Today is the day
Start living like you have
nothing to lose
DESIGN PICS By Kelly Fryer
really matters? Paul Sherry, former president of the United Church of Christ and cur- rent director of the Interfaith Worker Justice D.C. Policy Office, had one of those days last fall. He started off at a morning prayer
Y
vigil in Washington, D.C., with a bunch of supporters and the 10 other religious leaders arrested for pray- ing in the Capitol’s rotunda during the debt-ceiling crisis last summer.
Fryer is co-founder and president of A Renewal Enterprise, and author of several books includ- ing Reclaiming the E Word (Augsburg Fortress, 2008) and The Future Starts Now (ARE Books, 2009).
ou know those days where you go nonstop and feel, at the end of it, like you did something that
At the same time, supporters all over the country joined in an online prayer vigil for the “Interfaith 11.” After the vigil, Sherry and his 10 friends went to have their day in court. They explained they had been in the rotunda that summer day to call on members of both parties to work together for the sake of our nation. They weren’t being partisan or radi- cal in any way. They were just stand- ing together, joined in prayer for our nation’s leaders, asking God to help us come together to support people in poverty who are the “least of these.” When the 11 refused to leave, they were arrested.
The U.S. attorney dismissed the
charges as long as they promised to stay out of the rotunda for the next six months. Done.
14 The Lutheran •
www.thelutheran.org
So what did Sherry do then? He headed back to Capitol Hill (not the rotunda!) to join a rally with other religious leaders and unemployed workers, asking that Congress put America back to work.
Sherry prayed and spoke at the
rally, which generated a lot of media attention. He did interviews with The Washington Times, ABC News and others. The “Twittersphere” was hopping with what Sherry and other faith leaders, unemployed workers and worker advocates had to say about the need for good jobs in this country—jobs that pay a living wage and provide benefits that can support a family.
That day Sherry reminded report- ers that for every four people looking for a job in the U.S. right now, there is one job available. He called on
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