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Living Earth Reflection: Building more resilient communities in a climate-challenged world

“Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross. Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him a name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:4-11)

What is resilience? The dictionary defines it as the ability to recover quickly from illness, disaster or adversity. In ecology, the term is used to describe the ability of an ecosystem to return to its original state after a disturbance. For Christ, resilience came from a life lived in service, love and obedience – examples that still resonate with us thousands of years later.

Climate disruptions, such as extreme storms and multi-year droughts, are testing the resilience of the earth community. Long-term drought in California, for example, has put at risk not only the state’s fruit and vegetable farms, a source of food for millions of people, but also the state’s drinking-water supplies, which face the very real possibility of running dry in some parts of the state. In another extreme example, multiple typhoons have devastated the Philippine islands in recent years, triggering massive and costly humanitarian efforts to rebuild lives and communities in ways that can withstand future storms.

In the face of long-term drought or extreme weather, some families and communities will be able to find the resources to rebuild, but over the long term, will the larger human community have the resilience to withstand the rising sea levels and extreme weather brought by climate change? If more extreme weather is becoming the norm, what does the future hold for communities of modest or few means?

These questions take on even more urgency in the world’s poorest and most vulnerable countries. How will a small, low-lying island in Micronesia find the means to cope with rising sea levels? How do farmers in coastal Bangladesh manage salt water intrusion into freshwater supplies needed to grow staple crops to feed their communities?

And how are we, in one of the wealthiest nations on earth, called to help our neighbors cope with this emerging reality? Do we put up sea walls on our own coastlines and retreat behind them, ignoring the fact that many of the communities already heavily impacted by rising sea levels and weather extremes lack the means to prepare for climate change disasters? Or do we look to the interests of others, whether they are in native villages in coastal Alaska, farming communities in sub-Saharan Africa or the tiny Pacific island of Tuvalu?

The Green Climate Fund is a new international funding mechanism that represents a major commitment by the global community to help vulnerable nations build resilience to climate impacts. The fund was established to build the capability of vulnerable and low-income nations to embrace clean and low-carbon energy development and to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. By building more resilient communities, countries will also increase food security and political stability, both of which will have positive impacts on issues such as migration and national security.

Last November, President Obama announced that the United States will contribute $3 billion over the next five years to the Green Climate Fund. Countries ranging from Germany, Japan and France to Korea, Mexico and Peru have also announced initial pledges to the fund that total more than $10 billion. If this new institution is to succeed in its task of helping the most vulnerable build resilience to climate disruption, honoring these pledges will be critical.

The president’s budget request for 2016 includes an initial payment of $500 million to the fund, which we will be urging Congress to approve. Please join us next month as we take part in interfaith effort to ensure that the United States honors its pledge to the Green Climate Fund.

Resilience is being prepared for disaster, but it is also building what can be sustained and taking steps to help our neighbors as well as ourselves. Christ lived a resilient life, living humbly while building community and serving others. Leading a Christian life in our complex modern world poses challenges that Christ never faced, but his lasting example of love and service to others is still a good pathway to a resilient life and strong and enduring communities.

Learn more about the Green Climate Fund here.

 

Learning about God’s call to care for all who cry out

Erin Haugen, Legislative Intern

I grew up in a quiet, safe, suburban neighborhood in Minnesota. I was fortunate enough to live in a place where crime and exploitation seemed like things that happened far away, to other people. To paint you a picture, some of the most common ‘crimes’ that were committed in my community were bored high-school kids throwing toilet paper on their friends’ front lawns or loitering in the McDonald’s parking lot past the city-mandated curfew. Needless to say, incarceration and exploitation were things that I rarely thought about, because I was privileged enough to not have to do so.

Part of understanding privilege is recognizing that while some, like me, have the ability to go through their day-to-day routines without worrying about the realities of incarceration or exploitation, others can’t go a day without being affected by them in some way. The NAACP reports that 1 out of every 31 adults in the United States are under some form of correctional control– whether it be prison, jail, or probation.

2At a criminal justice reform briefing in January, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) noted that 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated people are in the United States, while we make up only 5 percent of the world’s population. He commented that it is a “great global shame” that this is the case. But incarceration (imprisonment) and exploitation (treating someone poorly in order to reap benefits) aren’t only present here in the United States. The Department of State estimates that there areover 20 million victims of human trafficking across the world, and factors like international trade agreements, environmental degradation, predatory behaviors toward the poor, and labor violence also contribute to exploitation around the world.

1At the same briefing that Senator Booker spoke at, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called for Christians to take a stance on criminal justice reform, declaring, “if you believe that every person is endowed by their creator, that endowment doesn’t stop at sentencing.” This faithful conviction is echoed in the ELCA’s social statement “The Church and Criminal Justice: Hearing the Cries.” As Lutherans, we recognize that we have yet to respond adequately to the cries of our brothers and sisters facing the criminal justice system.

On Friday, April 17 hundreds of Christians will arrive in Washington, DC to take part in discussion and advocacy surrounding mass incarceration and exploitation during Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Participating in events like EAD provide the Christian community an opportunity to confess this failure together as well as a broader opportunity to  hear from those who have been impacted by the system, to learn about the ways that society continues to oppress incarcerated and exploited individuals, and to work together to address these challenges.

While I may have grown up without the worry of crime or exploitation affecting my life, the reality is that too many of my brothers and sisters in Christ experience the exact opposite. I am excited to engage with the Christian community next weekend for worship, education, and advocacy. I am excited for the chance to examine the ways that my upbringing affected my interactions with the justice system. I am excited to learn about ways to create positive changes in the lives of incarcerated and exploited persons. Above all, I am excited to be part of an active Christian community living out God’s call to care for all who cry out.

 

Will you be at EAD? Reach out to me on Twitter: @erinmhaugen or tweet @elcaadvocacy with your pictures and reflections!

ELCA Advocacy Update – April 2015

ELCA Advocacy

​Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthy State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

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Washington, D.C.
Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin
www.elca.org/advocacy
Congressional budget resolution: This year, the U.S. Congress is working to pass a full budget LOGUM– an achievement that has not been accomplished for more than five years. As each chamber of Congress looks to combine their budget resolutions this month, ELCA Advocacy will be pursuing ways to enact faithful budget priorities to promote: holistic values that help raise families out of poverty, policies that protect our humanitarian efforts at our borders and abroad, and efforts to strengthen our national commitment to protecting God’s creation. Please join us in this effort as we hold our elected officials accountable. Visit our Action Center today!
U.S. releases climate change pledge: ELCA Advocacy applauds the recent announcement of the United States’ pledge to set new goals addressing the issue of climate change. This pledge includes a commitment to protecting public health by reducing pollution and promoting investment in abundant clean energy sources. The U.S. pledge is an important step toward the upcoming international agreement in Paris that will include similar commitments to addressing climate change. Sign our interfaith climate petition calling on the U.S. government to fulfill its commitment to addressing climate change at the upcoming United Nations climate negotiations.
Children’s Health Insurance Program: Last month, the ELCA Advocacy Network took action to help renew health care access for low-income children through the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Concerns for the program were flagged after its funding was threatened in ongoing budget resolution negotiations. After receiving waves of messages and calls from Lutheran advocates and members of the faith community, the funding successfully passed in the U.S. House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan margin (392-37).
Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., reintroduced the Vulnerable Immigrant Voice Act in Congress, which would appoint needed legal counsel in immigration courts for unaccompanied children and people with developmental issues. Lack of access to counsel has resulted in children, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants having to represent themselves in court. Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, an ELCA partner, has strongly supported the legislation since it was first introduced last summer. As a church that recognizes the dignity of all God’s children, the ELCA supports the bill and its efforts to give vulnerable migrants the right to tell their stories in front of a judge.

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New York, NY
Advocacy Director, Dennis Frado
U.N. Commission on the Status of Women: Last month, the 59th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women took place in New York March 9-20 with a focus on achievements and remaining challenges since the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action in 1995. LOWC hosted 30 Lutheran delegates (six international Lutheran World Federation and 24 ELCA members) and organized or collaborated in events including:
•”Faith, Justice, & Culture” meet-up, led by ELCA Young Adults;
•”Silent No More: How Can Faith Communities Address Sexism and Gender Based Violence,” led by the ELCA Young Adult cohort;
•”Three Lives of Women 20 years after Beijing,” in collaboration with the World Council of Churches with reflections from Lutheran women from Palestine, Kenya and the United States;
•”Local People, Global Impact: The role of community-based organizations in the fight against the Ebola virus” (in West Africa), in collaboration with Nobel Peace laureate Leymah Gbowee’s foundation, with testimonies of the impact of the Ebola virus on communities – especially in Liberia – and what local women are doing about it; and
•Stocktaking event: “The role of faith in realizing the promise of Beijing” (toward gender equality) in collaboration with the ACT Alliance and the World Council of Churches.

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California
Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA ​
www.loppca.org
CA1The Policy Council of the Lutheran Office of Public Policy – California met at the Southwest California Synod Office in Glendale with excellent attendance. Discussed was priority legislation related to child poverty (the bill repealing the CalWORKS/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families “Maximum Family Grant” limit for new babies passed its first committee) and care for creation (a new climate change law expanding the renewable energy portfolio, reducing fossil energy in transportation, and improving building energy efficiency faces its first committee April 7). There was moral deliberation on proposed assisted-dying legislation and alarm over the latest bizarre manifestation of direct democracy: initiative language submitted, but unlikely to qualify, that calls for shooting sodomites – recalling for some the murder of a gay couple in Redding in 1999, after which the killer asserted in a TV news interview that “It is not a crime to shoot a sodomite.”
Early childhood policy: The annual “Watercooler Conference” included an award presented to ELCA member Carol Larson, CEO of the Packard Foundation. Nobel economics laureate James Heckman of the University of Chicago stressed that compassion and economic efficiency converge in investments in early childhood.
Upcoming:
• Participation in a showing of ELCA World Hunger-supported “Thirsty for Justice,” on the human right to water, to San Francisco Friends School 8th graders visiting CalEPA
• Helping with the pre-Detroit Sierra Pacific Synod youth gathering (with Ryan Cumming of ELCA World Hunger)
• Organizing events for the Rev. Joe and Joyce Ellwanger, civil rights/justice leaders (“Strength for the Struggle”) in Northern California, including Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary

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Colorado
Peter Severson, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – Colorado 
www.lam-co.org
Minimum wage: The Colorado General Assembly recently considered legislation to raise the state minimum wage from the current $8.23/hour. House Concurrent Resolution 1001 would have put a measure before Colorado voters in 2016 to approve an incremental increase up to $12.50/hour by 2020. The resolution failed to achieve the required two-thirds yes vote, but citizen petitioners have vowed to gather signatures to put the measure on the 2016 ballot anyway.
Other legislation: Director Peter Severson recently testified at a hearing in support of House Bill 1258, which would establish a family and medical leave insurance program in Colorado. Currently, only 12 percent of Colorado workers have access to paid leave to care for new babies, seriously ill family members, or themselves. Lutheran Advocacy Ministry–Colorado continues to support other bills related to child-support payment benefits for low-income families, the Earned Income Tax Credit, and increasing the cap on appropriations for school lunches.
CO1In the news: Labor activists held a press conference on the Capitol steps in support of raising the Colorado minimum wage (see photo). A House committee also recently killed a broadly-worded “religious freedom” bill similar to the one in Indiana after a press conference in which many political, business and religious leaders spoke out against it, including the Rev. Brian Rossbert, interim associate pastor at House for All Sinners and Saints Lutheran Church.

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Illinois
Jennifer DeLeon, Lutheran Advocacy – Illinois www.lutheranadvocacy.org
Budgeting: The proposed Illinois budget for fiscal year 2016 includes drastic cuts to human services programs that would affect people at-risk, including those served by our partner member Lutheran Social Services of Illinois.
Last year Lutheran Social Services of Illinois served more than 73,000 people through 190 programs at 85 sites across Illinois. The demographics of the clients served generally reflect those of Illinois’ population, with one important exception – more than 80 percent of clients report an annual household income under $15,000, compared to just 12 percent of all Illinois households. The organization provides critical programs for the state’s most vulnerable residents, including foster care, adoption, mental health services, alcohol and drug treatment, affordable senior housing, residential programs for people with developmental disabilities, and programs that help formerly incarcerated individuals integrate back into society.
Ia1Lutheran Day 2015: On April 14 join Lutherans from across the state in Springfield to study, pray and take action for greater justice and compassion in Illinois.
For details and registration, visit www.LutheranDay.org.

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​New Jersey
Sara Lilja, New Jersey Synod 
logm@njsynod.org
State budget: Here in New Jersey, we are working on the proposed 2016 state budget. We are in a fiscal crisis. There is little money to support programs that assist the poor and other vulnerable populations. New Jersey has awarded more than $4 billion in tax subsidies and credits to businesses over the past six years in an attempt to spur economic activity and boost the state’s recovery from the Great Recession. The unprecedented growth in subsidies, however, has so far done little to significantly improve the state’s economy. New Jersey’s economic recovery remains far behind our neighboring states. Just 40 percent of the jobs New Jersey lost in the recession have been recovered; the state has the highest share of workers who have been unemployed for more than six months, and the state continues to lead the nation in the percentage of homeowners (1 in 12) who are in foreclosure. All this is shocking when you understand that New Jersey is also the fourth most affluent state in the nation!
We at LOGM are asking that policymakers take concrete actions to slow the subsidy surge and bring more transparency and accountability to the use of these tax breaks by placing meaningful caps on spending, requiring more information from companies receiving subsidies, including an automatic sunset provision, eliminating subsidies for existing jobs, and developing more stringent standards for these awards.
Care for communities: We are urging the state to include in the 2016 budget the following assistance for families in economic distress: restoring the Earned Income Tax Credit, expanding preschool, and expanding health care coverage. It comes as no surprise that food insecurity is also on the rise! We are supporting the expansion of the Breakfast After the Bell program, expanding state funding for SNAP, and increasing the staffing levels at county welfare agencies to deliver assistance in a timely manner to all those who are in need.

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​New Mexico
Ruth Hoffman, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico 
www.lutheranadvocacynm.org
NM12015 legislative session: The regular session of the New Mexico Legislature came to an end at noon on March 21. This was a difficult 60 days with the Senate controlled by one party and the House by the other. LAM-NM worked on behalf of legislation that reflected our focus on issues that can affect the lives of the many people living in poverty and hunger in our state.
We worked in coalitions to successfully stop the passage of several major initiatives, including so-called “right to work” legislation and the elimination of drivers’ licenses for undocumented immigrants. We also worked with the Fair Lending Coalition to block passage of harmful predatory lending bills, while also proposing a 36 percent cap on storefront loans.
LAM-NM worked on a successful effort to increase the TANF monthly cash assistance amount by 5 percent and to add an additional clothing allowance for TANF children. We helped to secure funding for the SNAP Double Up program, which doubles the amount of SNAP benefits families can use at local farmers’ markets. A bill requiring that eligible inmates be covered under the Medicaid program immediately upon release from incarceration passed both houses of the Legislature and heads to the governor’s desk for consideration.

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​Ohio
Nick Bates, The Faith Coalition for the Common Good nick@oneohionow.org
Ohio budget: The Ohio Legislature continues to focus its time on Ohio’s two–year budget (HB 64).  This budget accepts a new normal of higher poverty and fewer resources. The biggest component of the budget is another tax shift increasing taxes on many while cutting the income tax to benefit the wealthiest Ohioans.

The Faith Coalition for the Common Good is an ecumenical coalition formed to advocate through the budget process for increased state funding for food security and affordable housing (and other services to help low-income Ohioans), and expanded resources for education. All of these things are possible if Ohio foregoes the proposed $5.6 billion in tax cuts.

The coalition organized a panel on March 18 in front of the Finance Health and Human Services Sub-Committee. The Rev. Gregory Kenderick (United Methodist Church) facilitated the panel of individuals who have experienced poverty. About 60 people from the faith community showed up to support this panel’s testimony. The testimony focused on the importance of public investments that help people transition out of poverty. The Ohio House Finance Committee is currently receiving amendments to the budget. We also submitted testimony to the House Ways and Means Committee opposing the proposed income tax cut.

The budget bill will move to the Senate in late April and to the governor’s desk by June 30.

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Pennsylvania
Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania 
Tracey DePasquale, Associate Director
www.lutheranadvocacypa.org
Education: Tracey testified and brought presenters before the Basic Education Funding Commission to bring the discussion of trauma (poverty, homelessness, violence) as a possible weighting factor in funding. Watch the hearing. We also continue to meet with lawmakers regarding a basic education funding formula proposed by the Campaign for Fair Education Funding. Analysis of recent federal data shows Pennsylvania is the most inequitable state in funding public schools.
PA1Immigration: Tracey led an advocacy workshop for Dreamers at the first statewide Immigrant and Refugee Rights Convening. As an outcome, LAMPa’s Immigration Leadership Circle is assisting Dreamers in organizing a statewide caravan to tell their stories. In other immigration-related work, we applied to LIRS and the York County Prison Board for funding for the immigration detainee visitation program Walking Together/Caminandos Juntos.
PA2
Hunger: Amy met with John Hanger, secretary of Planning and Policy, to present recommendations developed by the statewide food security coalition.
Environment: LAMPa’s Creation Care Leadership Team held a conference call on water issues with Jennifer Quinn, outreach coordinator for PennFuture. Outcomes include agreement to work statewide on storm water issues and to facilitate education and action on water issues with youth connected to the ELCA Youth Gathering and Walk for Water.
Youth: Southeastern Pennsylvania Synod youth leaders invited LAMPa to discuss advocacy issues involving youth and how they might engage in service-related advocacy after returning from Detroit. We continue to work on final details for Lutheran Day at the Capitol, this year part of Gettysburg Seminary’s Spring Academy.

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Virginia
Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy 
www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org 

Hunger: Since the conclusion of the Virginia General Assembly session, advocates have begun to regroup and focus more of our attention on government commissions and agencies. On March 25, Bishop Jim Mauney convened the Virginia Synod’s Child Hunger Task Group with the aim of coordinating the work of Lutheran churches and their partners in the community to feed more hungry kids and their families. Together we reviewed which schools participate in backpack programs, which churches and communities need more summer meals locations, and what schools should do to expand school breakfast and breakfast in the classroom. We also invited the governor’s staff to help us coordinate with state agencies. What we learn through task group efforts will also inform our advocacy efforts.

Payday Lending: We also worked to organize public testimony for the Richmond public hearing on payday lending held by the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. The event included hundreds of people from all parts of Virginia and a strong representation of the faith community at the hearing. We also helped moderate the roundtable community conversation with the bureau’s administrator, Richard Cordray.

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​Washington
Paul Benz, Faith Action Network 
www.fanwa.org
WA1Only Three weeks left to go – so it’s budget time here! Of course, there are bills that are still alive and going through the legislative process, such as reforming our LFO (legal financial obligations) system, an anti-human trafficking bill, and a transportation bill providing more apprenticeships for communities of color and women. Both the House and Senate have approved their budgets, and these will now go to the budget leadership teams for negotiations to form a final budget to be sent to the governor – hopefully by the last day of session, April 26 – but we may need to go in to a special session during May. The House budget has new revenue in it, but the Senate budget does not – that is the main difference in terms of what gets funded and what doesn’t.
Washington budget: The budget programs that FAN is working on include:
• Emergency Food Assistance (food banks)
• State Food Assistance (additional assistance targeted to our Pacific Islander community who were brought here in the 1950s due to U.S. nuclear testing on their islands)
• WIC/Farmers Market Nutrition Program (supports local growers and low-income households)
• Breakfast After the Bell (expands time and location offerings for serving breakfast at public schools)
• Housing & Essential Needs/Aged, Blind, & Disabled (monthly cash assistance for the most vulnerable and those waiting for their SSI application to be processed)
• Pesticide Drift Proviso to assess needs for a neighborhood notification system
• Post-secondary education for inmates
Our primary budget issue is keeping revenue in the final budget – that is the BIG budget battle. FAN is doing its part by collecting signatures on a petition that will be delivered to budget leadership before the session ends.
Faith-based organizing: FAN is preparing for our four regional summits (Spokane May 17, Vancouver May 31, Seattle June 7, and Yakima June 14), where we gather by political districts for conversation on the key issues for our communities. We continue to grow our statewide network of advocating faith communities in terms of number (now at 97) and in terms of depth of relationships by keeping our liaisons engaged.
Spring denominational assemblies (FAN will be present with a staff person and display):
• ELCA in Pasco and Everett (April and May)
• United Church of Christ in Spokane (April)
• United Methodist Church (Pasco in June)

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Wisconsin
Cindy Crane, Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin 
www.loppw.org
WI1Joint Finance Committee public hearing: LOPPW’s director gave a statement about the governor’s proposed budget. Read the statement by clicking here.
Advocacy Day on April 29: LOPPW is part of the People of Faith United for Justice to organize a biennial advocacy day. Our focus will include threats to our safety net programs and legislation related to voter IDs. The LOPPW director is working with three additional groups to address specific safety net concerns.
Safe harbor: LOPPW and Cherish All Children held a rally to WI2support legislation to help young victims of sex trafficking. The director attended a round table at the Department of Children and Family Services and another at the Department of Justice. She also met with the director of Wisconsin Women’s Council to discuss possible partnerships. June Kjome (see photo at right), age 94, traveled from La Crosse to speak at the rally. When seeking justice “it’s good to be the headlights instead of the tail lights,” she said.

Lenten reflection: The loving call to do justice

Dennis Frado, Director, Lutheran Office for World Community

dennis headshotThe Gospel liberates from sin, death, and evil and motivates the Church to care for neighbor and the earth. 

– “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

Lent always refocuses me on the fact that Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us through his death on the cross and his resurrection, which overcame death. The good news of God’s salvation is the gospel. The excerpt above and the one below from the ELCA’s social statement succinctly summarize why I am grateful to have the privilege of a job that calls for engaging every day in advocacy.

The witness of this church in society flows from its identity as a community that lives from and for the Gospel. Faith is active in love; love calls for justice in the relationships and structures of society. It is in grateful response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ that this church carries out its responsibility for the well-being of society and the environment.

Many days here at the United Nations we are confronted with the failures of humanity – war, refugees, seemingly intractable disputes, and horrible violations of human rights. But the loving call to do justice does not grow weary, and we should not either.

Fortunately, we are also able to get to know the work of the peacemakers, the aid workers, the negotiators, and the rights defenders, give thanks for their work and lift them up to others as among those pursuing the better path for the common good.  These folks are the ones who thankfully undercut my pessimism and reinforce my hope for a better world. Many, but not all by any stretch, are Christians.

International structures, like all that are the work of humans, are prone to sin.  But we are reminded:

God institutes governing authorities, for example, to serve the good of society. This church respects the God-given integrity and tasks of governing authorities and other worldly structures, while holding them accountable to God. …

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. – “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

So, why again are we about this work?

Jesus frees Christians to serve others and to walk with people who are hungry, forgotten, oppressed, and despised. The example of Jesus invites Christians to see people near and far away, people of all races, classes and cultures, friends and strangers, allies and enemies as their “neighbor.” – “The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective”

In 2013, The Lutheran World Federation, working with other religious groups, made manifest this understanding by initiating a series of affirmations from the leaders of a wide variety of faith traditions titled “Welcoming the Stranger“:,

A core value of my faith is to welcome the stranger, the refugee, the internally displaced, the other. I shall treat him or her as I would like to be treated. I will challenge others, even leaders in my faith community, to do the same.

It is this kind of effort, this kind of statement of common values crossing many boundaries, where Lutherans have and can continue to make a contribution to that goal stated in the U.N. Charter: “…to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom …” and also offer tangible signs in a myriad of ways of: “… a faith that is active in love, a love that seeks justice, and an insight that strives to discern what is right, good, and fitting…” (The Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective).

Lenten Reflection: Creating something from nothing

Stacy Martin, Director for Advocacy

“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.”

Mark 6:42-44 (NRSV)

Like Thomas Jefferson, I’ve never seemed to have much patience for the Bible’s miracle stories. They’re difficult to deal with. To my modern mind, it’s hard to imagine that seas can part, food can appear from nowhere and that the dead can be raised.

stacy headshotIt’s so tempting for me, in my very modern way, to domesticate miracles – like reducing the feeding of the 5,000 miracle to an idyllic picnic or desert potluck. Not that thousands of human beings sharing isn’t miraculous. It is. In the four Gospels, there are six accounts of this miracle. Six! It must be too important a story for it to be about people sharing their lunches. Miracles are tricky that way.

In the Gospel of John account of the miracle of feeding the crowd, the disciples estimate that the crowd is so large that not even six months’ worth of paychecks would be enough money to feed the mass of people assembled. By expressing the amount in such stark terms, what I think the disciples are really saying is, “We don’t have enough money to feed all these people.” And Jesus is saying, “Exactly. Isn’t that great?”
Isn’t that just like Jesus?

One disciple retorts with what I hear as screaming sarcasm. “There’s a boy with five loaves and two fish,” he says. Imagine! Five thousand hungry people on the side of a mountain, and only five loaves and two fish in sight to feed them with. But it seems that this is exactly what Jesus wanted. The funny thing about God is that we are called to be God’s hands in the world at precisely those times when there’s a whole lot of nothing to work with; which is to say, God calls us all of the time.God even sets God’s communion table so that we come with nothing. It seems that God likes it best that way.

God also likes to turn things on their heads. Jesus’ disciples, who expected to be the ones to provide what was needed, found themselves surprisingly dependent upon the generosity of a small child. The Gospels’ accounts of this miracle indicate that the boy gave over his lunch with the kind of abandon and generosity that we only associate with God. It is just the kind of juxtaposition that God seems to enjoy best. Jesus’ faith is placed in a little child to stave off what might become a riot if the crowd is not fed. This is the same kind of juxtaposition we find ourselves in as church when we advocate in the halls of power in Washington, D.C.

This story about feeding 5,000 with so little is, among other things, a story about perspective. The disciples’ main mistake in this story, I think, is that they have no idea what it is that they have. Namely, they have a God who can feed many on nothing. A God who created the universe out of nothing. A God who put flesh on the nothingness of dry bones. “Nothing” is God’s favorite material to work with. Perhaps God looks upon that which we dismiss as “nothing,” “insignificant,” “worthless,” and says, “HA! Now THAT is something I can work with!”

It is our poverty that we are asked to bring to God, not our treasure, because whether we think we have it all or we think we have nothing, we are all of us beggars fed at the table of God’s mercy. What do we have? Five loaves, a couple of fish? Not much. We believe that even when we want to make a difference in the world, we have to arrive fully prepared, fully equipped and fully funded.

I hear often from church folk and non-church folk alike that Lutherans, any faith community for that matter, can make no real difference in Washington. “Why bother?” I’m asked. Compared to big lobbying firms and corporations, they have a point. By comparison, we don’t have money, or connections, or power, or, often, technical expertise. What do we have? Five loves, a couple of fish? Only a smidge shy of nothing even on our most prosperous days.

It’s on the darkest of days when even bishops suggest that all is hopeless in the halls of power, when I’m dismissed by a member of Congress because I don’t come with deep pockets, when I’m ridiculed by a think tank because I attend to this work from a place of faith and not a place of “real” expertise, when I’ve received the tenth angry letter from a fellow Lutheran who is frustrated with me for even considering advocacy as a legitimate vocation, when I feel that we as the church simply don’t have enough power to change things for the better. It’s on those darkest days that I re-read this miracle story.

This tricky little miracle story – the one told six times over in the Bible – says otherwise to the “why bothers” of the world. In this story we glimpse God’s inverted economy of free bread and fish paid for by, you guessed it, nothing. This is part of the juxtaposition I mentioned earlier. It is out of nothing that God will create something, even something as big as justice and peace. It is a tricky little miracle for sure.

In the last days before Easter, as we await the biggest miracle of them all – the bringing forth of life from the vast nothingness of death – may we remember that our nothingness is all that God asks or needs.

Living Earth Reflections: ​Water for the City

Mary Minette, Director for Environmental Education and Advocacy

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.”

Revelation 22:1-2

Just as the crystal water of the river of life is central to the shining city of New Jerusalem, clean and abundant water is a critical component of economic development and fruitful life in communities around the world. Each week an estimated one million people move into the world’s cities. This places an increased demand on water supplies and infrastructure such as pipes, sewers and treatment plants. Many cities, even cities in our wealthy country, have inadequate water systems: old pipes that can easily break, aging treatment plants that put water quality at risk, and sewer systems that pollute water supplies during heavy rains. Increased demand from new urban dwellers only adds to this problem. The addition of earth’s changing climate, with its floods, droughts, rising seas and melting glaciers, adds another layer of complexity.

To meet the needs of growing populations now and in the future, cities will need to build more sustainable, and more weather resilient water systems.

The large and sprawling city of Los Angeles is facing water infrastructure challenges that are exacerbated by California’slong term drought, now in its third year. L. A. has dramatically reduced water consumption per capita over the last 40 years, with the city using around the same amount of water now as it did then but with a much larger population. Los Angeles uses less water per capita than any other large U.S. city—about 123 gallons per person per day. Recent mandatory restrictions and price increases have reduced water usage 23 percent since 2009.

However, L.A.’s water infrastructure is in need of crucial repairs— a problem it shares with other cities across the U.S. that contributes significantly to wasted water nationwide. With about one million feet of pipes that are a century old, L.A.’s water utility is currently replacing them at a rate of once every 300 years due, in large part, to the high cost and difficulty of replacing underground infrastructure. And L.A. is not an isolated example of aging infrastructure. In 2013 the American Society of Civil Engineers gave our country’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructures “D” grades, noting that without significant investment now, we risk water quality for our communities in the future.

Other cities around the world face similar problems, but may lack the means to tackle them. Lima, Peru is one of the driest world capitals, with a large and growing population and average annual rainfall of less than half an inch. Lacking its own water resources, the city depends on diverse sources that include rain and glacier melt from the mountains and water transfers from the Amazon basin. As a result of climate change, all these water sources are under threat.

But Lima’s water faces other challenges. Once water reaches the city, it is often used in inefficient ways. For example, potable water is routinely used to irrigate green spaces, and only 10% of the city’s treated wastewater is reused for irrigation. The city lacks sufficient infrastructure to serve its population; about a million people don’t have access to running water, while another million residents have their supply cut off periodically. Observers estimate that 30% to 40% of water is lost in the system through leaks and theft. Despite being in a desert, the per capita use of water in Lima is double that of some European capitals in part due to this waste and inefficiency.

If both Los Angeles and Lima are to grow and thrive, they will need to replace and build water systems that not only meet current needs for water, but also ensure a sufficient supply of clean water for future needs. The water system of the future will not just need to deliver water to homes and businesses— it will need to be resilient to a changing climate by better managing wastewater, preventing waste throughout the system, and adopting new technologies to meet and reduce demand.

Meeting these goals comes with a hefty price tag, but in Lima and L.A. leaders are already planning to invest in new systems. Last week, California Governor Jerry Brown and the state legislature announced that they are setting aside $1 billion to tackle the state’s drought-related water problems, including infrastructure challenges like those in L.A. Lima’s water system is planning to spend $2.3 billion in the next five years to replace aging infrastructure and expanding services to residents that don’t have access to running water. As these changes take shape, advocates for low income citizens in both cities will be challenged to ensure that the costs of necessary innovations do not put clean water out of the reach of those with the least means.

Yesterday, on March 22, the U.N. celebrated World Water Day, and this year’s theme is Water and Sustainable Development. On this World Water Day, let us give thanks to God, our creator, for the gift of water, but also pray that our communities take the time to think about how to manage this precious gift sustainably and equitably so that it continues to bless our communities well into the future.

Lenten Reflection: Walking with our brothers and sisters in Central Americas

Alaide Vilchis Ibarra, Assistant Director, Migration Policy and Advocacy

“Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread of them, because it is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.”

– Deuteronomy 31:6

Alaide Headshot 1For many Christians, Lent is a time of spiritual renewal and preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. My preparation had to do with being a witness to the causes of migration in Central America. A few weeks ago, I traveled with ELCA leaders to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to learn more about the reasons why children and families are fleeing their countries of origin and to better understand what happens when they are deported. What we saw and heard continues to stay with me – not only because the violence faced in these countries is worse than I imagined, but also because many of those we met stood with strength and boldness through incredibly difficult situations. We heard over and over how faith and belief that God is with them provides this strength.

As we listened to stories, met with government and non-government officials and prayed with people in these communities, I kept thinking about my favorite song about Latin America (watch the amazing video here) that includes the line “un pueblo sin piernas pero que camina,” which translates to “a community without legs but that still walks.” I have always thought that this line the best way to summarize the communities in Latin America that I grew up in. They were communities where many people went hungry or didn’t have proper housing or running water, where many felt their voice didn’t count. But still, people helped each other and many worked to fix what they saw was broken. They walked.

In the communities we visited, I witnessed similar experiences. People face violence from gang members, military, police and other government forces that work with criminals or narco-traffickers. Many of the members in their communities also live in poverty and are forced to pay an ongoing fee to gangs to avoid being targeted. Yet many of the people we heard from also highlighted the beauty of their countries and their appreciation for the people. Many were also working to reform the systems that keep violence and poverty alive or the corruption that feeds those same systems. They walk.

It always troubles me when I write about the strength of communities without also pointing out that there are many people who feel defeated. We also met with people who weren’t sure what they could do, and the toll of the violence weighed on them heavily. We prayed with them and I, at times, still feel defeated with them when I think of all of the forces that work together to push people out of their communities of origin while also working to strip them from their rights as they journey.

All the people we met knew someone who had migrated and many knew people who left their home because they were going to be killed if they didn’t. These people left their communities and sometimes their countries to survive. They left in the middle of the night and many walked through areas controlled by narco-traffickers. Some knew of the dangers that would face them in Mexico, and some didn’t. They had hopes of a better life, but also a safe life. Many of them were returned, most from Mexico, but continued to face the same country they had to leave.

Let us walk together, and with God, for positive change.

I left with a sense that we all need to walk together in order to change these conditions that force people to migrate and cause governments to ignore human dignity. I am driven to learn from experts, service providers and people in these countries and help amplify the voices of my brothers and sisters. Our travel to Central America was a time of preparation to be bold in our witness to the stories. Please join us in bearing witness by signing up for updates from our network, where you will hear more about the work that came out of our trip. Also, please continue to pray with your congregation and community for the women and children who are forced to migrate.

May God walk with us as we continue letting decision-makers know the stories we heard. May God walk with those we met as they continue to fight for safer countries and dignity for all people. May we all be strong and bold.  

Lenten reflection: “Our Dream is a World Free of Poverty”

Patricia Kisare, Program Director, International Policy

We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister[a] in need and yet refuses help?

1 John 3:16-17 (NRSV)

PK headshotThe words “Our Dream is a World Free of Poverty” are enshrined on the walls of the World Bank building in Washington, D.C. Although I had seen them before, the meaning and symbolism of this phrase never truly struck me until a few weeks ago when I attended a meeting there. The slogan represents the overarching mission of the World Bank – the largest multilateral institution tasked with the job of ending extreme poverty globally.

The World Bank reports that in the past 20 years, extreme levels of poverty in developing countries have been reduced tremendously. Between the years 1990 and 2010, 700 million people were lifted out of extreme poverty, living on  $1.25 per day. Investments by governments, the private sector, churches like ours and other non-governmental organizations have contributed to this progress.

Though this progress is reassuring, approximately 1 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty. For them, having access to basic necessities is a constant challenge – many are forced to make impossibly difficult choices every day. Because of these challenges, people living in extreme poverty are often denied the basic freedoms and human dignity that many of us enjoy.

 

Dreaming of a world free of poverty

What might a world “free of poverty” look like? I encourage you to allow yourself to imagine that world.

For me, a world without poverty is one where all of us, no matter where we live, have adequate nutritious food to eat daily. It means each of us has access to health care and education. A world free of poverty means homelessness and slum dwelling are a thing of the past.

Indeed, a more peaceful world it would be.

 

Reflecting on our response to global poverty

The Lenten season is a good time to reflect on our individual and collective response to global poverty. For us living here in the land of plenty, it can be easy to isolate our lives from the lives of those whose daily survival depends on the support of others. The stark contradiction between these two worlds can be confounding. On one hand, we live in a society overrun by too many choices and insatiable keenness for material possession. On the other hand, 1 billion of us struggle to fulfill our very basic needs (food, shelter, water). How do we reconcile these realities?

Scripture is filled with many stories of Jesus caring for the poor and oppressed. At the outset of his ministry, Jesus repeatedly reaches out to people at the bottom of social stratification. As followers of Christ, we are commanded to do the same for the marginalized among us.

As I reflect on the gift of life given to us as a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection, I am heartened that our church remains very active in the fight against extreme poverty. Many lives have been renewed because of this life-giving ministry. While we rejoice over the fact that 700 million people are no longer living in conditions of extreme poverty, let’s be reminded of the immense challenge ahead. Ending extreme poverty requires us to multiply our collective efforts. In addition to donating financial resources, I encourage you to join other Lutheran advocates who are working together to fight systems that perpetuate poverty.

I end my reflection today with an offer of a familiar prayer:

“Gracious God, loving all your family with a mother’s tender care: As you sent the angel to feed Elijah with heavenly bread, assist us in this ministry on which we are sent forth. In your love and care, nourish and strengthen those to whom we bring this sacrament, that through the body and blood of your Son we may know the comfort of your abiding presence.”Evangelical Lutheran Worship, Leaders Edition Pg. 140

ELCA State Advocacy Update: March 2015

ELCA Advocacy

​Lutherans are taking action across the country! Below you will find our monthy State Advocacy Newsletter. Share with your friends!

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Washington, D.C.
Advocacy Director, Stacy Martin
www.elca.org/advocacy

LOGUM

Visits with Lutheran members of Congress:

This year, ELCA Advocacy policy directors continue to work on building connections with Lutheran lawmakers and their staff in Congress. Since the beginning of March, we have had productive conversations with nearly 20 congressional offices from both sides of the aisle and are working to highlight Lutheran policy values and reaffirm the significance of faith-based advocacy.

50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965: This weekend, thousands from across the United States and around the world will gather in Alabama for the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Along with civil rights activists, elected officials and faith leaders, some of our ELCA  churchwide staff and young adult leaders will travel from various parts of the country to bear witness to  this historic event. Visit our ELCA Advocacy blog to read reflections from these Lutheran leaders as they prepare to make the journey to Selma, including why they feel called to attend and what they hope to gain from this experience. Be sure to follow this event on ELCA Advocacy social media!

Visit to Central America: In February, staff from our office joined other ELCA churchwide leaders on a trip to El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala to understand the factors behind increased migration of children and families and to learn about their repatriation process. The trip reaffirmed our commitment to raise our voices together to ensure the stories we heard are not forgotten. Follow our action alerts to learn more about our advocacy efforts for migrants and new initiatives as a result of this trip.

Lenten Reflections: As we journey through this season of Lent, ELCA Advocacy policy staff continues to share weekly reflections on ways in which we can act together to affect long-lasting changes in our communities through self-reflection, forgiveness and reconciliation. Follow our Lenten series by signing up for ELCA Advocacy alerts or by following our Advocacy blog.

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New York, NY
Advocacy Director, Dennis Frado

United Nations: The 59th session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at United Nations Headquarters in New York March 9-20, 2015. This is the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action. The theme will focus on current challenges that affect its implementation and the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of women. LOWC is expecting to host 31 Lutheran delegates (six international and 25 ELCA members) and two side events.

Augusta Victoria Hospital: LOWC staff has been working with ELCA Peace Not Walls on various advocacy actions related to the financial (cash flow) crisis being faced by The Lutheran World Federation operated Augusta Victoria Hospital. Visit the ELCA Advocacy Action Center to learn how you can take action!  

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California
Mark Carlson, Lutheran Office of Public Policy- CA ​
www.loppca.org

Valentine’s Lobby Day: LOPP-CA participated in a Health and Human Services Coalition”Break Up with Poverty” Lobby Day on Feb. 14th, along with a Lutheran lay leader with a chronic diseaseand  limited mobility.  The agenda included increasing the minimum wage and allowing undocumented immigrants to participate in the Covered California health plans.

CA1Climate Change: 25% of California’s carbon cap-and-trade funds are allocated to High Speed Rail (HSR). Although it has become politicized, LOPP-CA supported the original HSR bond financing measure approved by voters, a part of California’s climate action plan.  (See photo to the right.)

Child Care: Director Mark Carlson participated in a child care rally and a lecture by the author of an award-winning study on the difference between informal and formal child care for children of immigrant families (formal care makes a big difference in school readiness and avoiding an achievement gap).

Looking Ahead: Plans are in the works for a conference of the California Budget Project and the annual in-person meeting of the steering committee for California Interfaith Power & Light.

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

CO1Faith Advocacy Day: Colorado Faith Advocacy Day 2015 took place on Monday, Feb. 16. Nearly 100 advocates gathered to hear keynoter Tom Luehrs (pictured right), executive director of the St. Francis Center, and panelists B.J. Iacino from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Keith Singer with Family Tree House of Hope, a shelter for women and children. Thanks to all who attended for a powerful witness of the Church’s call to advocacy.

Legislation: Several notable hunger and poverty bills have emerged in both chambers. SB 12, which would allow child support payments to be received by families on Colorado Works instead of by county governments, is in Senate Appropriations. SB 79, which would use a county clerk document fee to fund a new Affordable Housing Investment Fund, is awaiting an initial committee hearing. HB 1080, which would have reduced participation in the school breakfast program and was opposed by Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-Colorado and many other hunger groups, was defeated in committee.

Co2Other issues: Gov. John Hickenlooper’s special task force on oil and gas sent nine recommendations to the governor’s desk. Urban and suburban communities on the Front Range have been battling oil and gas companies over development near homes and schools. Recommendations include incentivizing mediation between the two sides to avert costly legal battles, increasing state health department staff to monitor air quality compliance, and encouraging the Legislature to approve new pollution control measures.

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

Mn1Clean Energy & Jobs Day at the Capitol: Lutheran Advocacy – Minnesota (LA-MN) was host at Christ Lutheran for the many partners and 400+ participants of our Day at the Capitol. The event included briefings, legislator visits, prayer circles, a youth meeting with Gov. Dayton, and a renewable energy study presentation. LA-MN Director Tammy was pleased with Lutheran participation. Many non-faith participants notably commented that they didn’t realize church people cared for the environment.

Bishop’s Breakfast with State Legislators: Though primarily about meeting and relationship building, the bishops also shared Lutheran Social Service (LSS) and LA-MN overlapping concerns related to the Homeless Youth Act and the Homes for All with legislators. Each bishop had a special role during the day, in leading prayer to open of the senate session, opening with prayer for day’s different events, or speaking at a press conference.

Pastor’s Day of Advocacy: The joint LSS and LA-MN event of 30+ pastors and parishioners included briefings on housing, homelessness, youth homelessness, advocacy, a Homeless Youth Act press conference, and visits with legislators. LSS and LA-MN plan to make it an annual event.

Homeless Youth Act Press Conference: Bishop Anderson  served as emcee, while Bishop Aitkenshared about the LSS Duluth Homeless Youth Project. House and senate bill authors spoke, and a pastor shared about how churches can help. LSS intern, Ebony, shared her success story of becoming homeless by age 15, landing in an LSS shelter, and now getting a Masters of Social Work.

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​Nevada
Rev. Mike Patterson, Lutheran Episcopal Advocacy Nevada https://leanforjustice.wordpress.com/ 

“Ashes to Go” at the Nevada Legislature: The Rev. Mike Patterson offered “Ashes to Go” inside the legislative building. Patterson blessed about 50 legislators and legislative staff. “Ashes to Go” is an Ash Wednesday practice of offering in a public place a brief liturgy and the mark of the cross on the forehead with ashes that has gained popularity. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” is the phrase with which we begin the season of Lent. Saying “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return” to a politician may sound like the stuff of stand-up comedy, but it is both encouraging and humbling to learn that elected officials came to be blessed.

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​New Jersey
Sara Lilja, New Jersey Synod 
logm@njsynod.org

Nj1Poverty on the rise in N.J.: New Jersey’s official poverty rate obscures the true scope of the current economic struggle in New Jersey because of the state’s cost of living. An income of 200 percent of the federal poverty level comes closer to the actual income needed to meet basic needs. One in four New Jersey residents is struggling, and this percentage of the population is rising! The governor released his 2016 budget this past week, with seemingly no new plans as to address this growing concern.

Income woes: The state’s high long-term unemployment rate and slow job growth mean that this is still a difficult time for many middle- and low-income families. The Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry is working to promote policies like restoration of the Earned Income Tax Credit, earned sick days, and food programs to help reduce the pain of this difficult economic situation.

Working for change: We work diligently to change the landscape of the criminal justice system. Currently we are advocating for new regulations on the use of solitary confinement in New Jersey’s jails and prisons.

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

NM1Bishop’s Legislative Luncheon: The 2015 Lutheran Advocacy Ministry-NM Bishop’s Legislative Luncheon & Issues Briefing was held on Feb. 10 in Santa Fe. Advocates gathered at Christ Lutheran Church to hear more about interest rate caps for storefront loans and hunger in New Mexico. Bishop Gonia talked about advocates as “Stewards of the Divine Zoom Paradox.” At the luncheon, 150 Lutheran and ecumenical/interfaith advocates were in attendance. State Sen. Peter Wirth was recognized as “Legislator of the Year” for his many years of good work on fair tax policy. Carlos Navarro, long-time Bread for the World volunteer, received the Chris & John NM2Haaland Advocacy Award. Following the luncheon, a number of advocates visited the state Capitol to speak with their legislators.

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Pennsylvania
Amy Reumann, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania 
www.lutheranadvocacypa.org

State budget: In February, LAMPa staff, as part of the Coalition for Fair Education Funding, met with the governor’s office and legislative leaders ahead of Gov. Tom Wolf’s inaugural budget address to unveil the coalition’s proposed funding formula. The student-driven formula would direct resources to students and districts with the greatest needs and calls for approximately $3.6 billion in new state investments in public education to be phased in over six to eight years.

School breakfast: LAMPa is also gearing up for National School Breakfast Week with partners in the Pa. School Breakfast Challenge. Relationships built through other work enabled us to bring the Pa. State Education Association to the table around child hunger. They have agreed to promote school breakfast through the statewide challenge and teacher training and have invited LAMPa to school breakfast participation at their annual leadership meeting. In addition, LAMPa and PSEA have both been named to the board of Hunger-Free Lancaster County, which is working through Feeding America with the goal of being the first county in the nation to end the meal gap by 2018.

Housing: Staff also met with the chairman of the House Urban Affairs Committee to encourage his support for expanding the state Housing Trust Fund. Subsequently, a favorable Senate bill was introduced in February and is expected to move out of committee the first week of March. Amy preached and taught at St. James, Gettysburg, to start a Lenten program focused on hunger.

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Virginia
Marco Grimaldo, Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy 
www.virginiainterfaithcenter.org 

​

40 bills in 45 days: Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy worked on more than 40 bills over the course of this 45-day legislative session. All of our major legislation was killed early in the process – some never survived subcommittee. The good news is that we successfully countered anti-immigrant legislation and defeated a bill that would have made the process of executions in Virginia a secret, not even subject to discovery in a court of law. We made some modest gains on the budget, including a bill that will provide school-age children access to an additional $100 from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families for use on school supplies and clothes.

Immigration: Implementation of the DACA/DAPA program for undocumented immigrants is on hold but we are continuing to work on building a strong network to educate potential applicants. We have been working with LIRS at the request of our two bishops to help reach former Rep. Frank Wolf to help weigh in with Virginia Republicans about immigration and that work is ongoing.

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​Washington
Paul Benz, Faith Action Network 
www.fanwa.org

 

Legislative session: The public conversation on revenue and the state budget is just beginning. Our state Supreme Court decision, requiring full funding of K-12 public education, is hanging over the Legislature’s head. In terms of Faith Action Network’s (FAN) legislative agenda, some of our key policy bills are: reducing wage theft, increasing our minimum wage, Breakfast After the Bell (increasing school breakfast participation), lifting the prohibition on providing post-secondary education in our state prison system, Family Unity Act (reducing ICE detainers and deportations), preventing human trafficking, and better state regulations to prevent oil train disasters

Faith-based organizing: FAN just completed four legislative forums around our state with good attendance. We are pleased to announce that FAN’s 2015-2016 ELCA intern has been selected and will begin her work in late August. We are also grateful to the ELCA for being approved to be a Horizon Site. FAN participated in and helped coordinate an interfaith press conference recently at a Hindu temple north of Seattle where a hate-crime occurred.

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

WA1Proposed biennial budget: Funding has been proposed for trafficked youth and six of our bishops sent a letter to Wisconsin legislators and the governor supporting it. Additional financial support for mental health services and transitional jobs has also been proposed. We are challenged by the enormous cuts that would impact education, seniors, people with disabilities and our environment.

Right to work: The senate passed a bill prohibiting as a condition of employment membership in labor organizations. LOPPW was quoted in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on the subject. LOPPW’s Statement on Right to Work was edited and revised by the advisory council and Wisconsin bishops.

Safe harbor kickoff: LOPPW and Cherish All Children’s kickoff event drew more than 40 people. Local police and members of our task force led the conference. We wrote letters to legislators and Bishop Richard Hoyme of the ELCA Northwest Synod of Wisconsin blessed those letters.

Other advocacy: The director led a workshop at Midvale Community Lutheran Church in Madison. For information about our rally on human trafficking visit: http://www.loppw.org/events/coming-soon

Looking ahead to the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery voting-rights march

ELCA Advocacy

​This weekend, thousands from across the United States and around the world will gather in Alabama for the 50thanniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma-to-Montgomery march and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Along with civil rights activists, elected officials and faith leaders, some of our ELCA churchwide staff and young adult leaders will travel from various parts of the country to attend events.

Today, we share with you some reflections from these ELCA leaders as they prepare to make the journey to Selma, including why they feel called to attend and what they hope to gain from this experience:

​—

Nathaniel Viets-VanLear, Chicago: 

“Selma becomes important not as an observation of a moment in history but as a reminder that the past and present are only two parts of a continuum. Already steeped in the Black-lives-matter movement in Chicago, I travel to Selma to offer testament to the fact that a movement began long before I arrived on this earth, through the work of many young men and women before me. I want these streets, these structures, this history to flow through me as I walk through Selma, acting as a life-giving force that can only add more furor to all of the work that needs to be done. Like an empty cup, I plan to go to Selma  ready to be as filled as possible. Growth is my only expectation. My biggest task will be opening my ears and mind to the lives and experiences of my elders past and present. I hope to be corrected, refined, and further ingrained as a leader toward positive change in our shared community.”

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Jackie Maddox, Washington, D.C.:

“I am attending for those who stood 50 years ago and were knocked down, beaten and humiliated because they wanted the right to have a voice. Those who were denied but never gave up. Fifty years later I want to stand for the people, including my parents, who struggled for me and are the reason why I and many others can vote today. Although the events that led up to having a right to vote were horrific, I will feel privileged to be among people who fought for justice and won.”

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Ryan Martin-Yates, Oklahoma City, Okla.:

“This trip is an important moment in time for me. I’ve grown up always oriented toward seeking justice, but only recently have I found the bravery to use my voice in that. This past year has been a year of growth that has been facilitated by what has gone on in this country and how those events began to affect my daily life. I currently live in Oklahoma, a place dealing with underlying racial prejudice that’s perpetuated by places of faith, and I soon realized it was time for me to step up and use my voice. Once I began to see a lack of empathy for people who were hurting, I knew I could no longer be submissive. I’ve been walking alongside fellow people of color here at the university who are seeking more from our school in the way of dialogue about race. I belong to a family whose struggle to survive in this country is directly tied to systematic injustice against people of color, and I’m not OK with that anymore. For me, this weekend is a moment to reflect on a powerful moment in our country’s history and to engage in dialogue about how the fight for justice is to keep moving 50 years later.

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Mark Carlson, Sacramento, Calif.:

“I went to the 40th anniversary of Selma in 2005 to honor my father, a Lutheran pastor and voice for racial justice, who was not able to march in 1965 as he hoped; as well as for his clergy colleagues who did. Fascinated by the extraordinary courage of so many who were dehumanized and the objects of terror and violence, another pilgrimage was just something I had to do. I returned for the 45th and am going again to learn, to listen, to walk, worship, sing, and to be nourished and inspired as I remember the sacrifices and recommit to resist racism and violence. ​This time it is more personal.  My mother, Rosemary, who is now in her last days under hospice care, asked me if I had been to Selma while we were watching the Oscars performance of “Glory” from the movie “Selma.” Since my 2010 trip, I learned that her great-grandfather and his brother, who served in the 8th Wisconsin Infantry, had been in Montgomery and Selma 150 years ago, mustering out in nearby Demopolis in 1865. I also continue to wonder why we are not in a better place with race relations, poverty, violence, the criminal justice system, voting rights and voter participation, after my ancestors went through hell, as did those who endured and gave so much those 50 years ago.  Selma 2015 will point the way to a better place, with God’s help.”

​—

Natalie Young, Chicago:

“This trip is important to me as a person of color whose father grew up in the south (Mississippi) during the civil rights movement. I am 30 years old and identify as multiethnic and am always baffled when my peers do not show up at the polls and vote! I think that people in my generation and younger sometimes forget the struggle that our elders went through so that we could live the way we do today. I saw the movie “Selma” with my family and was reminded how recently these events occurred in our history. The film gave a certain humanness to the iconic civil rights leaders that we learned about in school and made me realize that great leaders have to start somewhere!”

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 Judith Roberts, Chicago:

“My grandfather, CC Bryant of McComb, Miss., testified before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in February 1965. His testimony, along with several others, named the racial discrimination and intimidation experienced by African Americans trying to exercise their constitutional right to vote. Today, we are still facing voter disenfranchisement through public policies in the form of preserving state’s rights (e.g. voter ID legislation and the criminal justice system that can temporarily or permanently deny access to the ballot). This moment in our current history is about lifting up the values of living in an electoral democracy – where every citizen should have the right to cast a ballot for the elected officials that will represent their communities. This church adopted a social statement policy to ensure just that.”

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We pray for our ELCA leaders and all those who gather in Selma this weekend. We will continue to bring photos and stories from the events, as well as reflections after the anniversary celebration.