Lutheran Advocacy in 2017
Tomorrow, January 20, our nation will mark the
peaceful transition of power from one president to the next. As this new era
begins, the ELCA Advocacy network is already engaging with our nation’s elected
leaders on important issues affecting our communities.
The
ELCA ministry of advocacy is rooted in faith
that is active in love; love calls for justice in the
relationships and structures of society. (The
Church in Society: A Lutheran Perspective, 1991) This affirmation grounds the ELCA Advocacy priorities for
engagement with the 115th Congress and Trump administration. Look for upcoming alerts and opportunities to participate in faithful witness and action to advance greater justice, peace, and care of creation.
ELCA ADVOCACY’S MAJOR PRIORITIES IN 2017:
CARING FOR GOD’S
CREATION
- Protect God's creation from the impacts of
climate change, including reducing
greenhouse gas emissions while ensuring a just transition to renewable energy
occurs and all Americans have access to clean water.
PROVIDING
HOSPITALITY TO OUR NEIGHBORS
- Address
the urgent need for protection of vulnerable migrant children and families from
Central America while also focusing on long-term solutions that create
safe, sufficient and sustainable livelihoods for all.
CONCERN FOR OUR
BROTHERS AND SISTERS LIVING IN POVERTY AND STRUGGLING WITH HUNGER
- Maintain
and expand federal programs that provide food assistance to children and
families in need as a first step toward ending hunger in the United States.
- Act to ensure all people have access to affordable, accessible and quality healthcare.
- Increase
support for programs that seek to end homelessness and focus on uplifting
community members who are most heavily impacted, including seniors, rural
residents, LGBTQ youth, ex-offenders seeking re-entry, and low-income families.
- Ensure
the U.S. government continues to fund humanitarian relief and development
programs that address extreme hunger and poverty across the globe.
SEEKING JUSTICE AND
PEACE FOR ALL PEOPLE
- Prevent gender-based violence in the United States and around the world.
- Address unjust systems of mass incarceration as part of our commitment to challenge
systems of racial and economic injustice.
- Call for a peaceful and lasting negotiated
resolution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.
ELCA Advocacy’s 2017 priorities reflect the
ELCA’s deep commitment to act and speak for a hunger-free world where all God’s
children can thrive. In
addition to these primary areas of engagement, ELCA Advocacy will monitor and
work on ongoing priorities and remain flexible in response to legislative
opportunities as they arise.
In shepherding our
2017 priorities, your advocacy staff will initiate and steward relationships on
Capitol Hill, provide education and timely opportunities for action through
e-alerts, coordinate with interfaith and ecumenical partner organizations and
work with ELCA ministries and Bishops to maximize their voices for impact in
the new session of Congress.
How does ELCA Advocacy determine our priority issues?
ELCA Advocacy priorities are grounded in the experience and
concerns of ministries and synods and are framed by our social teaching
documents and theological commitments. Top tier issues are evaluated for their
connection to the goals of ELCA World Hunger, examined for potential to further
racial and gender justice and assessed according for the potential for action
by the ELCA Advocacy Network, Bishops’ Ready Benches.
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