A Very Productive Day on Capitol Hill

I am attending the Gamaiel Foundation‘s International Leadership Assembly in Washington DC. We are 100 leaders from across 17 states in our network in relationship with 1,000,000 members of our congregations. Our delegation from Pittsbrgh includes 3 clergy, 1 lay leader and 2 organizers from PIIN.

After leading those assembled in a theological reflection, I was a part of a team of four who went to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressman James Clyburn, Assistant Democratic Leader. I engaged him in a conversation about how our faith values should influence the legislation of our country especially when it comes to caring for those who are most vulnerable.

In the course of the conversation we talked about the House Democratic Faith Working Group. He explained how many members are trying to draw on their faith from liberal and pluralistic traditions in order to influence their work. As President of the Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus, I asked him if the Clergy Caucus could brief the Working Group. He suggested that the best venue might be at the Democratic Caucuus annual retreat and that he would support such a request! Now the work begins to turn that promise into a reality.

I then rejoined our assembly with another 200 members of OUR DC to hold a prayer vigil at the Senate Office Building.
We were silent at times.
We were loud at times.
We were prayerful at times.
We were reflective at times.
We gathered to witness the need to ensure that no one in our counntry, especially those who are in need, falls off the cliff.

It has been a very productive day on Capitol Hill.

PS – The Wall Street Journal reported the following:

Fiscal Cliff Protesters Hold Prayer Vigil

WASHINGTON–With fiscal cliff negotiations stalled, some community groups are courting God to intervene.

About 300 representatives of the faith-based Gamaliel grassroots network and Our DC, a jobs-advocacy group, held a protest and prayer vigil outside the Hart Senate office building Wednesday, urging congressional lawmakers and the Obama administration to ensure they keep the poor from bearing government spending cuts.

Gamaliel, which says it has a network reaching 1 million people, aims at stopping lawmakers from making cuts to safety-net programs like Social Security. It says tax cuts for high-income earners should be allowed to expire at year’s end, as scheduled, arguing that the wealthy should be required to contribute to deficit reduction.

This post originally appeared on Temple Sinai's blog on December 5, 2012.

Rabbi Ronald Symons is the Director of Lifelong Learning at Temple Sinai in Pittsburgh.