EAD 2014 National Gathering
Jesus Weeps – Resisting Violence, Building Peace

EAD 2014 National Gathering in Washington, D.C. focused on the ways various forms of and policies promoting violence can be transformed to policies which enable peace

Friday, March 21 – Monday, March 24, 2014
Washington, D.C.

The 12th annual Ecumenical Advocacy Days saw nearly 1,000 people from as far away as Alaska and Sri Lanka converge on Washington, D.C., focused on efforts to reduce acquisition and use of guns for purposes that cause harm, and to rebalance funding priorities toward preventing violence and enhancing human security. Guided by the image of Jesus weeping over a capital city that turned from the true way of peace (Luke 19:41-42), Christian advocates exposed the violence that pervades our culture and world:

• Nearly 3,000 children in the U.S. killed by guns each year;
• A quarter of U.S. women experiencing domestic abuse at some point in their lives;
• A decade of war, nearly 1,000 civilians killed by drones, and Pentagon spending dominating our federal budget over poverty protections, healthy job creation, economic revitalization and true international human security;
• More than 45 million people worldwide uprooted from their homes by persecution and armed conflict; and
• Deadly conflicts over natural resources erupting around the world.

As people of hope, we are consoled by the promise that “justice and peace shall embrace” (Psalm 85:10), and are reminded that justice requires peace-making and that peace requires justice-making. We confront and imagine how to transform the violence in our world, and together will seek a vision of peace in the community, peace among the peoples, peace in the marketplace, and peace with the earth. Through prayer, worship, speakers, and advocacy training we discovered a faith-based vision for national policies that “guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:79), all culminating with Monday’s Congressional Lobby Day on Capitol Hill.

Read a comprehensive description of EAD’s 2014 National Gathering theme.