Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Will you help us in the final days of our campaign? Sign the petition today!

One week from today, on the morning of October 10, I will be visiting the leadership offices of the U.S. House and Senate to share with them the UCC’s Pastoral Letter on the Iraq War, along with the thousands of petitions we’ve gathered in support of our statement.

I will be joined by the Rev. Linda Jaramillo, executive minister of the UCC’s Justice and Witness Ministries. Together, we will convey the hopes and prayers of UCC members and supporters that a diplomatic end to the war in Iraq must become both a priority and a reality.

After our meetings on Capitol Hill, we also will attempt to bring our message to President Bush at the White House.

While it may not be possible to reach the 100,000 petition signers that we'd initially hoped for, I do believe that the momentum is behind us to reach more than 50,000 before the week is up. However, we need the help of every single supporter over the next several days. Please sign the petition now and join the 32,112 people – as of today – who have already added their voices to our call for peace.

Help us make this trip one that Washington will never forget. Add your signature and join protest to prayer!

Sincerely,

The Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

 See also John's 10/4 follow-up letter, Our Plans for Wednesday: "We’ve only got
six days left until we deliver the UCC’s '100,000 for Peace' petitions to Washington, D.C.
But there’s just one Sunday remaining, so we’ve got work to do!..." (continued)

 See also John's 10/9 letter, Let me begin with exciting news: "Let me begin with exciting news. Yesterday alone, we added more than 10,000 signatures in support of the UCC’s Pastoral Letter on the Iraq War. That brings the total number to nearly 52,000! I’m told the fax machine in Justice and Witness Ministries ran non-stop all day long...." (continued)