November 30, 2010

The UCC's general minister and president, along with 18 other heads of Christian denominations affiliated with the National Council of the Churches, has called upon the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Senate-approved child nutrition bill.

The Rev. Geoffrey A. Black was among those signing the letter sent to House Democratic and Republican leaders and all members of the House.

"As leaders of faith communities, we see firsthand the suffering that food insecurity causes, particularly for families and children," says the letter. "Our children cannot wait any longer for improvements in nutrition programs.

The letter emphasizes that passage of the Child Nutrition Reauthorization is essential to combating the poverty that is affecting larger numbers of children in the United States. "One in five children in the United States now lives in poverty in our nation, the wealthiest nation in the world. Our faith compels us to speak out and to act on behalf of ‘the least of these' (Matthew 25: 40)."

The leaders expressed disappointment in the Senate bill, S. 3307, because it had been "weakened by compromise." Even so, they said, "it is the best remaining hope for some relief for hungry children who face dim prospects for lives of abundance if their early years are compromised by childhood hunger."

House members were also implored not to make additional cuts in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), once known as Food Stamps.

"Healthful child nutrition and food for families and individuals living in poverty are equal responsibilities in a society where resources are abundant and the common good is our aim," says the letter. "They are not competing objectives; rather they are worthy and complementary expressions of a national commitment to care for our neighbors."

"We urge you to find ways to restore cuts to the SNAP program as earnestly as our religious convictions move us to press for your action to pass this bill for the benefit of our children."

To read the full text of the letter, click here: http://www.ncccusa.org/pdfs/childnutritionletter.pdf.

Since its founding in 1950, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA has been the leading force for ecumenical cooperation among Christians in the United States. The NCC's 37 member faith groups – from a wide spectrum of Protestant, Anglican, Orthodox, Evangelical, historic African American and Living Peace churches – include 45 million persons in more than 100,000 local congregations in communities across the nation.

United Church of Christ News Service