king the Vision to the Streets. The conference was sponsored by Sojourners/Call to Renewal (http://www.sojo.net/).The purpose of this conference was to call the Church to cry out on behalf of the poor in order for poverty to be a part of the 2008 Presidential Debates.
As we have become students of the Bible over the years of our faith, our hearts have changed to care about those who God cares about: the forgotten, the poor, the enslaved, the exploited, the stranger, the sick, the desperate…”the least of the these.”
We were inspired and convicted to move into further relationship and advocacy for those who have been treated with inequity.
(Right: Katie at the steps of National City Christian Church where the Sojourners Pentecost 2007 Conference was held.)
We arrived Sunday night to a Justice Revival where Rev. Sam Rodriguez called for a generation “not to be known as the Ipod Generation or the You-Tube Generation, but the Generation of Justice.” What will we be known for? Will we truly be able to eradicate extreme global poverty? Will we be able to stop global warming?
(ABOVE: Derek Webb provided the Musical/Lyrical background for the conference)
Rev. Jim Wallis (who spoke numerous times throughout the conference and is the director of Sojourners/Call to Renewal) reminded us that the Gospel must be good news to the poor. He reminded us that all great movements had spiritual roots: women’s suffrage, civil rights, abolition of slavery and that the last place to change during a movement is in D.C. Movements start at the grassroots level with the people and then move to change policy. FAITH, then HOPE, then ACTION, then CHANGE.
Dr. Freddy Haynes with some feisty preaching regarding Amos 5:21-24 (read, it will kick your rear). He preached that “justice that is personal, overflows to justice that is social.”“We are to use our hook-up, to hook-up the unhooked.”
We also heard from a panel who are all active in some sort of social justice. Their ministries and stories are incredible. Brian McLaren (Chandler’s twin) was the moderator.
Shane Claiborne was among the panel. We heard him speak numerous times throughout the conference. One word: AMAZING. You have got to check this guy out! He co-founded a community in Philadelphia called the Simple Way (http://www.simpleway.org/) that focuses on relocating to the poor and abandoned places, redistributing of resources (amazing stories) and of reconciliation. We are reading his book called Irresistible Revolution.
Then we went to a very informative session entitled “Making Work Work,” about what could be done at the federal level for the poor by Ron Sider (author of Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger).
Monday night we held a Candidates Forum at GWU that was broadcasts live on CNN. The presidential candidates were from the democratic end of politics: Senator Hillary Clinton, Senator Barack Obama, and former Senator John Edwards. In the Fall there is a similar forum scheduled for the Republican candidates, so stay tuned. The agenda was again to put poverty on the minds of these candidates. The conference did not endorse any of these candidates, but sought for the candidates to seek OUR agenda. Each candidate had 15 minutes, some of the questions were asked by Sojourners some by CNN (stupid, disappointing). If you
want to watch the forum go to http://www.sojo.net/ and look around for it. It should be easy to find. Look for us among the 1,300 others in the studio audience. Overall the experience was encouraging and exciting (we had never been to anything airing live on national news before). We have new efforts to pray for our nation’s leaders.(LEFT: Former Senator Jonathan Edwards, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Rev. Jim Wallis,
Sen. Barak Obama, CNN correspondent)
Sen. Barak Obama, CNN correspondent)
On Tuesday we learned about 3 different issues that later we would lobby about (or in our case try to): Farm Bill (global/US small farmers rights, food stamps), Immigrati
on and SCHIP (state children’s health insurance). For each issue someone spoke on the theological reasons why we are called to care about these topics and then someone would speak about the “nuts-and-bolts” of each of the issues. We were also taught how to lobby and felt prepared to go and advocate for the rights of the “least of these.” We helped pass out signs and then marched from the National City Christian Church (where the conference was held) to the Capital where we rallied. There were a few hundred people that marched, sang and shouted out slogans. We took up one lane of the road and were police escorted.
We missed the Virginian group for the actual lobbying and were pretty disappointed. Katie had a personal story regarding immigration all prepared to share with our 2 Virginian Senators.Andy posing next to the Russell Senate Office Building, the site of Virginia's Senators' offices. Andy blended in well as no less than 3 people asked him for directions in the 30 minutes he was inside the building.
We also got to go to a Capital Hill Reception where Nancy Pelosi and some other Senators and Representatives spoke with much passion.
Wow, this was one of our favorite parts. It was a bit of a surprise to be around so many people who have been given so much power to influence so many people.
Afterwards, we went to a dinner specifically for young people interested in justice. It was exciting to hear what other people are doing at such a young age.
On Wednesday, Andy went and heard Shane Claiborne speak again and Katie went to a session on Immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement (see www.newsanctuarymovement.org). To end the conference 2 awards were given. One to Rev. Romal Tune who came from a humble background to serve God and community, the other was given to Gary Haugen who used a position of influence to benefit those in poverty. We could not do either of their stories justice. They were tear-spilling and incredibly inspiring.
So now what? Pray for us that God would give us courage and obedience to figure out what our special anointing looks like to preach good news to the poor.
“The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
To proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
To comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-
To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,
The oil of gladness instead of mourning,
And a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair...”
Isaiah 61:1-3
