Salt of the Earth: Call to Renewal

Salt shakers
March 2000

Putting people and poverty on the national agenda
"We need to put poor people on the national agenda," says Jim Wallis, the convener of Call to Renewal, a five-year-old coalition of churches and religious organizations that is working to accomplish that formidable goal. In February, the group released a statement outlining its broad goal of making the poor a priority, as well as its specific agenda items, which include education, affordable housing, health care, racial justice, family-friendly policies, safe neighborhoods, and a living family income.

"While the stock market soars, the gap between rich and poor continues to widen," says the statement. "This poverty in the midst of plenty is a moral wrong that we refuse to accept any longer. Prosperity must be shared."

The statement, "A Covenant to Overcome Poverty," was signed by 57 leaders of churches and religious organizations. Among the Catholic endorsers were John Carr of the U.S. Catholic Conference, Sharon Daly of Catholic Charities USA, Ted Keating of the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, Vin DeCola of Jesuit Volunteers International, and Tom Allio of the Cleveland Diocese's Catholic Commission. Other signers include officials of evangelical and mainline Protestant denominations and organizations, as well as ministers of several African-American churches.

"There are a lot of faith-based organizations providing a lot of leadership out there, but we need to work together," says Wallis, who is editor of Sojourners magazine. "As long as we're all doing our own programs but not working together on advocacy, we're going to diminish our voice. We want to magnify the voice of faith-based communities."

The statement was issued Feb. 16 in Washington D.C. on the steps of the Capitol. Since then, Call to Renewal representatives have been meeting with member of Congress "on both sides of the aisle," Wallis says. The group also hopes to reach the presidential candidates. "We're not going to endorse them, but rather push them to endorse our agenda," he says.

Although various member groups may disagree about specific policy positions, they are united in their belief in the need for a shared national effort to attack poverty and in their commitment to the covenant's issues. "For example, take the living family income. We take this as a moral imperative. We must do this," says Wallis. "How we do it is a matter for dialogue."

Already, Call to Renewal has succeeded in bringing together groups as diverse as the Mennonites and the Reformed Mormons. Wallis has special praise for Carr of the USCC and Daly of Catholic Charities for their involvement in the ecumenical project.

"They bring the strength of the Catholic social teaching tradition to the discussion," he says. "And they've had a profound impact. In particular, evangelical Christians are really being impacted by Catholic social teaching."

The coalition will continue to hold summit and roundtable meetings for members of faith-based organizations as part of its 10-year plan. But they hope to see some concrete progress much sooner. "The problem is not a lack of smart people to solve these problems. The problem is political will," says Wallis. "What kind of moral force is driving the conversation? That's the role of Call to Renewal."—Heidi Schlumpf

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