ELCA NEWS SERVICE

March 4, 2004

Ecumenical Advocacy Days for Global Peace with Justice
MEDIA ADVISORY

Date and Location: March 5-8, 2004, Washington, D.C.

Media contacts: Kirsten Anderson-Stembridge, phone (202) 669-4712
Mark Brown, phone (301) 706-4110

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Delegates from across the nation
converge here March 5 to advocate for global peace with justice.
The conference and visits to congressional representatives are
being sponsored by a coalition of 26 churches and religious
groups.
     About 100 Lutherans are among the registrants.
     The focus will be on four regions of the world -- Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Middle East -- and on trade, debt
issues and nuclear disarmament.
     Middle East policy experts will join U.S. church leaders for
a look at the prospects for peace between Israelis and
Palestinians.  Delegates concerned about Africa will hear reports
on U.S. trade policy toward Africa, HIV/AIDS, water rights, and
conflicts in the Sudan and Liberia.  North Korean militarism,
human rights and humanitarian aid will be the focus of the Asia
track.  Issues related to Colombia, which until recently was the
third largest U.S. aid recipient, will headline the Latin America
track.  In 2002 Colombia received more free U.S. military
training than any other nation.
     Sessions held March 5-7 will take place at the Doubletree
Hotel, Crystal City, Va., and on March 8 at the Lutheran Church
of the Reformation here on Capitol Hill (212 East Capitol
Street).  The theme of the Advocacy Days, "I Will Feed Them with
Justice," is a quotation from the book of the prophet Ezekiel.
     Among the prominent speakers will be Rev. Samuel Kobia,
general secretary of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches
and former head of the National Council of Churches of Kenya;
Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development,
University of Maryland, College Park, Md.; Peter M. Beck,
director of research, Korean Economic Institute, Washington;
Ellen Laipson, president, Henry L. Stimson Center, Washington;
and Lee Sigal, director, Northeast Asia Cooperative Security
Project, Social Science Research Council, New York.
     Other speakers include Rev. Syngman Rhee, a Korean American
born in North Korea, former president, National Council of the
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC), and former moderator,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.); Rt. Rev. Andudu Elnail, Anglican
bishop of Kadugli-Nuba Mountains, Sudan; Rev. Bernice Powell
Jackson, executive minister of Justice and Witness Ministries,
United Church of Christ; Jim Winkler, general secretary, United
Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society; Rev. Milton
Mejia, noted peace leader, Presbyterian Church, Barranquilla,
Colombia; Marino Cordoba, Association of Displaced Afro-
Colombians; and Lisa Haugaard, director, Latin America Working
Group.
     Neville Gabriel, coordinating secretary, Justice and Peace
Department, South Africa Catholic Bishops' Conference; Bishop C.
Dale White (ret.), United Methodist Church, Rhode Island; Rev.
Dr. Robert Edgar, general secretary, NCC; Jonathan Dean, advisor
on Global Security Issues, Union of Concerned Scientists; Eric
Olson, consultant, Amnesty International; and Michael Tarazi,
Legal Advisor, Palestine Liberation Organization, will also
speak.
     All sessions of the conference are open to the media and
interviews with individual speakers or delegates from particular
states can be arranged.
     For a list of event sponsors and other information, visit
http://www.advocacydays.org/ on the Internet.
     The home page of the Lutheran Church of the Reformation is
at http://www.reformationdc.org/ on the Web.

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask]
http://www.elca.org/news