Bread for the World Letter Writing Campaign

by Bishop Dan Edwards

Several Colorado congregations are already acting to make a vital difference in hunger, eco-justice, and racial agri-justice this May. Three bills in Congress are crucial. The Farm Bill includes SNAP benefits (which have already gone down and massive cuts are threatened); The Justice For Black Farmers Act redresses systemic racism and makes land, financing, and market opportunities available to Black farmers (there were a million Black farmers in 1920 but fewer than 50,000 are left today); and the Opportunities to Address College Hunger Act (39% of students at 2-year colleges and 29% of students at 4-year colleges face hunger).

For in-depth information and resources, go to https://www.bread.org/offering-letters/

For user-friendly capsule information and resources, email Bishop Dan Edwards at danedwards@sjcathedral.org.

Here’s how you, in partnership with Bread for the World, can make a difference: Hold an in-person meeting of interested members of your congregation. Give them the basic information on one or all three bills. Provide them with paper and a pen. Then invite them to hand-write a note to Senator Bennet on any one or two issues they feel most strongly about. Senator Bennet is on the committee that deals with these bills. Collect their letters, and if you are close enough to one of Senator Bennet’s regional offices (Grand Junction, Durango, Alamosa, Pueblo, Colorado Springs, Denver, or Ft. Collins), hand deliver the letters to his office (addresses at https://www.bennet.senate.gov/public/). Hand-written/ hand-delivered letters have the most impact. If that is not convenient, mail them to Fr. Marc Smith, St. John’s Episcopal Church, 419 Pine St., Boulder, CO 80302. He’ll get them hand-delivered.

Episcopal hunger advocacy is not based on partisan politics or political ideology but rather on General Convention Resolutions. https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2017/11/20/episcopal-churchs-advocacy-fights-hunger-at-intersection-of-public-policy-christian-values/; our Baptismal covenant; the teachings of Scripture (Isaiah 18: 10; James 2: 14-17; Matthew 25: 44-45); and the example of Jesus. Episcopal News Service reports that “Episcopalians joined with the ecumenical organization Bread for the World” in earlier advocacy. Eric Mitchel of Bread says, “The Episcopal Church has been one of our biggest partners in pushing Congress . . . to end hunger and poverty.” Your congregation can raise its voice for justice and mercy this May.