CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Commission for Women of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has registered its support for the "Million Mom March" on Washington, D.C., planned for Mother's Day, May 14. The commission's steering committee passed a resolution which drew attention to many of the values it shares with the organizers of the march.
The nine-month campaign began when Donna Dees-Thomases of New Jersey watched frightened children in television news coverage of a day-camp shooting. She applied for a Washington parade permit coinciding with Mother's Day "to encourage Congress to pass sensible gun legislation." Similar rallies are planned in communities across the United States.
"Women have given up on the traditional means of obtaining laws that will lead to sane gun legislation," said Jean Martensen, associate director for leadership development and studies, ELCA Commission for Women. "They have written their congresspersons. They have called their offices. They have answered the pollsters. They have joined organizations that have lobbied for protective measures."
"Accounts of their dismay and sorrow and anger have filled the pages of newspapers and journals. Now women of all ages are gathering in Washington to demonstrate their strong convictions that violence by guns in our schools and communities has to stop. What better day to do so than on Mother's Day," said Martensen.
The ELCA resolution noted that Mother's Day was initiated "by women in search of peace" and that the march "seeks to end gun violence, especially as it is claiming the lives of children and young people throughout our nation."
When the ELCA was formed in 1988, the church supported the international "Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with Women" (1988 1998). The goals of the decade included "to end the violence against women, to eliminate racism and to advocate for the full participation of women in the life of the churches," stated the commission's resolution.
In 1999, the ELCA supported an appeal from Nobel Peace Prize Laureates which prompted the United Nations to declare the years 2001 to 2010 "The Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World," the resolution continued.
The commission is "committed to making 2000 the 'Year of Education for Nonviolence' a time to raise awareness and to enable people to begin to build a global culture of peace by nonviolent means," the steering committee stated. -- -- --
The "Million Mom March" maintains a World Wide Web site at http://www.millionmommarch.com/
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
For information contact:
Candice Hill Buchbinder
Public Relations Manager
Candice.HillBuchbinder@ELCA.org
