Representatives of faith-based institutions came together on May 30 to begin planning for Ecumenical Advocacy Days, March 13-16, 2009. Photo: Martin Shupack/CWS

June 23, 2008

Two dozen representatives of faith-based institutions came together on May 30, 2008, to begin planning for next year’s Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD), which will be held March 13-16, 2009. Conference organizers are staff members of many of the ecumenical, Protestant, and Catholic institutions and communions who unite to sponsor Advocacy Days (http://advocacydays.org/sponsors/). This meeting followed in the wake of the highly-praised March 2008 EAD, with the theme “Claiming a Vision of True Security.”

Prior to the May 30 planning meeting, participants who attended this 2008 conference were contacted and asked for their preferences for the theme of the March 2009 gathering. Climate change/global warming topped the list of suggestions, with migration/immigration/refugees and hunger/poverty (especially food and water security) a close second and third.

Participants at the May 30 meeting reviewed the survey results and agreed to organize the 2009 conference around the theme of “Enough for Everyone.” The top responses in the survey will be emphasized in the 2009 Ecumenical Advocacy Days program.

At the meeting, staff members reflected upon the following scriptures related to the theme:

• God’s will is that all people have enough for lives of dignity and community participation: enough food and water, enough environmental security, enough employment and income, enough health care, enough personal security and peace. Indeed, Christ came that we might have life abundant (John 10:10).
• The first chapter of Genesis proclaims that God wills all people and all animals to share in the blessings and bounty of the earth (Gen. 1:29-30).
• The apostle Paul writes that material goods are to be shared in such a way that everyone has enough (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).

Church World Service has co-sponsored Ecumenical Advocacy Days since its inception in 2003. It is the largest annual ecumenical gathering in Washington, D.C., centered on public policy education and advocacy. The gathering offers spirited worship, theological reflection, and opportunities for learning about vital issues, training in advocacy, and witness to U.S. policy makers on wide variety of domestic and international policies.

Read more about the CWS “Enough for All” Campaign on climate change.