Title: `Stand for Children'

News from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

May 21, 1996

`STAND FOR CHILDREN'

"At this moment in history when government is saying,
'We're going to get out of the business of caring for
people, and you churches have got to take on the load,'
we have to be involved and say, 'Government, you can't
get out of caring for the future of this nation,'" said Mary
Nelson, president, Bethel New Life, Chicago.  The
Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs (LOGA) is one
of 2,000 organizations that have joined the Children's
Defense Fund in sponsoring "Stand for Children."  The
event could bring a million people to the Lincoln Memorial
in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 1, said Nelson.
"The hope is that this can be the beginning of a movement,"
she said.  "We understand that the future of this country is
dependent on the future of the children," said Nelson.
"Stand for Children" will mobilize church-based groups to
set a national agenda that focuses on investing in children,
she said.  "It's a non-partisan approach to say that unless
every child has access to health care and every child has a
decent education, the future of our country is damaged,"
said Nelson.  Bethel New Life is a social ministry
organization of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
America, and LOGA is the church's federal public policy
advocacy office in Washington, D.C.


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Chicago, IL   60631; phone 312/380-2963]