Carcaño to keynote Ecumenical Advocacy Days

WASHINGTON, D.C. — United Methodist Bishop Minerva Carcaño will be among the keynote speakers at the 2010 Ecumenical Advocacy Days here, March 19-22. Theme of the annual event is “A Place to Call Home: Immigrants, Refugees, and Displaced Peoples.”

8th Ecumenical Advocacy Days will be March 19-22.

Carcaño, chair of the United Methodist Taskforce on Immigration, is episcopal leader of the Desert Southwest Conference, which includes Arizona and small portions of California and Utah.

Other keynote speakers will be the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and Sister Helen Prejean, Roman Catholic nun and anti-death penalty activist.

The 2009 Ecumenical Advocacy Days gathering was attended by more than 800 participants over the March 13 weekend to ask Congress to advocate for abundance in the world and that it be allocated in a way that is fair and just for all creation.

The eighth annual gathering of Ecumenical Advocacy Days will take place at the Doubletree in Crystal City, Va., just outside Washington, D.C.

In addition to workshops on the focus areas, attendees will be trained on how to lobby legislators, and will make calls on Capitol Hill. There will also be worship, and plenty of opportunities for dialogue. This year’s event featured a gathering of United Methodists, who were addressed by Virginia Bishop Charlene Kammerer.

The 2010 theme is based on the concept that just as Jesus had nowhere to lay his head, neither do tens of millions of migrants, refugees and displaced persons. Attendees at the Ecumenical Advocacy Days action weekend will address this global injustice. Attendees will have an opportunity to join hundreds of faith-based advocates in taking action on U.S. legislation that will welcome immigrants, protect refugees, and prevent displacement for millions.

Groups from churches, denominations and regional councils of churches are encouraged to charter buses to bring large groups to this important faith-in-action event.

For more information, visit Ecumencial Advocacy Days on the Web.