Faithful Advocacy

Advocacy for all Creation is the caring act of citizenship by people of faith on behalf of God’s created world. It will take both individual and collective action to ensure a sustainable future for people and the planet. Therefore, our faith requires us to work for social and environmental justice as well as making sustainable personal lifestyle choices.

Now more than ever, people of faith across the nation are realizing that we need to speak up on issues like the environment to ensure that our voices are heard as elected officials make important decisions that affect our future. In responding faithfully to Jesus’ call for a common life in which no one is left behind, we are drawn inevitably to public policy advocacy.

The challenge is powerfully posed in this question:  If a single decision in Congress or a state legislature can either enhance or undo literally millions of individual acts of Christian caring, should we not try to influence such decisions?

As people of faith, we can and we must. As Isaiah 58:1 exhorts us, “Shout out, do not hold back!  Lift up your voice like a trumpet!”  Engaging in political advocacy is a necessary next step in our commitment to keeping God’s vision of a just and loving society.