| | | | Faithful Witness Wednesdays NCC Staffers Led Prayers at April 23 Faithful Wednesdays Gathering | | The April 23 Faithful Witness Wednesdays vigil was led by NCC staff with Senior Associate General Secretary and Advocacy Director, Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland-Tune, hosting and leading the gatherers in prayer and motivational calls for love and justice. Matt Markay, NCC Project Coordinator, led the crowd in a powerful prayer for moral courage and boldness to disrupt systems with loud love. Click the video below to watch Matt's complete prayer. In addition to NCC staff members, other faith leaders led the crowd in prayers, calls for justice, and demands for Congress to govern justly. Please scroll down for more photos and read a powerful prayer written by Friar Cristofer Fernández, Conventual Franciscans (OFM Conv.) and beautifully recited by Eileen DeGuire.
Sign up for vigil updates at https://sojo.net/witness and learn more about Sojourners at https://sojo.net. | | Video Credit: Dr. Neosho Ponder, NCC Staff | | Join Sojourners for
A Call for Congressional CourageWEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 NOON ET (In-Person & Virtual) | | April 30 Witness Wednesday Guidelines Signs of the Spirit! 10-11:30 AM EST: United Methodist Building (room 4), 100 Maryland Ave NE, Washington, D.C.
Join fellow advocates just before a rally for a time of sign making and fellowship. Drop by the United Methodist Building anytime between 10-11:30 a.m. to create handmade signs and craft slogans calling on Congress to have Moral Courage! Materials and snacks will be provided. Meetup — 11:30 AM: Join fellow participants outside the United Methodist Building to walk together to the nearby vigil site. Vigil — Noon until 12:45 PM: Upper Senate Park, Area 2 (bounded by Constitution Ave NE; First Street NE; Northeast Drive and the East Front Plaza), Washington, D.C. (Note: this is a different location than last week.)
Not in D.C.? Watch the livestream on the SojoAction YouTube channel. 🎯Action Alert — Email your representative and senators and call on them to stop executive overreach. Many faith traditions teach care for the common good, stand up for justice, and protect the most vulnerable. Right now, that means standing to prevent unchecked executive power. A Promotional toolkit for the April 30 vigil: Click HERE for the RSVP page for April 30 Graphics for the Witness and the Action Alert
From the 4/23 Witness | | TOMORROW, SUNDAY, APRIL 27:
Bishop William J. Barber II to deliver a Sermon to the Nation from Capitol Hill CLICK image below for more information | | | Faithful Witness Wednesdays—April 23 (Cont.) Scroll for more photos and to read the powerful prayer delivered by Eileen DeGuire | | Photo Credit: NCC Staff & Hannah Santos | Faithful Witness Wednesdays The speakers for the April 23 vigil include: Rev. Dr. Leslie Copeland-Tune, Senior Associate General Secretary & Advocacy Director, National Council of Churches USA Daniel Hall, Lead Capitol Hill Representative & Faith Community Outreach Coordinator, Back from the Brink José Santos (Woss) Moreno, Director for Justice Reform, Friends Committee on National Legislation Eileen DeGuire, Legislative Director, Franciscan Action Network Rev. Jennifer Hawks, Director of Advocacy, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Since March 5, Sojourners and the Washington Interfaith Staff Community (WISC) have been co-organizing a series of faithful witness vigils at the Capitol every Wednesday in March and April at noon.
These multi-faith vigils will call on Congress to exercise greater moral courage in upholding its Article 1 powers and preventing executive overreach.
These nonpartisan vigils will speak truth to power, highlighting what’s at stake and the communities already harmed. They feature faith leaders from diverse traditions offering inspirational prayers and calls for faithful action. Join in for these livestreamed vigils.
Working together, participants can provide a faithful witness by speaking truth to power about this mounting crisis, what is at stake, the people and communities already being harmed, and what can be done to make a difference! | | | Photo Credit: NCC Staff & Hannah Santos | | A Prayer for Our Times Lord, make me a ripple of disruption:
where there is apathy or argument, let me provoke charity;
where there is over compliance, critical reflection;
where there is silence, a voice of accountability;
where there is too much comfort and too little action, discomfort;
where there are closed doors and locked hearts, honest disarming;
where “others’” personhood is not affirmed, listening, dialogue, and goodness.
Most High Good Creator, grant that I may seek rather to do justice than to talk about it;
to be with, as well as for, the alienated;
to love the unlovable as well as the lovely.
When laws dictate and pain is overlooked;
when “tradition” speaks louder than need; when ideas take priority before realities, and conflict before unity,
Disturb us, O Lord, that we might live out our prayer, that we might live out penance and reconciliation, that we might touch the wounds of Christ’s passion in the world of today, that we might live out your revolution of mercy and holiness, that we might live out your mission as peacemakers and wholemakers of the kingdom. Amen.
By Friar Cristofer Fernández, Conventual Franciscans (OFM Conv.), Our Lady of the Angels Province, adapted and expanded from the “Reverse St. Francis Prayer.” Offered during the April 23 Faithful Witness Wednesdays by Eileen DeGuire. | | Photo Credit: Hannah Santos | | | 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Greenwood Forest Baptist Church 110 SE Maynard Rd, Cary, NC Whether you’re new to advocacy or a seasoned advocate for justice, this seminar is a chance to engage deeply with key public policy issues shaping the 2025 General Assembly's long session—all through the lens of faith.
This year, NCCC presents its Faith Active in Public Life Award to Leoneda Inge, co-host of Due South on WUNC. Leoneda’s work as a journalist and storyteller exemplifies a deep commitment to justice, truth, and community
This is more than a seminar—it's a time to connect, learn, and act together in faithful pursuit of justice for our communities. Tickets are $25 and cover a light breakfast, snacks, and lunch.
Click HERE for more information. | | MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE FOLLOWING EVENTS | | | | | | | | | | Executive Order Trackers Available Online | | Two organizations have set up websites to help interested parties keep track of executive orders and administrative executive actions
Congressional Black Caucus The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation has established the CBCF Executive Order Tracker: Understanding What’s at Stake for Black America. CBCF’s Executive Order Tracker provides detailed information on each executive action’s legal status, an in-depth analysis of their impact on Black communities, and highlights responses from Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) members, including statements on the threats these directives pose and actions that maintain crucial checks and balances on presidential power.
Click here for more information about the CBC tracker site.
Network Advocates for Catholic Social Justice Network Advocates for Catholic Social Justice has created a Trump Administration Executive Action Tracker. The charts contain the executive orders and their impacts. Lawsuits that may be in progress are available through NETWORK's Executive Action Tracker on Google Drive. They are organized according to how they undermine NETWORK's An Economy for All agenda areas. The Executive Action Tracker will be updated regularly.
Click here for Network Advocates' online tracker. | | Lenten Journal Available
from Friendship Press | | | | | | | | |
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