Faith in the Public Square

Today is the fourth and final day of the 2001 virtual Ecumenical Advocacy Days, the time when participants contact their legislators to advocate for issues on which the event is focused. The theme of this year’s gathering is “Imagine! God’s Earth and People Restored.” The website offers this perspective on the issues of concern: As people of faith we call on Congress to act urgently and decisively on climate justice by addressing the intersection of climate change, economic justice, gender justice and racial equity: * Enact infrastructure and energy legislation that will promote climate, economic, gender and racial justice to accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy and commit to net-zero climate pollution in electricity by 2035 and economy-wide by 2050. * Provide funding for multilateral and bilateral environmental accounts for FY2022, including $2 billion for the Green Climate Fund, focusing on funding for the most impacted countries and communities, in many cases burdene...

Tomorrow, April 7, is the deadline for early-bird registration for this year’s Ecumenical Advocacy Days. This year’s event, usually held in the nation’s Capital, will be a virtual gathering to be held April 18-21. The early-bird fee is just $25.  The 2021 theme is “Imagine! God’s Earth and People Restored.”   Here is some information from the website:  Ecumenical Advocacy Days is a movement of the ecumenical Christian community, and its recognized partners and allies, grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and the integrity of creation. Our goal, through worship, theological reflection and opportunities for learning and witness, is to strengthen our Christian voice and to mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of U.S. domestic and international policy issues.   EAD 2021 is an opportunity to support this global movement centered on and led by the people and communities most vulnerable to climate impacts due to historic racial and c...

United Tenants of Albany (UTA), will be host a virtual film screening the new documentary film A Second Wave: Housing During the COVID Pandemic by local filmmaker Kristen Kopper on Thursday, April 8 at 7p.m. According to the news release, the film reveals the devastating housing insecurities suffered by tenants during COVD-19. “Impacted tenants share their personal stories of housing and economic insecurity experienced in the midst of the pandemic in this documentary. The film also follows the statewide housing justice advocacy effort to win an eviction moratorium in New York State.”   There will be a live Q&A with the filmmaker after the showing.  You can watch the film trailer here .   Admission is free but donations will be accepted. Contributions help UTA in its work of providing: -        -  Housing Hotline; -         - Tenant counseling, including counseling for tenants facing building foreclosure;   -   ...

Catholic Charities has released its food distribution schedule for the month of April which can be  downloaded here  or found below. Please note the varying start times for all April dates.    Volunteers are needed  to assist in the packaging and distribution of food. Volunteers are asked to arrive at 8:15 am for morning distributions. These food distributions, or “drive-thru pantries,” are a part of Catholic Charities’ mobile outreach initiative, CC MOVE, an effort to provide supplemental food in areas with limited access to services at time when many are struggling. Food items provided by the Regional Food Bank will be pre-packaged by volunteers from partnering organizations. Distributions are open to the public and no pre-registration is required. There will be two distribution lines: a drive-through line and a walk-in line. Due to traffic concerns, guests are asked to not to arrive prior to the start time. April 1  Italian Community Center ,   1450...

Some issues are more exciting than others; they strike our  imagination and call us to action. Other issues are more esoteric and challenging. Special Drawing  Rights are in that latter category, but they are nonetheless important. This story begins with  Jubilee USA , a coalition of religious, development and advocacy groups that has won more than $130 billion in debt relief for the world’s poorest economies. Because of those global agreements, the group reports, that $130 billion is invested in schools, hospitals and other social infrastructure. In Sub-Saharan Africa alone, 54 million kids have gone to‎ school who never would have seen the inside of a classroom. Earlier this month, the group organized a meeting of high-ranking religious and labor leaders with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to discuss the global COVID response, climate, Puerto Rico, inequality, development aid, debt relief, emergency reserve funds (Special Drawing Rights or SD...

People of faith have not been silent in the face of our nation’s gun violence. They have supported reasonable gun laws for many years and now, in the light of recent shootings, their words continue to guide us. The National Council of Churches issued a statement this week that read, in part: The unchecked gun violence in this nation must end. In 1967, the NCC adopted a statement calling for Firearms Control while proclaiming at the time that it represented “a long overdue measure which might have prevented much tragic loss of life.”   Over 50 years later, these basic common-sense changes to our gun laws still have not been enacted and they are far beyond overdue.                . . . “I stand firmly with the vast majority of Americans who are demanding an end to gun violence and the passage of legislation that requires greater screening, longer waiting periods for background checks, and the elimination of rapid fire guns,” stated Rev. D...

The Capital Area Council of Churches and the League of Women Voters are looking to reduce polarization in our nation by hosting a virtual documentary screening of “Braver Angels: Reuniting America” on March 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. The film follows the actual workshop of a group of “reds” and “blues” who were able to come together to find common ground and to even forge friendships despite initial tensions, apprehensions, and differing views. Following the 50-minute film, there will be breakout rooms "to facilitate discussions on the issue and potential ways to implement the principles of constructive communication in order to forge positive actions both politically and socially." To register, go here .