Dear Jack
Thank you. Being together with all of you at Annual Meeting, worshiping, urging Congress to act, and planning our work for the next year is exactly what I needed after this divisive election.
Many of you came to Washington with questions about how to respond to the stark political divide in our country. Together, we reaffirmed that our practice of acting from our faith, listening deeply and standing with those who feel most vulnerable must be central to this work. And we committed to working on those questions together.
As you head home, I hope you’ll consider sharing this experience (and even this email!) with others in your meeting, church, or community. Please encourage others to join us as we lobby together next month to insist that Congress come together and pass criminal justice reform. And please remember to report back on you lobby visit this weekend if you haven’t already!
You can see more photos, re-listen to the key speeches, and find important documents on our new website. I also want to share a few of the highlights from our gathering.
Diane Randall asked, “How do we respond to the political offenses that tear at the dignity of human beings?” This question helped center our worship and our work.
Legislative Director for Domestic Policy Amelia Kegan brought down the house with her stirring and impassioned call for all of us to move from Annual Meeting to year-round lobbying.
A great deal of our conversation this weekend focused on institutional racism, which was also a named focus of the legislative priorities we approved this weekend.
I hope you travel safely home from this exceptional weekend, and we hope to see you at next year's Annual Meeting, if not before.
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Sincerely, Jim Cason Associate Executive Secretary |
P.S. I hope you’ll also fill out this evaluation of FCNL 2016 Annual Meeting and Lobby Day so we can make it even better next year
