The July 25 issue of the Washington Post had a great article about the efforts of the We Believe Together coalition and the June 24 Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer. The link to the article is below.
“Pulling Together on Health Care” by Jacqueline L. Salmon
We are excited to announce that you can now view the speeches of our four keynote speakers on YouTube! Rabbi David Saperstein, Sister Simone Campbell, Dr. Sayyid Syeed, and Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes gave inspiring and rousing speeches that motivated the crowd to continue the fight for health care reform. Click here to see the four speakers in action! You can also access the videos from the June 24 page of this website.
Are you interested in learning about how your faith values can influence the fight for health care reform? Join Faithful Reform in Health Care for their weekly conference call on Wednesday, July 15 at 2 PM Eastern.
Topic: Launching “Let Your Light Shine for Health Care”
In last week’s meeting with the national leadership of our faith communities, the repeated refrain from Congressional and Administration staff was: “Your members of Congress need to hear your voices. The moral imperative for change must be heard over the voices of opposition.”
Why is there such urgency in their voices? On July 6, the Washington Post reported that “the nation’s largest insurers, hospitals and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government and retired members of Congress” as lobbyists to influence the direction of health care reform. In addition, it is reported that $1.4 million per day is being spent to protect their interests. No matter how much we have done to advance faith-inspired values in recent months, we must press on. What happens in the next eight weeks — especially during the August Congressional recess — will be critical in determining the path into our health care future. Lots of special interests are weighing in on the debate. Our interests in reform will be part of public discourse ONLY if we put them there.
Join us for our weekly conference call on Wednesday to hear the details about “Let Your Light Shine for Health Care” — our August effort to make sure that people of faith are very visible and that their voices are heard in support of health care reform that includes all of us. Hear about the new Tool Kit and how to make a Candlelight Vigil, Prayer Breakfast or Prayer Service happen easily! Start planning now to be a part of letting our light shine all across the country! Please RSVP here <http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=10eJRcxK7FM%2F6bxLYU3pmQ3s%2BEW4QK3F> . A reservation is not required, but is helpful to guarantee that enough phone lines are available!
Here are several more stories we’ve found about the Interfaith Week of Prayer for Health Care. Feel free to leave a comment with a link to anything we’ve missed!
“Specifics begin to emerge on nation’s hottest topic: health care reform” (Nancy Frazier O’Brien, Catholic News Service)
“Religious Left Rallies for Nationalized Health Care” (Rebekah Sharpe, Institute on Religion and Democracy)
“Central New York group attends National Interfaith Service for health care reform in Washington, DC” (Renee K. Gadoua, Syracuse Post-Standard)
“PC(USA) Participating in Interfaith Week of Prayer for Health Care; Service of Prayer and Witness June 24 in Washington, DC” (The Presbyterian Outlook)
“Could Israel be a model for American health-care reform?” (Sam Greengberg, The Jerusalem Post)
“Interfaith effort seeks health care for everyone” (David Yonke, Toledo Blade)
“Interfaith Service for health care reform” (Matthew Hay Brown, Baltimore Sun)
“Utah faith leaders speak out for health care reform” (Kristen Moulton, The Salt Lake Tribune)
“God In Government: Health Reform and Faith Groups” (Jacqueline L. Salmon, Washington Post)
The Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer on June 24 was covered by various local and national, secular and religious media outlets. Here are some of the pieces we’ve found. If your local paper has published anything about the Interfaith Week of Prayer for Health Care, leave us a c0mment and let us know!
“Rallying for health care reform, religiously” (Eric Fingerhut, JTA)
“People of faith gather to demand universal health care” (Jessie Abrams, Catholic News Service)
“A report from the pray-in for comprehensive health care reform” (Lydia DePillis, Slate)
“Religion and Health Care Reform” (Interview with Sr. Simone Campbell) (Bob Abernethy, PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly)
“Curing Health Care” (Adam Kredo, Washington Jewish Week)
“Believe Together Coalition Celebrates Largest Ever Faith-Inspired Mobilization for Health Care Reform” (Official Press Release)
Yesterday’s Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer brought inspiration to hundreds who gathered at Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza. It was wonderful to see people of so many different faiths unite in the fight for health care reform.
We were fortunate to have two real-time updates of yesterday’s service. The first is at twitter.com/BelieveTogether, and the second is at the SEIU Blog. Many thanks to Rachel Cohen, Kate Bigam, and Megan Rosati for capturing the event so well!
In a few days we will have more post-event materials, so check back soon! Thanks again to all who participated, volunteered, and attended yesterday’s service!
Pray with us today!
I will see some of you in a few hours as we gather for the Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer in Washington DC. Others will be in candelight vigils and other activities at the same time in other parts of the country. All of us are called to pray — wherever we are — for a better health care future, and for the strength to do our part in making it a reality.
Last Saturday evening I was invited to offer the Opening Prayer for an interfaith audience attending “An Evening with T.R. Reid” at Trinity Cathedral in Cleveland. I share that prayer with you in these moments as a Prelude for this evening’s prayers and candlelightings. It was crafted using the words that will echo across our country as people of faith work for comprehensive, compassionate, and sustainable health care reform.
O Holiness within and around us: We come to this moment grounded in the sacred bonds of our common humanity. We come united in a vision for a health care future that includes everyone and works well for all of us. Inspired by the shared values from our sacred texts, we envision a society in which everyone is afforded health, wholeness and human dignity.
As we move through these days of public discourse about our health care future, grant us:
– the humility to learn from each other;
– the generosity to be faithful stewards of our abundant health care resources;
– and the compassion to put the needs of hurting people ahead of our financial self-interests.
Empower us with the strength for this journey, that our hearts and minds may be transformed for the common good. Amen.
For more prayer resources for these moments visit the links below.
May health and peace be yours as together we pray for and witness to the need for health care reform in our country! And don’t forget to make your calls to your members of Congress! Instructions are below.
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National call-in days continue
Make three calls to your members of Congress as the national interfaith call-in days for health care reform continue through today. Remember… if we want a health care system that reflects that reflects the shared values from our sacred texts, it will be up to us to communicate those values. Let’s overwhelm the Capitol Switchboard with calls that promote compassion, the common good, shared responsibility, concern for those who are vulnerable, and faithful stewardship of our abundant health care resources!
Make three calls today… one call to each of your U.S. Senators and one to your member of the U.S. House.
Use the TOLL FREE NUMBER 1-888-797-8717
provided for us by the United Church of Christ Justice and Witness ministries.
You will be connected to the Capitol Switchboard. Ask for the office of a Senator or your Representative, and then ask to speak to the health care staff person. If you need help with talking points, see the sample faith-inspired messages at the end of this email or click here for a printer-friendly copy. Please take just a couple of minutes of your time to raise your voice for our nation’s health care future. And then… share this information with friends and family and urge them to make calls, too!
Call-in day sample messages based on our faith values:
Introduction: “Hello. My name is ____________, and I am a member of [ name of your congregation / community of faith ] in [ city ], [ state ].”
Content: [Pick ONE statement from below. The statement may need to be adapted based on what you know about the Senator's/Representative's view on this issue.)
"I believe that.. (pick one statement)
Conclusion: "Please urge the Senator/Representative ____________ do all he/she can to make sure that legislation is passed THIS YEAR for a health care future that includes everyone and works well for all of us. (If you already know he/she is supportive, acknowledge that!) Thank you!" [Hang up.]
June 24 has finally arrived, and we are thrilled that this day has come together and that so many will gather to show their support for health care reform today.
It’s never too late to advertise, so here’s a copy of our final media advisory that we’ve sent out to members of the press. Distribute it in your own community and to local press.
We are delighted to add Congressman Tom Perriello, a Democrat representing the 5th District of Virginia to the program. We are also honored to add Joshua DuBois, Special Assistant to the President and Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
If you’re in downtown DC early, stop by the United Methodists building for light refreshments and lobbying materials. If you’re outside the DC area, use the resources on our lobbying page to participate in the National Call-In Day.
We look forward to coming together for the event, but for those of you who can’t make it, there’s still a way to follow along as the event progresses. We will be “live-tweeting” the event via twitter.com/BelieveTogether. We will be posting notes on speakers and other aspects of the program. If you’ll be at the event and can tweet from your phone, please join us: just add #health4all to the end of your tweet. You can also search Twitter and get all of the updates from people at the event!
As you head out to Freedom Plaza today, be sure to bring your hat, sunscreen, and water bottle. If you are traveling by the DC Metro system, please allow yourself extra travel time to get to the event due to service delays. The closest Metro station to Freedom Plaza is Metro Center on the Red Line. Exit Metro Center at the 13th & G st. exit, and walk south on 13th St. until you see Freedom Plaza on your left.
We look forward to praying, witnessing, and gathering today for health care for all!
Are you interested in talking to your Senator or Representative about health care reform?
We have collected resources from several members of the WISC Health Care Working Group, and they have developed pages geared towards specific religious denominations. These resources are available on our new lobbying page , but will also be in print at the United Methodist building at 100 Maryland Ave. SE, from 10 am to 4 pm on June 24. The United Methodist Building will host:
If you’re in town early and looking for something to do before the Interfaith Service of Witness and Prayer, this is a great opportunity to see Capitol Hill and speak to your Senator or Representative’s office about this important issue! If you can’t make it to DC, these are great resources to use if you’d like to participate in the National Call-In Days!
If you have questions about the United Methodists’ lobbying hospitality on June 24, please email mhoxie@umc-gbcs.org, or call the building’s direct line at 202-488-5600.
Today, two major Capitol Hill newspapers featured an address to Members of Congress, inviting them to join us on Freedom Plaza on June 24 in support of health care reform. The piece appears on Page 21 of Politico and Page 6 of Roll Call. Click on the image below to get a full-sized pdf version of the piece. This Witness to Congress will also be part of our Interfaith Service for Witness and Prayer on Wednesday!
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