wfn.org | Church of the Brethren resolution supports Millennium Development =20

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Goals
Date: Oct. 27,	2005
Contact: Cheryl  Brumbaugh-Cayford
V: 847/742-5100 F: 847/742-6103
E-MAIL: _CoBNews@AOL.Com_ (mailto:CoBNews@AOL.Com)

CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN RESOLUTION SUPPORTS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT  GOALS

Oct. 27, 2005 (Elgin, IL) -- A resolution supporting the Millennium
Development Goals was approved and recommended to the Church of the Brethren  Annual
Conference by the Church of the Brethren General Board in meetings in  Elgin,
Ill., on Oct. 15-17.

"To all who are concerned with making known to a suffering world the
teachings and compassion of Jesus Christ, now is a critical time for addressing  the
crisis of extreme poverty and widespread hunger," said the opening
sentence 
of the resolution. It was presented by Howard Royer, manager of the Church of
the Brethren's Global Food Crisis Fund, and Phil Jones, director of the
Brethren  Witness/Washington Office.

The resolution recommits the board to "follow the teachings of Jesus that
prompt our loving response to the poor and hungry. We recommend that
congregations, agencies, and members revisit the 2000 Annual Conference  Statement on
Caring for the Poor, using this and other study materials to  prayerfully engage
the questions of hunger and poverty. We call on all levels  and structures of
the denomination to identify with and pursue the Millennium  Development
Goals.â

In a grim focus on what is at stake, an advertisement for
_www.makepovertyhistory.org_ (http://www.makepovertyhistory.org)  was  shown by presenters of the
resolution, featuring well-known actors snapping  their fingers--a snap once
every three seconds for the children who die every  three seconds from hunger
and poverty-related causes around the world. "And all  preventable," stated
actor Liam Neeson.

The Millennium Development Goals "seek to make a change in this  generation,"
said Royer. Goal 1, for example, is to "eradicate extreme poverty  and
hunger." Target 1 under that goal is to "halve, between 1999 and 2015, the
proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day." Royer emphasized Goal  3,
"Promote gender equality and empower women." He repeated UN general secretary
Kofi Annan's assertion that study after study has shown the best way to improve
 life and health is to educate girls. The US signed and committed to achieve
the  goals along with 188 other countries at the UN Millennium Summit in
September  2000.

Other goals aim to increase primary education, reduce child mortality,
improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS and other diseases, ensure  environmental
sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development.

For the full text of the resolution contact the Brethren
Witness/Washington 
Office at 337 North Carolina Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20003; 800-785-3246;
_washington_office_gb@brethren.org_ (mailto:washington_office_gb@brethren.org)

The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to
continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith  in
community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith
traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrates its  300th
anniversary in 2008. It counts about 130,000 members across the United
States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Brazil,
the 
Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Nigeria.

# # #

For more information contact:

Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford
Director of News Services
Church of the  Brethren General Board
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
847-742-5100  ext. 260
_cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org_
(mailto:cbrumbaugh-cayford_gb@brethren.org)

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 director of news services for the Church of the Brethren General Board.
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