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Note #8679 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05157
March 22, 2005

Faith leaders to call for 'Hunger No More'

Capital gathering in June will include PC(USA)'s Kirkpatrick

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - An interfaith convocation on hunger organized by Bread for the
World (BFW), a Christian anti-hunger group, will bring together a host of
prominent U.S. religious leaders, including the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick,
stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

	The gathering, "Hunger No More: An Interfaith Convocation," is
scheduled for June 6 at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. 

	The event, part of a larger conference in the capital, will address
hunger in the United States and around the world. Participants will urge
President Bush and members of Congress to join Christians, Jews, Muslims and
people of other faiths in a new national commitment to ending hunger. 

	"As Christians, and as all people of faith, we are called to care for
hungry people," Kirkpatrick said. "This issue is one on which we can all
agree. So, we are using our collective voice at this historic event to call
our government to stand for 'the least among us.' I am proud to represent the
PC(USA) at this event."

	Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, South Africa, will
preach a sermon on hunger, public policy and religious duty.
 
	People of faith concerned about hunger will "raise their voices in
song and seek guidance from the sacred texts of many faiths" during the
meeting, to be held on the Eve of National Hunger Awareness Day, BFW
officials said in a news release.

	The convocation will be one of scores of such observances around the
country.

	"As Christians worldwide observe the season of Easter, religious
leaders from many different faiths are planning a historic gathering to
celebrate the triumph of life over death," said the Rev. David Beckmann, the
BFW president. "When all of these leaders come together and commit to help
end hunger in our nation and our world, they will be creating the potential
for life to flourish in places where before there has only been despair."

	The event is part of a conference called One Table, Many Voices: A
Mobilization to End Poverty and Hunger. Call to Renewal and America's Second
Harvest are co-hosts with BFW of the June 4-7 conference at American
University in Washington, which will include a "lobby day" on Capitol Hill. 

	Bread for the World is a 54,000-member, non-partisan Christian
organization founded in 1974. Its members lobby for public-policy changes
addressing the root causes of hunger and poverty. The 47,000-member
non-partisan organization is backed by 2,300 churches and more than 45
denominations and church agencies, including the PC(USA) and the Presbyterian
Hunger Program (PHP).

	For more conference information, visit www.onetableconference.org.

	Other leaders expected to attend:

	Dr. Thomas Armiger, general superintendent, The Wesleyan Church; W.
Todd Bassett, national commissioner, The Salvation Army; Bishop Phillip
Cousin, African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rev. Randy Day, general
secretary, Board of Global Ministries, United Methodist Church; Rev. Daniel
de Leon, president, Allianza de Ministerios Evangelicos Nacionales (AMEN);
Bhante M.Dhammasiri, president, Buddhist Vihara, Washington DC; Dr. Robert W.
Edgar, general secretary, National Council of Churches of Christ; Rabbi
Jerome M. Epstein, executive vice president, United Synagogue of Conservative
Judaism.

	Joseph Flanagan, national vice president, Society of St. Vincent De
Paul; Dr. Wes Granberg-Michaelson, general secretary, Reformed Church in
America; Dr. John Graz, secretary, General Conference of the Seventh Day
Adventist Church; Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson, Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America; Imam Yahya Hendi, Muslim chaplain at Georgetown University; Dr.
Chris Hobgood, president, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); Cardinal
Theodore E. McCarrick, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington, DC; Rev.
John McCullough, president and CEO, Church World Service; Maryellen McNish,
general secretary, American Friends Service Committee; Rev. John Thomas,
general minister and president, United Church of Christ; Rev. Stephen
Thurston, president, National Baptist Convention of America; Rabbi Eric
Yoffie, president, Union for Reform Judaism.

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