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CRC Joins Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2016

April 20, 2016
Left to right: Laura Pritchard, Idella Posey-Winfield, Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, and Emily Harrison

Left to right: Laura Pritchard, Idella Posey-Winfield, Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, and Emily Harrison

Christian Reformed Church members and students from Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich. joined people of faith from across the U.S. to participate in Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2016 in Washington, D.C.

The focus of the gathering, which ran April 15-18, was to advocate for the Voting Rights Advancement Act in the U.S. Congress, which would reinstate the full protections of the original 1965 Voting Rights Act, helping to combat discrimination and voter disenfranchisement. The conference also equipped attendees to urge Congress to ensure that trade policies include protections for God’s creation and vulnerable communities in the U.S. and abroad.

Titled "Lift Every Voice: Racism, Class & Power," the event offered various activities, speeches, opportunities for participants to meet with their lawmakers, a slate of issues-related workshops, denominational gatherings, and included an interdenominational worship service on Sunday.

A total of 36 people from the CRC were on hand for the annual event. The trip was organized as a partnership between the Office of Social Justice, World Renew, and Faith Formation Ministries.

“Our group went to learn how voices that are marginalized, because of race or their community's economic status, can be lifted in the public square,” said Shannon Jammal-Hollemans, collaborative program developer for the CRC.

They spent two days listening and learning. On Sunday, they joined in the ecumenical worship service and on Monday everyone met with representatives and senators from their home areas, said Jammal-Hollemans.

“This weekend we clearly saw how justice and advocacy are spiritual  disciplines that Christians are called to practice.”

Kris Van Engen, congregational mobilizer for the CRC, said OSJ and World Renew have brought groups of young people to the Ecumenical Advocacy Days in the past, but this year they included three Grand Rapids churches because “we wanted to make the group intergenerational.”

Included were members of First CRC, Madison Square CRC, and Oakdale Park CRC.

Rev. Emmett Harrison, pastor of Oakdale Park CRC, said he appreciated the chance to be part of the event in the U.S. capital.

Harrison joined in meeting with Michigan and West Michigan lawmakers to ask them to back legislation that would restore voting rights that the U.S. Supreme Court removed in its 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. That decision struck down core provisions of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which made it illegal for states to use discriminatory restrictions on voting.

“Being on Capitol Hill was a tremendous opportunity to put our faith into action and to advocate for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act,’’ said Harrison.

In the aftermath of the Shelby County v. Holder decision, several U.S. states have been able to impose measures, such as requiring certain types of identification, to inhibit racial minorities and younger people from voting.

“I think that Supreme Court decision is a huge step backward,” said Harrison. “People, especially African Americans, fought very hard for many years for rights that have been taken away.”

Because of the decision, he said, “states now have the opportunity to no longer be accountable to the courts.”

Van Engen, who helped coordinate the trip, said the people who went were encouraged to read Live Justly, which was published by Micah Challenge USA and World Renew.

Live Justly is a 10-session scriptural and practical study that challenges churches, campus groups, and small groups to examine their attitudes and behaviors in comparison to a lifestyle of biblical justice.