Advocating with our companions
Advocacy is a key element in some companion synod relationships. Companion churches living under political oppression or danger request not only your prayers but also your public voice on their behalf to the larger church, governments and international agencies of the world. The experience of Lutherans in their companion synod relationships is central to the credibility of ELCA advocacy with U.S. government officials.
Lutherans believe advocacy is a public witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ where the Church speaks with and on behalf of others whose voices are silenced or muted.
Two opportunities for advocacy training in 2012
Global Mission has encouraged attendance at both Ecumenical Advocacy Days (EAD) and the Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) annual conference by offering a limited number of scholarships for participants. This will continue in 2012. The ELCA Washington Office helps to plan both events, and they promise to offer excellent speakers, resources and networking, as well as visits to congressional members to advocate for your companion. See below to hear from 2011 participants about their experiences.
Ecumenical Advocacy Days' 10th annual celebration conference, March 23-26, 2012 -
"Is This the Fast I Seek? Economy, Livelihood and Our National Priorities"
A limited number of partial scholarships are available for companion synod committee members interested in attending. The March 2012 EAD gathering of 1,000 Christian advocates in Washington, DC, promises to be a highlight in the overall interfaith effort to create a global economy and a national budget that seek to break the yokes of injustice, poverty, hunger and unemployment around the world.
Exciting and inspiring preachers and worship leaders, plenary speakers, and workshop facilitators have committed to deliver a dynamic program for a meaningful expression of faith as we will culminate the weekend in visits to Capitol Hill. Although much of the focus will be on domestic issues, international tracks will also be offered linking these issues to advocacy in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
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Click here for the EAD website
If you are involved in your synod's companion synod committee and would like to attend but need help with housing costs, you may apply for a partial scholarship. Scholarship recipients will be asked to share their reflections and learnings. Please check with your synod office and then contact your relationship manager in ELCA Global Mission by February 28 with your request:
Barbara Berry-Bailey - Africa
Mary Campbell - Latin America
Julie Rowe - Europe and North Africa and the Middle East
Franklin Ishida - Asia and the Pacific
Churches for Middle East Peace
Check this space for information on the 2012 conference when it becomes available.
Find out more about the ELCA's Peace not Walls campaign implementing our Middle East strategy. For information about scholarships, contact
Julie Rowe.
2011 Conferences:
Hear from participants about their experiences last year:
" I have never participated in EAD before, but I will certainly be returning to this venue. I am inspired by the dedication and determination of the Christian church today, regardless of what flavor of Christianity we cling to. Flavored as an ELCA-Lutheran makes me look for the theology behind our "social justice." We are a confessional church, using Luther's writings in the Small and Large Catechisms to understand the scripture. In the explanation of the fifth commandment, Luther says, "We are to fear and love God, so that we neither endanger or harm the lives of our neighbors, but instead help and support them in all of life's needs." It's not just about murder, but it's about taking the hand of my brother and sister, pulling them to the firm foundation that we all deserve to stand on, trusting that someone will also pull me up alongside of the others.
EAD was a time to be reminded of who needs those hands, but also whose hands are to be doing the pulling and pushing. The ELCA says, "God's work. Our hands." Let's do it, then! EAD was truly an awesome experience that has already shaped my understanding of ministry, social justice and ecumenism, and it will continue to do so in my journey through life."
- Meredith Harber, EAD Participant
Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2011
Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2011 focused on issues affecting women and girls, and participants heard excellent speakers about rights and programs for women and girls.
See videos of 2011 EAD speakers
Listen to what the ELCA Global Mission Executive Director, the Rev. Rafael Malpica Padilla, has to say about the event and advocacy by clicking on the video below:
Learn more about programs for women supported by the ELCA Global Mission unit by watching this powerpoint:
At the Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) annual conference last year, many excellent speakers analyzed the current climate for peace and the implications of the Arab Spring.
Click here to hear speakers from the 2011 conference.Last year after the CMEP conference, Lutherans involved in the Peace not Walls campaign across the country met together to talk about the ELCA's Middle East strategy and how to sharpen its focus and work more effectively together.