Dear <<First Name>>:
 

It may surprise you to learn that the title of this Presbytery Pause, “A National Call for Moral Revival,” is the tagline of the Poor People’s Campaign. The campaign is very clear that having over 140 million people living in poverty or so close to poverty that a $400 emergency would be catastrophic is a moral issue.* That’s almost half of our population. It’s a moral issue that the wealthiest country at this time also has millions and millions of adults and children who are housing insecure, food insecure, wage insecure, and health insecure, among other challenges faced by those caught in the cycles of systemic poverty. It’s a moral issue, and a moral revival to love all of our neighbors as ourselves is underway.

I don’t know about you, but the words Jesus spoke, “I came that you might have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10), resonate with me as one of the foundations for this call for moral revival. I hear a desire for all people across the world to have an opportunity to thrive in life, to live abundantly, not simply to survive, and certainly not to die from lacking what is needed to live.

The Poor People’s Campaign was first called for by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a staff retreat for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in November of 1967. Following that, on December 4, he publicly shared his plan for a mass civil disobedience campaign that he named “The Poor People’s Campaign.” His vision was to gather a group of 2,000 people from all colors and backgrounds to descend on Washington D.C. to demand jobs, unemployment insurance, a fair minimum wage, and guaranteed education for poor adults and children.*

Just a few months later, on April 4, 1968, Dr. King was shot and killed in Memphis. Organizers from the SCLC went ahead with the planned demonstration on Mother’s Day in D.C., and built a tent city named Resurrection City on the National Mall. For over a month, the people gathered there demonstrated and called on the nation’s leaders to listen to and implement their demands. A few gains were made before Resurrection City was dismantled on June 24, but none of the major pieces of the moral vision proposed by Dr. King were realized.*

During the summer of 2018, fifty years after the first Poor People’s Campaign (PPC) gathered in solidarity with poor and impacted people, a new movement for moral revival was launched. With co-chairs Bishop William J. Barber II and the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis leading the way, "poor people and moral witnesses in 40 states committed themselves to a season of direct action to launch the Campaign.”* Among those who made commitments to the vision of moral revival was the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and Presbyterians across the country have been active in organizing, joining demonstrations and mobilizations, and lifting up the call for moral revival.

Our own Presbytery is directly involved in the work of the PPC, with Presbyterians serving in state and local organizing chapters, participating in various activities, and by taking action during our May 25, 2021 Presbytery meeting to “endorse the Poor People’s Campaign as part of our commitment to being a Matthew 25 Presbytery.”

So why am I sharing about this now? Well, in part, this is the topic for my second Doctor of Ministry paper focusing on Justice. The PPC’s vision of justice for poor and impacted people in the United States inspires me and rings true with what I read in the Bible.

More importantly, we have three opportunities to join in actions occurring nearby. On April 4, this coming Monday, at 11 am, a gathering in D.C. will dedicate the space for the summer’s mass assembly. On April 25, a mobilization gathering is being planned for Philadelphia. And on June 18, the Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers' Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls will occur. 

You can find more information about these upcoming activities on the PPC website: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/june18/. We will also be sharing information on possible ways to join buses from Delaware for the June 18 gathering in D.C.

From my condo, I can look one direction across the Brandywine River to downtown Wilmington and the neighborhoods southeast of the city. In the other direction, I look at vacant buildings and apartments that are long past their prime. Either way I look, the impact of poverty, sustained systematically through laws and policies that advantage the wealthy and disadvantage the poor, is evident.

I have joined the Poor People’s Campaign because of my faith in Jesus Christ, my belief that God desires for this world to reflect God’s kindom of abundance, and my hope that the Holy Spirit will indeed stir us towards this vision of justice and moral revival. My invitation is for you to consider how we, as New Castle Presbytery, as congregations across Delaware and the Eastern Shore of Maryland, as followers of Jesus Christ, can be part of making a difference for our neighbors. All of our neighbors, all of whom Jesus commanded us to love.

Yours in Christ,
Cindy
Email Cindy

(* indicate website citations for the information
included in this article; see the box below.)