Dear EAD Community,

As I have transitioned into my new role as Director of Ecumenical Advocacy Days, I have been struck anew by the richness that the ecumenical community brings to advocacy work. You have been an ever-present voice for social change and lifting up the voices of those people our society chooses to silence.

You have been active locally, partnering with affected communities, running for office, and advocating in city and county councils. You are working for justice in your state houses and assemblies. You are staunch advocates for justice and reform at the federal level, even as civility and decency have been slipping out of our national conversation.

You have had successes and disappointments. You have celebrated wins in community and felt alone as you struggled with losses. But #EAD2020 gives us all a community with which to share both the joy and grief. In my 15 years of attending EAD, first as denominational staff, then as a participant, and now as the Director, I have always found it to be a community where I find like-minded colleagues, partners, and friends whose support and partnership I value. I trust you will find the same.

In 2020, we will address the overwhelming and consuming issue of climate injustice. Your presence is needed! Participants in #EAD2020 will arrive in the nation’s capital during the 50th Anniversary of Earth Week, as youth are leading climate strikes, and as our national conversation has been overtaken by cynicism, skepticism, and worse. Now is an important moment to re-engage in the work, connect with colleagues, and share fellowship with fellow justice advocates, all while we work together to unpack the systemic contributors to climate injustice — economic injustice, colonialism, and racism.

I warmly invite you to #EAD2020, April 24-27, 2020. I invite you to continue with or to join a movement demanding action for climate justice. I invite you to build relationships and networks. I invite you to inform yourself about issues and to acquire new skills. I invite you to share in ecumenical worship where we can both confess our own role and complicity in climate injustice, as well as renew our spirits for the difficult road ahead. You are warmly invited.

I recently wrote a short piece for my own church’s monthly newsletter (Download: Word | PDF), inviting members of my congregation to attend EAD. I hope you will use it, modify it, and publish it in your own church, community, and activism circles. Join me in inviting others to be part of this movement.

Sincerely,
Leslie Woods
Director, Ecumenical Advocacy Days