Ecumenical Advocacy Days 2017 – “Confronting Chaos, Forging Community – Challenging Racism, Materialism and Militarism” – culminated with Lobby Day on Monday, April 24. This year EAD participants called on their members of Congress to “to make budget decisions that advance the common good.” As part of a public witness calling for a moral budget that curbs exorbitant Pentagon spending, and urged funding for programs that help provide support to vulnerable persons and groups in America and abroad, a press conference with clergy and other religious leaders was held on Capitol Hill, followed by a public witness in the Senate Hart Office Building atrium, in which 7 leaders, including EAD Director Rev. Douglas Grace, was arrested while engaging in group public prayer. Grace and the others were later processed by U.S. Capitol Police and released.
