the protections needed for our farmers and farms while doing these in an environmentally safe manner.

International Food Aid Programs

The House bill makes some important reforms to the international food programs, including authorizing the Food for Peace program to purchase food commodities from local and regional farmers, something we have advocated for a long time. Additionally, the bill removes the 15% requirement for monetization of food commodities, which will allow implementing organizations to utilize the appropriate range of tools and interventions depending on what’s needed and the context, such as food vouchers and cash transfers. These changes will increase efficiencies in international food aid programs. Unfortunately, the bill does not make any changes to the cargo preference requirement (a regulation that requires at least 50 percent of the nation’s overseas-bound food aid to be transported by U.S.-flag ships), something that we would like Congress to address in order to save on the cost of shipping and enable more food to reach the people who need it most.

What’s Next

The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to release a bi-partisan Farm Bill later this month that will build on the successes of the bill enacted in 2014. It is expected that this will be an improvement over its House companion. The House is expected to vote on their Farm Bill during the second week of May. We ask you to urge your members of Congress to write a bipartisan Farm Bill that will pass in both chambers.

Lutheran Presence

Christ taught us in the Lord’s Prayer to pray for our daily bread. Martin Luther’s expansive understanding of daily bread includes not only what nourishes our bodies, but also the natural resources, labor and the economy, including the food supply chain. Advocacy for good policies in the Farm Bill responds to God’s love for us through active love for neighbor by shaping policy that will provide daily bread for people, care for creation and contribute to a just world where all are fed.

By The Rev. Amy Reumann, Director of ELCAadvocacy

They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds.

Dinos Christianopoulos

On Monday, May 14, 2018, thousands of people of faith and low-wage workers will gather in Washington, D.C. and more than 30 statehouses across the country to kick off the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. This initiative seeks to move poverty to the top of our national consciousness through energized grassroots organizing that will expose, confront and take aim at forces that keep people in poverty. At this moment of rising income inequality,this campaign brings together the moral power of organized people of faith, the voices of those living in poverty and the urgency of addressing our national priorities.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. planned the original Poor People’s Campaign of 1967-68 to build on the momentum and strategies of the civil rights movement to address the denial of human rights and dignity to Americans trapped in poverty. Moved by the struggles of people and communities he encountered in his journeys, he sought to bring together low-wage workers, faith leaders and activists to highlight inequities and demand our nation prioritize programs that support workers and jobs, access to housing and a war on poverty. The initiative lost momentum after the assassination of Dr. King.

Fifty years later, in 2018, a new Poor People’s Campaign is growing up from the seeds that Dr. King planted. The campaign will address the roles that systemic racism, ecological devastation, the war economy and militarism play in perpetuating generational poverty in the U.S. As a faith community initiative, it is bringing together religious leaders who will engage in mobilization, advocacy and civil disobedience to make their voices heard. Read more about the 2018 Poor People’s Campaign.

The Rev Dr. William Barber and the Rev Dr. Liz Theoharris, the campaign leaders, are at the fore of a multiracial and interreligious coalition that will launch 40 days of protests and direct action on May 14. Over the course of these 40 days, causes, concerns and solutions to persistent and generational poverty will be highlighted through marches, worship events and nonviolent direct action. The initiative seeks to change the moral narrative in our nation, from blaming poor people for their own poverty to involving them in solutions for it. The campaign highlights the role that entrenched systemic racism plays in perpetuating poverty and the result of a national budget that prioritizes military spending at the cost of anti-poverty programs. The renewed campaign also takes on environmental degradation and promotes sentencing reform as areas where our collective moral voice must break through for change.

The 2018 Poor People’s Campaign is bringing together Lutherans who are concerned about the increase in income inequality in our nation, the intersections of poverty, race and environment and the toll of cuts to anti-poverty programs on their communities and church members. As a new, faith-led grassroots movement by which to advocate on the local, state and federal level, it offers congregations a new way to act to address hunger and poverty. It highlights the urgency of this moment for action with and on behalf of our neighbor.

The ELCA Social Statement on Economic Life reminds us that God calls us to seek sufficiency and sustainability for all. “For all” refers to the whole household of God—all people and creation throughout the world. Therefore, our economic analysis cannot stop with our own wellbeing, but must assess how economic activities affect “all,” especially people living in poverty. Scripture gives voice to the circumstances that keep people poor, whether social status, oppression or because of the greed and injustice of the powerful. The statement urges this church to “address creatively and courageously the complex causes of poverty.” The Poor People’s Campaign is a vehicle to help us do that in our day.

Too often, advocacy is speaking for others who are perfectly able to speak for themselves. As the ELCA, we prioritize advocacy that supports people with lived experience of poverty or oppression to tell their own stories, using voices that are often the most powerful in creating change. The Poor People’s Campaign offers an opportunity to accompany others in solidarity and urgency, in advocacy as the church for the world.

ELCA Advocacy will be highlighting the reflections and experiences of Lutherans involved in the next 40 days of action. Look for coming blog posts, or send us your experience. How is your faith a catalyst for your participation? What outcomes do you hope for? Who are your partners and what are you learning? Please send to washingtonoffice@elca.org.

By Elena Robles, Hunger Advocacy Fellow

Today we celebrate Mother’s Day and mark the many ways in which those in a mothering role enrich and bless our lives. Mothers throughout the Bible were often strong and tenacious women who endured and sacrificed much to sustain and nourish the lives of their children and families.  As we celebrate mothers today, we are mindful of one of the major challenges that many low-income mothers face daily: hunger.

Through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP), many low-income mothers can bridge some of their financial gaps and guarantee access to the food their families need to survive and to thrive. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistant program is one of our nation’s best defenses against hunger and poverty.

In 2016 SNAP helped to feed over 19 million children, almost half of SNAP recipients. SNAP serves children across all age groups. Across the country,  “32% of all children ages 0-4, 30% of children 5-11, and 21% of children ages 12-17 participate in SNAP”(Source: SNAP and Kids).  More than 80 percent of families on SNAP live below the poverty line, with an income at about about $20,000 for a household of three. SNAP is effective, in that kids from low income families who received SNAP benefits were 18% more likely to graduate from high school that low income kids who didn’t. SNAP recipients are members of our communities who are most vulnerable to experiencing hunger.

When our legislative system allocates funding and enforces a fair eligibility structure for SNAP, we as a country invest in the lives of mothers and kids who presently face challenging days, but seek futures full of opportunity.

Our country needs a SNAP program that is consistent, navigable, and contextual. We need strong funding for SNAP without any cuts, so all mothers who have been deemed eligible for benefits of this program will be allowed to continue to access it.  SNAP should maintain a structure that ensures that proposed job requirements do not serve as additional barriers for women in their work place or as bureaucratic burdens on overseeing states.  Broad base categorical eligibility is essential for an effective SNAP program, in that it allows states the flexibility to make adjustment to set standards that best fit the needs of their populations.

When we address hunger, we begin to address the worst symptoms of poverty. As you celebrate the mothers in your lives, be sure to consider how you can put your faith into action and advocate for policy that supports Mothers and children in your community and across the nation.

Click here for more information on SNAP and its impact on children.

Click here to write a customizable message to your legislators.

On Friday, May 4th, 2018, the Administration announced that it will end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for approximately 60,000 Hondurans. TPS is a legal immigration status that allows citizens from other countries who are present in the U.S. during a catastrophe in their country to remain in the U.S. until it is safe to return home. As a church that affirms that earthly peace requires safeguarding the dignity and well-being of every person, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) is disappointed by the Administration’s decision that will separate families and harm communities.

Just this week, over 600 faith leaders and organizations delivered a letter in support of continuing TPS for Hondurans.

“Lutherans are blessed with the gifts that Hondurans bring to our communities throughout the United States and in Central America,” Mary Campbell, Program Director for AMMPARO, said in the letter. “Thanks to the programs we accompany in Honduras, we know that the vast majority of Hondurans that are deported have little to no long-term support despite returning to unsafe conditions, and facing trauma and stigma. Ending TPS would create a crisis in the face of an already challenging landscape in Honduras.”

Through the AMMPARO Strategy, the ELCA strengthened our commitment to walk alongside children and families who are forced to flee their homes in Central America. We did this to respond to the suffering of thousands of unaccompanied children and families that are displaced from their communities due to violence, lack of opportunities and environmental issues.

This marks the 7th time the Administration has rescinded an immigration status that provides protection to members of our communities. Children and family members of TPS or Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders from El Salvador, Haiti, Sudan, Nicaragua, Liberia, Nepal, and Honduras, many of whom are U.S. citizens, will bear the brunt of these Administrative decisions.

We pray today for all who are suffering due to these decisions and ask members of our church to join us in prayer and action. At the same time, we urge Congress to pass timely legislation that provides a pathway to citizenship these important members of our communities.