ELCA NEWS SERVICE September 17, 2008 ELCA Synod Bishop Calls on Public Officials to Take Action on Poverty 08-159-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Elected officials and candidates for public office should remember people living in poverty and speak about specific proposals to alleviate poverty, said the Rev. James F. Mauney, bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Virginia Synod, at a Sept. 16 prayer vigil on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. The prayer vigil concluded "Fighting Poverty with Faith: A Week of Action," Sept. 9-16, during which people representing a variety of faith groups called on candidates and elected officials in the United States to address poverty and related issues. A coalition of 21 churches and church-related organizations, including the ELCA, participated. Mauney noted that there are 38 million people in the United States living in poverty. He cited statistics that showed the United States spends $51 billion in an average year on domestic feeding programs, serving nearly one in five people, including nearly half of all infants. "How strong can a nation be if we can't care for our weakest and most vulnerable infants?" Mauney asked. Candidates must address prenatal care and care for infants in the first year of life, he said. Mauney said elected officials and candidates must talk not only about the U.S. economy, but include "economic stimulus or recovery measures that are truly targeted (to) those people and programs most in distress." He cited needs for food stamps, unemployment insurance, child support enforcement, health care and home energy assistance. The U.S. Congress should provide disaster relief where needed, reform the child tax credit and lower the eligibility threshold of family earnings of $8,500, Mauney said. Lowering the eligibility threshold will enable people living in poverty to have more disposable funds, he said. Mauney also reported several examples of human need, such as the Midlands Food Bank, Columbia, S.C., which he said can't keep up with demand for food, and a rural life director in South Dakota who collected 50,000 pounds of food. That supply was exhausted in only 45 minutes because of heavy local demand for food, Mauney said. "We as Christians remember how St. Paul spoke to the Corinthians: 'For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.' As our Lord remembered and zealously died and rose for us, so let us remember the poor and zealously act for them," Mauney said. Mauney was one of 28 ELCA synod bishops who attended a briefing in Washington, D.C., Sept. 10-12, organized by the ELCA Washington Office. The bishops met with members of Congress and staff to discuss poverty issues and other concerns. Mauney was joined at the prayer vigil by seven other speakers representing Bread for the World, Catholic Charities USA, Islamic Relief USA, Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Jewish Reconstructionist Federation, Network: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby and Sojourners. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news