Christian Leaders Worldwide Gather to Address Urgent Global Issues
Hundreds across the United States and abroad will participate in an annual gathering to address urgent global issues.
Nearly 800 Christian pastors, ministers, and laypersons as well as humanitarian and ecumenical leaders from across the United States and abroad will participate in an annual gathering to address urgent global issues.
The 2005 Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice, with its theme “Make All Things New” based on Revelation 21:5, will focus on “the need for a new vision of U.S. foreign and domestic policies which will build a just global community that nurtures peace, alleviates poverty, and protects the integrity of God's creation.”
The event, which begins tomorrow in Washington, D.C. and runs through Monday, takes place in the context of a new presidential term, a new Congress and a new opportunity for people of faith to learn together and raise their voices in advocacy for a more just and peaceful world.
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According to event coordinators, participants will confront controversial topics head-on with workshops and plenary sessions that explore issues such as the genocide in Darfur, Sudan; the impact of U.S. policy on HIV/AIDS in Africa; water privatization issues; militarism, terrorism, peace and security; economic justice; protecting God's creation; peacemaking in Israel/Palestine; U.S.-Iran relations; creating a federal budget for the common good; taxation as civil stewardship; re-envisioning justice and the federal prison system; what it takes to escape poverty; the social security debate; and more. In addition, Rep. Lynn Woosley (Calif.) will discuss her resolution on SMART Security (Sensible, Multilateral American Response to Terrorism).
More than 30 faith-based groups are sponsoring or supporting this year's event, including Church World Service, the Episcopal Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, the National Council of Churches USA, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Reformed Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and two General Boards of the United Methodist Church.
Some key national and international Christian leaders attending the event include:
- Rev. Dr. Bob Edgar, General Secretary, National Council of Churches USA
- Bishop Vashti McKenzie, presiding bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the first woman to be elected to the bishop's council
- Elder Rick Ufford-Chase, moderator of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, Professor of Politics, Catholic University of America and a U.S. foreign policy and international affairs expert
- Baldemar Velasquez, the founder/president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, which recently settled a labor dispute with Mt. Olive Pickle Company following more than five years of public action
- Rev. Dr. Haruun Ruun, Executive Director, New Sudan Council of Churches
- Rev. Sharon Rose Joy Ruiz-Duremdes, General Secretary, National Conference of Churches of the Philippines
- Ricardo Esquivia, Colombia Council of Evangelical Churches
- Peter Weiderud, World Council of Churches, Geneva, Switzerland
The event begins at 7 p.m. on Mar. 11 with the Opening Plenary and ends at 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 14 with Lobby Visits on Capitol Hill.
