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The seventh annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days
will engage a new congress and a new president

Washington, January 6, 2009  ̶  A new congress and a new administration will be grappling with the toughest issues in decades this March 13-16, 2009, when more than 700 persons of faith arrive from around the country to press their views on peace, justice, the environment and economic fairness.

The seventh annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days, meeting at the Hilton Alexandria Mark Center under the theme, "Enough for All Creation," will gather religious persons from a wide range of faith groups and traditions to update their knowledge of ecological and other justice issues and carry their witness to the halls of the new 111th Congress.

Founded by the National Council of Churches USA in 2001, Ecumenical Advocacy Days is now supported by 45 communions, religious societies and groups. The conference coordinator for Ecumenical Advocacy Days is Molly Keane.

Speakers and preachers will include the Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches; the Rev. John McCullough, Executive Director of Church World Service; and Gearóid Francisco O'Conaire, OFM, Executive Secretary of the JPIC Commission of the Union of Superiors General of men and women religious institutions (IUSC/UISG).

This year's theme is based on John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

Presentations and workshops will discuss the world's abundance of natural resources and seek to identify ways they can be more fairly distributed.

In a "Moral Statement" for the 2009 event, Ecumenical Advocacy Days planners have written: "We live in an increasingly interconnected world and have an enormous impact on each other and creation. As the earth’s temperature rises we see a strain on resources. Food, while plentiful for some, is desperately scarce for others. Lack of clean water makes children sick and burdens women. Global warming and growing resource deprivation forces some people to migrate and others to wage war over food, water and oil. Our increasingly co-dependent economies lift a few individuals up to great heights while keeping others living lives of destitution."

On Monday, March 16, the last day of the conference, participants will be bused to Capitol Hill where they will meet with their Congressional representatives and staffs to discuss ways of addressing these concerns through legislation or allocations.

The early registration fee is $160 prior to February 13, when the fee jumps to $175. The registration form can be downloaded at http://advocacydays.org/registration. Student scholarships are available.

Sponsoring groups include:

Africa Faith and Justice Network; American Friends Service Committee; Call to Action; Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good; Center of Concern; Children's Defense Fund; Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Church of the Brethren Witness/Washington Office; Church World Service; Churches' Center for Theology and Public Policy; Churches for Middle East Peace; Columban Justice, Peace, & Integrity of Creation Office; Decade to Overcome Violence; Disciples Justice Action Network; The Episcopal Church; and Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Also, Franciscan Action Network; Franciscan Friars (OFM) Holy Name Province; Franciscan Friars (OFM) ESC-JPIC Council; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Global Ministries (UCC/DOC); Interfaith Committee for Nuclear Disarmament; lnterfaith Worker Justice; lnterfaith Working Group on Trade & Investment; Jubilee USA Network; Latin America Working Group; Lutheran World Relief; Maryknoll Global Concerns; Medical Mission Sisters; Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate JPIC Office; National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund; and National Council of Churches USA.

Also, National Religious Campaign Against Torture; NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby; Pax Christi USA; Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Progressive National Baptist Convention; Sisters of Mercy of the Americas; United Church of Christ; United Methodist Church; UMC - General Board of Church and Society; UMC - GBGM Women's Division; Washington Office on Africa; Witness for Peace; and World Council of Churches.


NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228, NCCnews@ncccusa.org

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