PRESBYTERIANS URGED TO REGISTER FOR ECUMENICAL ADVOCACY DAYS ~ MARCH 19-22, 2010

Ecumenical Advocacy Days

The eighth annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering will take place in Washington DC March 19-22, 2010. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) helped to found this event and continues to provide leadership, each year registering over 100 participants, including many youth and young adult attendees. Presbyterians attending Advocacy Days will have several opportunities for denominational networking and community-building, including a lunchtime meeting on Saturday and a dinner on Saturday night.

The theme for this year's conference is "A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples". Policy makers, expert speakers and representatives from global regions will join church leaders and grassroots activists in reflecting on this theme, while a variety of workshops and training sessions will focus on shaping U.S. immigration and refugee policies and doing advocacy at home on these topics. The program will also include visits to Capitol Hill and meetings with Members of Congress and their staffs.

Registration and more information about Ecumenical Advocacy Days is at http://www.advocacydays.org on the Web. You may also contact Mary Cooper at the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Washington Office, Mary.Cooper@pcusa.org, if you have specific questions. 

Limited funds are available for scholarship help from the Synod's Public Policy Advocacy Network (PPAN). Scholarship help is maximum of $500 per person (ask for less if you need less). If you come from a smaller membership church, less than 150 members, we can request special funds for you from the Synod's Mary Wallingford Fund.

Student scholarships are available, visit the Young Adult Page or email scholarships@advocacydays.org.

Click here to go to the Ecumenical Advocacy Days website for registration and hotel information.  
Speakers and preachers confirmed to date include:

• The Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships;
• Bishop Minerva Carcaño of the United Methodist Church Desert Southwest Conference; and
• Sister Helen Prejean, Anti-Death Penalty Activist and author of Dead Man Walking.

In addition, D. Paul Monteiro, Associate Director of the White House Office on Public Engagement, will be speaking at the Presbyterian Dinner, Saturday, March 20th, 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a program of the ecumenical Christian community and its recognized partners and allies which is grounded in biblical witness and shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Its goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen the Christian voice of citizens mobilized for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues.