News Release (JRLC): Minnesota Statehood Day Vigil for the Common Good

Joint Religious Legislative Coalition – Statehood Day Interfaith Vigil: May 11, 2011

ST. PAUL, MINN. (May 10, 2011)—On Statehood Day, Wednesday May 11, hundreds of faith leaders, religious advocates, and faithful citizens from all across Minnesota will converge on the Capitol in St. Paul to observe Minnesota’s Statehood Day with an Interfaith Vigil for the Common Good, hosted by the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition (JRLC). In honoring Statehood Day, Minnesota’s largest faith communities are calling the public and our elected officials to a more just and compassionate public stewardship and budget solution.

Participants will gather at 2:00 pm at the Floyd B. Olson Statue, southwest of the Capitol’s front door, where Minnesota historian, Professor Hy Berman will offer a “teach-in” on Gov. Olson’s successful efforts to raise an income tax in the face of an oppositional legislature. Following the “teach-in,” participants will march to the rotunda for the interfaith vigil beginning at 2:30 pm. Leading the vigil will be:

   –Rev. Cathy Schuyler, Duluth Congregational Church
   –Bishop Peter Rogness, St. Paul Area Synod, ELCA and President, Minnesota Council of Churches
   –Rev. Canon Peg Chemberlin, President, National Council of Churches
   –Tim Marx, CEO of Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis
   –Dr. Fatma Reda, Islamic Center of Minnesota
   –Rabbi Yonatan Sadoff, Adath Jeshurun Congregation will sound the shofar (ram’s horn)!

Responding to the proposed economic hardship and service reductions impacting our most vulnerable neighbors, the faith communities of Minnesota will pray for our elected officials: that they may find a better way of governing with greater compassion; that they might work toward the common good of all Minnesotans; and that they would be called to a more generous and balanced public stewardship of the state budget. We will call for the public to engage more fully in finding our way to fairer and more humane policies.

JRLC is an interfaith coalition representing the Minnesota Catholic Conference, Minnesota Council of Churches, Islamic Center of Minnesota and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas. JRLC has been a faithful voice for social justice and equality at the Minnesota Capitol for 40 years. Representing a diverse constituency of people of faith, our annual legislative agenda reflects the values of social and economic justice, relief for the poor, fair and good governance, and equal opportunity for all.

“Government is instituted for the security, benefit and protection of the people . . .” – Sentence I, Article I of Minnesota’s Constitution

For more information, visit the Joint Religious Legislative Coalition website: http://jrlc.org.