wfn.org | ELCA Commission Supports 'Million Mom March' on Washington

[News News <NEWS@ELCA.ORG>]

ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 2, 2000

ELCA COMMISSION SUPPORTS 'MILLION MOM MARCH' ON WASHINGTON
00-120-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Commission for Women of the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) has registered its support for the
"Million Mom March" on Washington, D.C., planned for Mother's Day, May
14.  The commission's steering committee passed a resolution which drew
attention to many of the values it shares with the organizers of the
march.
     The nine-month campaign began when Donna Dees-Thomases of New
Jersey watched frightened children in television news coverage of a
day-camp shooting.  She applied for a Washington parade permit
coinciding with Mother's Day "to encourage Congress to pass sensible gun
legislation."  Similar rallies are planned in communities across the
United States.
     "Women have given up on the traditional means of obtaining laws
that will lead to sane gun legislation," said Jean Martensen, associate
director for leadership development and studies, ELCA Commission for
Women.  "They have written their congresspersons.  They have called
their offices.  They have answered the pollsters.   They have joined
organizations that have lobbied for protective measures."
     "Accounts of their dismay and sorrow and anger have filled the
pages of newspapers and journals.  Now women of all ages are gathering
in Washington to demonstrate their strong convictions that violence by
guns in our schools and communities has to stop.  What better day to do
so than on Mother's Day," said Martensen.
     The ELCA resolution noted that Mother's Day was initiated "by
women in search of peace" and that the march "seeks to end gun violence,
especially as it is claiming the lives of children and young people
throughout our nation."
     When the ELCA was formed in 1988, the church supported the
international "Ecumenical Decade of the Churches in Solidarity with
Women" (1988 1998).  The goals of the decade included "to end the
violence against women, to eliminate racism and to advocate for the full
participation of women in the life of the churches," stated the
commission's resolution.
     In 1999, the ELCA supported an appeal from Nobel Peace Prize
Laureates which prompted the United Nations to declare the years 2001 to
2010 "The Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children
of the World," the resolution continued.
     The commission is "committed to making 2000 the 'Year of Education
for Nonviolence' a time to raise awareness and to enable people to begin
to build a global culture of peace by nonviolent means," the steering
committee stated.
-- -- --
     The "Million Mom March" maintains a World Wide Web site at
http://www.millionmommarch.com/

For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html