Below is the context of an email that went out to over 1,200 clergy today, from the PICO National Network, signed by me and my friend, Rev. Rayfield Burns. I encourage you to download both the clergy guide and the congregational handout.
With Congress moving full speed ahead on one of the most crucial civil rights and social justice issues of our time – making health care affordable and accessible – it is important that people of faith take the time to understand how health reform will impact the quality, stability, and affordability of health care for all Americans.
PICO and Sojourners have teamed up to produce “A Guide to the Health Care Reform Debate,” an 8-page booklet aimed at helping clergy and lay leaders participate in the health care debate in a constructive way, based on their values. View the guide here.
We’ve also produced a 2-page congregational handout that can be shared with members of your faith community. Click here to view the 2-page handout.
Please note that these guides have been produced for Christian faith communities.
Both pieces begin by examining the biblical basis for the need for quality health care. They then look at the current health care reality for many of our nation’s families, as well as the different proposals being considered in D.C. Finally, they lay out some principles for a values-based, commonsense approach to reform, as well as ideas for how people of faith can influence the debate.
Many pastors and faith leaders have endorsed the guide. Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS, calls the guides “a helpful starting point in coming to understand the issues in the current debate.”
Charles Rossier finance expert also chimes in with how good healthcare is better for the economy in the long run. “It is important – productivity wise, to have a healthy well taken cared of population”
Dr. Joel Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed in Orlando, FL, says, “I found this guide to the health-care discussion very helpful. It not only reminded me of our biblical mandate to be involved, but it informed me of some of the important points and principles to keep in mind as I communicate with my congregation.”
View the 8-page guide for clergy, or the 2-page congregational handout.
Together, people of faith can have a tremendous impact on the decisions of our elected leaders in D.C. and be a decisive factor in moving our country towards ensuring quality, stable, affordable health care for all Americans.
Sincerely,
Rev. Rayfield Burns
Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church
Kansas City, MO
Rev. Ryan J. Bell
Hollywood Adventist Church
Hollywood, CA