July 10, 2008
By Mary Frances Schjonberg

When Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and more than 600 Anglican bishops, their spouses and other faith leaders from around the United Kingdom march through central London July 24, Episcopalians back home can "march" with them.

The Lambeth Conference's Walk of Witness is intended as a high-profile symbol of commitment to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – eight promises made by world leaders to halve global poverty by 2015.

The bishops will walk through the heart of London, including Parliament Square and will also commit to putting more pressure on their respective governments to ensure that funding promises are met, and the right policies put in place, to make a difference to local communities across the world. The event will culminate in a rally in the grounds of Lambeth Palace, the London home and office of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN), the Office of Government Relations (OGR), and Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation (EGR) are sponsoring a "Virtual March for the MDGs" to coincide with the Walk of Witness. Instead of walking through the streets of London, participants can send emails to the inboxes of U.S. Senators and Representatives Washington, D.C. "asking our leaders to share our commitment to the MDGs and making poverty history," according to a news release.

Alexander Baumgarten, OGR's international policy analyst, told ENS that the virtual march is "an opportunity for Episcopalians in the pews to stand in solidarity with their bishops by taking a collective advocacy action in support of the U.S. government's own commitment to achievement of the MDGs."

The Rev. Michael Kinman, EGR's executive director, said the march is, in part, an opportunity "to encourage people to use the power of their voice to convince our leaders that we really do care about more than just our own wallets but about those around the world who don't even have wallets much less anything to put in them."

Kinman added that "people have a lot of different emotions and anxieties" about the Lambeth Conference, yet most feel that they will only watch the event unfold from a distance.

"The Virtual March lets people and congregations actively participate in one of the most exciting and unifying parts of the whole conference," he said. "It's a way of showing that those bishops who are marching really represent us back home…that ‘What happens at Lambeth doesn't stay at Lambeth.'"

How to participate

People who want to participate should go to http://episcopal.grassroots.com/virtualmarch/join/, to join the virtual march.

After registering there, participants will get an email on July 24 with a link to an MDG-related advocacy action. The whole process should take no more than 3 minutes each time. EPPN will choose the most effective action closer to the time of the march, based on the status of various pieces of anti-poverty legislation before the U.S. Congress.

"We expect the ask will not only support the bishops' march in London on July 24, but will also reveal a connection to the 1998 Lambeth Conference, where bishops spoke in unity around the need for economic justice, debt relief, and development aid for poor countries around the world," Baumgarten said. "The Episcopal Church's current engagement in the MDGs has many of its roots in the 1998 Lambeth Conference – and Episcopalians have worked hard in the past decade in support of U.S. policies that respond to the resolutions of the 1998 conference – so we are pleased that the virtual march will present an opportunity to bring things full circle."

Congregations may also participate in a "March of Prayer" by praying during their worship services July 20 and/or July 27. Bishop Jeffery Rowthorn, EGR board chaplain, has written special Prayers of the People for either or both Sundays. The prayers are available in a Microsoft Word document at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/344/Walk_of_Witness_prayers.doc or a PDF at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/345/Walk_of_Witness_prayers.pdf.

EGR is also offering bulletin inserts for use July 20 or 27. The July 20 insert is available in a Microsoft Word document at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/349/VMarchInsertJuly20.doc or a PDF at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/348/VMinsertJuly20.pdf.

The July 27 insert is available in a Microsoft Word document at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/349/VMarchInsertJuly20.doc or a PDF at http://s3.amazonaws.com/dfc_attachments/public/documents/350/VMinsertJuly27.pdf.

EPPN-EGR march partnership

Kinman said the idea for the virtual march came from Eleanor Braun, an EGR diocesan contact from Virginia. Turning to EPPN for help in organizing the march was "a natural," Kinman added.

"We can do the grassroots organizing and promoting piece and provide liturgical resources and the like, but in terms of the actual ‘advocacy ask,' there's no one better equipped to decide what's going to be most effective than the people at the Office of Government Relations," Kinman said.

He added that he hopes people who register for the march will also sign up to be a part of the Episcopal Public Policy Network "so that even though this advocacy action might be their first, it won't be their last."

Baumgarten called EGR "an important network within the Episcopal Church that has inspired thousands of people to become active in advocacy and other collective actions that support the MDGs." He added that the OGR staff is "delighted to work with EGR to inspire advocacy from as many Episcopalians as possible in order to demonstrate that the bishops walking on the streets of London on July 24 are doing so with the backing and solidarity of millions of Episcopalians in the U.S. and Anglicans around the world."

Episcopal News Service
The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is Episcopal Life Media correspondent for Episcopal Church governance, structure, and trends, as well as news of the dioceses of Province II. She is based in Neptune, New Jersey, and New York City.