Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of The Episcopal Church is a member of the Circle of Protection Steering Committee and meet to discuss family support bill and voting rights legislation.
Representatives of the Circle of Protection, which is comprised of church organizations with nearly 100 million members in America and abroad, met with White House officials last week to urge passage of the family support bill and voting rights legislation.
The bills “would strengthen the physical and social infrastructure of our society, cut family and child poverty more than any time in our lives, and ensure the precious right to vote for all people made in God’s image,” the group wrote in a letter presented to President Biden and members of Congress on Sept. 22.
“The Bible is clear in its opposition to the concentration of wealth amid neglected human need.”
“The Bible is clear in its opposition to the concentration of wealth amid neglected human need.”
Leaders of several African American and Latino church organizations, including the National African American Clergy Network, the National Association of Latino Evangelicals and the African Methodist Episcopal Church were among the delegation that met with White House officials.
Representing the Biden administration were Office of Public Engagement Director Cedric Richmond, White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Director Melissa Rogers and Deputy Director of the Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Josh Dickson, who served as the head of faith engagement for the 2020 Biden campaign.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of The Episcopal Church, the first Black person to serve in the position, told reporters outside the White House after the meeting, “There’s a moral high ground that these bills have an opportunity to meet.”
“That moral high ground is to make sure that the people most in need are cared for, and the symbol of our deepest need is our children. … That’s we stand for regardless of our religion, and that’s what this country stands for at our very best.”
Bishop Adam J. Richardson, senior bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, was among the leaders who signed the letter.
“At this moment of historic decision, we are urging the people in our churches and organizations to pay attention to what the President and Congress are doing and be active in advocacy that reflects biblical priorities,” said the letter.
“Indeed, the churches and organizations in the Circle of Protection are all communicating with their grassroots members, often sending out action alerts about poverty-focused programs such as the Child Tax Credit.
“Congressional improvements in the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit this spring played a big part in reducing the percentage of Americans in poverty this summer to below its pre-pandemic level. Notably, these credits were extended to very poor families and individuals. But this year’s reduction of poverty will be short-lived unless the tax-credit improvements are extended in the family support budget bill.”
The Circle’s letter specifically urges that the provisions that are benefiting very poor Americans be made permanent and fully refundable.”
The Circle of Protection have members have worked together for a decade, challenging repeated government shutdowns and “massive political pressure to cut safety-net programs.”
The group has fought “balancing the federal budget on the backs of people in poverty and strongly believes that budgets are moral documents,” according to a Circle of Protection press release.
It now “has come together in support of an unprecedented national effort to finally reduce poverty and make it possible for struggling families to get ahead.”