In response to calls in the U.S. Congress for healthcare reform, Mennonite Church USA Executive Leadership staff took several steps in late July to follow up on the National Healthcare Policy: Next Step resolution passed by the Delegate Assembly, July 4.
A bulletin insert was sent to Mennonite Church USA congregations by peace advocate Susan Mark Landis asking members to contact their congressional representatives.
Landis said the churchwide resolution supports legislation that will extend access to healthcare to all Americans, particularly the poor and disadvantaged. The bulletin insert was accompanied by two congregational prayers that can be used by congregations who want to focus on the healthcare resolution.
Outgoing executive director Jim Schrag and his staff faxed letters to 20 senators and 100 representatives in states or districts with heavy concentrations of Mennonite Church USA members.
The letter included the healthcare resolution and cited the history of Mennonites involved in healthcare reform. It said that the basis for concern for healthcare access is rooted in scripture, the Mennonite Church USA Confession of Faith in a Mennonite Perspective and the denominational vision for healing and hope.
Dr. Timothy Stoltzfus Jost, Robert L. Willett Family Professor of Law and Ethan Allen Faculty Fellow at the Washington and Lee University, and a member of Community Mennonite Church in Harrisonburg, Va., was the primary architect of the Delegate Assembly resolution.
The resolution builds on healthcare policy principles adopted by Mennonite Church USA delegates in 2005 and 2007.
Additional resources are available on the Mennonite Church USA Web site for congregational study and advocacy work on healthcare access issues.
The opinions expressed in articles posted on Mosaic’s website are those of the author and may not reflect the official policy of Mosaic Conference. Mosaic is a large conference, crossing ethnicities, geographies, generations, theologies, and politics. Each person can only speak for themselves; no one can represent “the conference.” May God give us the grace to hear what the Spirit is speaking to us through people with whom we disagree and the humility and courage to love one another even when those disagreements can’t be bridged.