Our thoughts and prayers inform our actions.  An online training event hosted jointly by the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Advocacy Tools for Loving Your Neighbor”,  was held July 9. Both Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton, plus advocacy leaders from both denominations, participated in the webinar that explored the nature of faith-based advocacy, the issues to which we can speak, and the ways we can make our voices heard.

More than 4,000 people participated in the webinar. A recording of the webinar may be accessed here. Listed below are the panelists who participated and their information in order of appearance:

• John Johnson, Program Director, Domestic Policy, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop & Primate, The Episcopal Church
• The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Alan Yarborough, Church Relations Officer, Office of Government Relations, The Episcopal Church
• Rushad Thomas, Policy Advisor, Office of Government Relations, The Episcopal Church
• Patricia Kisare, Legislative Representative for International Issues, Office of Government Relations,The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• Regina Q. Banks, Director, Lutheran Office of Public Policy, California
• Rebecca Linder Blachly, Director, Office of Government Relations, The Episcopal Church
• The Rev. Amy E. Reumann, Director, Advocacy, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

Below are some ways to continue our engagement starting with resources specific to the Lutherans and following that resources specific to the Episcopalians.

LUTHERANS

• If you’re not already part of the ELCA Advocacy network, sign up from to receive updates including Advocacy Connections, our monthly e-news, and Action Alerts at impactful moments.
• Current Action Alerts are also available in the Action Center.
• Join the conversation through social media @ELCAadvocacy and #ELCAadvocacy.
• Plus find great information and tools from our blog and resource page.

To start the conversation with others, consider using the video viewed during the webinar, one of two introductory videos on the ELCA Advocacy resource page. A short caring for creation video can also prompt advocacy action.
• “Advocacy Tools for Loving Your Neighbor” webinar video.
• “ELCA Advocacy: Tips for Your Engagement”.
• “ELCA Advocacy: Set Free to Do Justice” .
• “Caring for Creation Today”.

Other ways to get rolling on advocacy action today include:
• Advance the right to vote for all citizens in the upcoming election with the ELCAvotes initiative. Great tip sheets on registration and Get Out The Vote drives plus more are available in the ELCA Civic Engagement Guide.
• Consider advocacy in service to our neighbor on “God’s work. Our hands.” Sunday coming up on Sept. 13. Ideas for advocacy are available in the day of service toolkit.
• Connect with your synod office or state public policy office, LAMPa, listed on the ELCA Advocacy resource page, near you.

EPISCOPALIANS

• If you’re not already a member of the Episcopal Public Policy Network, sign up here.
• Our action alerts can be found online at this link.
• Join the conversation on social media @TheEPPN and #EpiscopalAdvocacy.
• Find educational resources on the issues we advocate on at our website.

• Build your capacity to engage in richer dialogue with one another on public policy issues by taking our “Make Me an Instrument of Peace” civil discourse class online, through ChurchNext.
• Help us help the Census Bureau get an accurate count for the 2020 Census using the ideas in our 2020 Census Engagement Toolkit, and help get souls to the polls in the election this November by using our Vote Faithfully election engagement toolkit. All of this and more can be found in our civic engagement resources.
• Explore more resources for responding to racist violence and carrying the work of racial justice forward.