Title: Maryland Advocacy Office Is Ecumenical ELCA NEWS SERVICE January 27, 1998 MARYLAND ADVOCACY OFFICE IS ECUMENICAL 98-019-FI CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The state public policy advocacy efforts of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in Maryland are being carried out from a very ecumenical office. Four Christian denominations -- Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist and Presbyterian -- are coordinating their work out of the state's first Ecumenical Advocacy Center located on State Circle in Annapolis. The four denominations may not agree on all issues before the Maryland legislature, but they are working together on several issues on which they hold similar positions -- health insurance for the state's 168,000 uninsured children, slots and casino gambling, and hunger-related issues. The Rev. George P. Mocko, bishop of the ELCA's Delaware-Maryland Synod, sees any differences as having little impact on the center's ultimate success. "With all the diverse and contradictory views you hear on every public issue, it should be heartening that on most of these issues Christians either agree, can agree or find a way agreeably to disagree," he said. "The Ecumenical Advocacy Center witnesses to this and will be a place where the fruits of such labor will be increasingly realized." The religious community has long viewed advocacy -- pleading the cause of others -- as an important function of the church in society. The Ecumenical Advocacy Center's founders are active in the Maryland Interfaith Legislative Committee, a consensus-based interfaith advocacy coalition. This collaboration marks the first time these advocacy ministries will share office space and expenses. For information contact: Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html