by Fred Wicks, member at Holy Spirit
Advocacy at Holy Spirit has grown from a seed three plus years ago. There have been noteworthy events, for example: two candidate forums, lobbying visits to Olympia and Washington, D.C., but the greatest is the integration of Advocacy into our social justice ministry. Advocacy is now one of the basic ways we serve. Advocacy education and the pursuit of involving more members is one of the annual congregational objectives.
We are proud about blazing a trail in advocating congregations. The most significant aspect of the process is that this was not a declaration by a small committee, not just a vote of the Church Council, but we took it before the congregation, where it passed unanimously in an annual meeting. The resulting visibility and ownership of our advocacy mission helps immensely to keep it vibrant.
Next up should be a presentation by our 1st district congressman, Jay Inslee, on the topic of climate change and related climate and energy legislation. Jay is a bona fide expert in these things and has authored a book. He is on the key House committee dealing with U. S. energy policy. He has expressed an interested in speaking at Holy Spirit, where we will also invite the community. We hope to set a date soon.