The various faith groups supporting this tour are seeking funds to cover the substantial costs of the tour.

Rev. Albert M. Pennybacker, Coordinator of Building the Beloved Society, writes:

Friends:

Last Friday, Senator Frist stated that he will appear in a telecast put together by the Family Research Council that says Democrats are "against people of faith."

The telecast is a ploy by conservatives to push for Frist's "nuclear" option and remove the traditional Senate filibuster. The telecast flier reads, "The filibuster was once abused to protect racial bias, and it is now being used against people of faith."

In response we have organized Social Justice Sunday. This will be a public gathering of progressive religious and community organizations to speak out against the Family Research Council and its radical Christian Right colleagues to highjack the judicial selection process for their political/theocratic agenda.

We ask two things of you:

1. Please send a local Louisville contact from your membership to Zev Kanter at zevkanter@gmail.com. We need to ensure that the progressive community turns out in opposition to this cynical telecast and a local contact among your members will help.

2. Please forward the Social Justice Sunday Invitation to all of your members in the Louisville and surrounding areas.

Thank you all for your collaboration and your hard work.

Rev. Albert M. Pennybacker, Coordinator
Building the Beloved Society a national coalition for peace and justice in our world and a responsible society in our country.

Here’s the invitation to this important local event:

SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY
April 24, 2005

You are invited to a Public Gathering of

Progressive Religious Communities and Progressive Community Groups:

2:30 PM Sunday Afternoon, April 24
Central Presbyterian Church
318 W. Kentucky St. (the corner of Kentucky St. and 4th St.)
Louisville, Kentucky
Phone: (502) 587-6935
 

Progressive Religious Communities, our leaders and our community friends are gathering to witness:

OUR OUTRAGE over the attempt by the Family Research Council and its radical Christian Right colleagues to highjack the judicial selection process for their political/theocratic agenda

OUR DISMAY Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bill Frist, is lending his name and influence to the Family Research Council's claim of universal support from "people of faith" for its strategy, thereby giving false religious credentials to a thinly veiled political agenda

OUR POSITIVE COMMITMENT to defend and strengthen our social context in its commitment to fairness for all people, free of biased religious doctrines and prejudiced attitudes which are inimical to a mature religious understanding of the standards of inclusiveness and justice in American life

AMONG THE SPEAKERS:
• Rev. Dr. Nancy Jo Kemper, Executive Director, Kentucky Council of Churches
• Rev. Dr. Robert Franklin, Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, former President, Interdenominational Theological Center, ordained minister, Church of God in Christ
• Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell. Director, Department of Religion, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, New York
• Emily Whitehurst, Director of the 100 year old ecumenical council in Austin, Texas
• Rev. Dr. Albert M. Pennybacker, Chair and Executive Officer, Clergy and Laity Network (CLN), former NCCC Associate General Secretary for Public Policy, former Professor, Lexington (KY) Theological Seminary

Please share this invitation with progressive people.

(Note: Casual dress and bring blankets or folding chairs)

For more information please visit Clergy and Laity Network (www.clnnlc.org), DriveDemocracy (www.drivedemocracy.org) or Building the Beloved Community (www.buildingbeloved.org).