Prayer vigil planned on federal budget

Prayer vigil planned on federal budget

Ecumenical Advocacy Days March 25-28
By Wayne Rhodes, Editor, Faith in Action

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) is involved in presentations during the 9th annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days conference for global peace with justice March 25-28. Theme for this year’s event, which starts Friday and ends with visits to members of Congress on Monday, is "Development, Security & Economic Justice: What's Gender Got to Do with It?"

Besides workshops and speakers on advocacy, time has been allotted on Saturday, March 26, for members of denominations to meet over lunch from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

A prayer vigil on Capitol Hill is being planned for noon on Monday. Its focus is to implore Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of women and children. Ecumenical Advocacy Days attendees will receive copies of prayers in advance of the vigil.

Maternal health

Members of GBCS’s staff will facilitate a workshop “Maternal Health & Millennium Development Goal #5: How can the church respond?” on Saturday at 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. The workshop’s featured presenter is Beatrice Gbanga, medical coordinator for the United Methodist Sierra Leone Conference. GBCS staff members Katey Zeh, coordinator of the agency’s Healthy Families, Healthy Planet initiative, and Linda Bales Todd, director of its Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project, will take prominent roles in the workshop.

United Nations Millennium Development Goal #5 to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality by 75% is lagging behind, according to the workshop’s description. This workshop will focus on the barriers to achieving better maternal health worldwide and how churches are responding. Participants will hear maternal health stories from the Global South and learn ways to advocate for maternal health in their congregations and denominations.

Gender, Race & Mass Incarceration

GBCS is co-sponsoring a workshop “Gender, Race & Mass Incarceration” that will be Saturday, 2:45 to 4:15 p.m.

African-American women make up the fastest-growing population in the U.S. prison system, which has grown by 600% in the past 30 years. Unjust sentencing policies combined with racial profiling have essentially created a mass incarceration among African Americans. The workshop will examine mass incarceration's impact, and will highlight injustices the U.S. system imposes on too many women of color.

Presenters Kemba Smith Pradia, the Rev. Sala Nolan Gonzalez and Lorraine Stutzman Amstutz will discuss theological and policy justifications for adopting an alternative model, centering on Restorative Justice. A photographic exhibit, “What Will Happen to Me? When a Parent is In Prison” by Howard Zehr and Amstutz will accompany the workshop.

Gonzales, is minister for Criminal Justice & Human Rights, Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ. Her portfolio addresses human rights and criminal justice issues, including political imprisonment, the death penalty, youth incarceration, reentry from prison to community, and patterns of systemic injustice. Amstutz is co-director of the Office on Crime & Justice for Mennonite Central Committee. She has co-authored a curriculum “Victim Offender Conferencing in Pennsylvania’s Juvenile Justice System,” The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools, and is author of The Little Book of Victim Offender Conferencing.

Pradia received nationwide attention when President Clinton granted her clemency after serving 6.5 years of a 24.5-year sentence as a first-time, non-violent drug offender. Her story has been featured on CNN, Nightline, Court TV, The Early Morning Show and Donahue. She also has been featured in publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, Glamour, andPeople.

Biblical witness and shared traditions

More than 700 persons of faith from across the country will visit Capitol Hill for Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Policy makers, expert speakers and representatives from global regions will join church leaders and grassroots activists will lift up vital issues of U.S. and global economic justice, safety and security, and sustainable development.

Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of Christian denominations and more than 40 recognized partners and allies. It 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.

Registration and more information, such as other speakers and schedule of events, is at Ecumenical Advocacy Days. Student scholarships are available.

Date: 3/9/2011
©2011

Take Action--Oppose Cutting International Family Planning from the 2011 Budget

Your help is needed today! Rep. Latta (R-OH) has proposed an amendment that would eliminate all international family planning funding from the 2011 budget. This extreme measure would would be devastating to the health of women, children, and families around the world. Family planning is a critical, cost-effective health intervention that saves the lives of women and young children.

Take Action!

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on this amendment this week. Contact your representative today to oppose this extreme amendment. The House of Representatives Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

Here's what to say:

• Family planning saves lives. This cut would result in 12,000 more maternal deaths and 87,000 more infant deaths.
• Family planning is cost-effective. It costs about $2/year to provide a woman with family planning, but the direct and indirect benefits are countless. Women's economic contributions are critical for economic stability in a country.
  
• Family planning is an issue people of faith care about. The United Methodist Church has an historic, strong stance in support of women's health and family planning.

Please share this information with your congregations and networks. Contact Healthy Families, Healthy Planet coordinator Katey Zeh (kateyzeh@gmail.com) with any questions.

Maternal Health Workshop at Ecumenical Advocacy Days

Healthy Families, Healthy Planet will be hosting a workshop on maternal health at the 9th annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD), which will take place in Washington, DC on March 25-28, 2011. Sponsored by the ecumenical Christian community, EAD brings advocates together to mobilize for action on Capitol Hill. The theme of this year's conference is Development, Security & Economic Justice: What’s Gender Got to Do with It?

Maternal health is crucial component of development. Motherhood is dangerous in the developing world, where every 90 seconds a woman dies of complications during pregnancy or childbirth. That's nearly a thousand women dying every single day. But these deaths are not inevitable. Most of them could be prevented if all women had access to comprehensive medical care and family planning services. Millennium Development Goal #5—to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality by 75%--is lagging behind. Both the immediate and rippling effects of these deaths impact not only the health of families, but also the economic health of communities that lose the contributions of these women.

Katey Zeh, coordinator of Healthy Families, Healthy Planet, and Linda Bales Todd, director of the Louise & Hugh Moore Population Project for the General Board of Church & Society, will co-lead the workshop,"Maternal Health and Millennium Development Goal 5: How Can the Church Respond?" The focus will be on identifying the barriers to achieving better maternal health worldwide and how churches are responding. Participants will hear maternal health stories from the Global South and learn ways to advocate for maternal health in their congregations and denominations.

To learn more about Ecumenical Advocacy Days and to register, please visit the EAD website.