Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Children’s Choir and Friends visit Olympia for Interfaith Advocacy Day

On Thursday, March 17, Earth Ministry's Jessie Dye and Dana Swanson, many Earth Ministry members, and several hundred others gathered in Olympia for Interfaith Advocacy Day. Representing a wide range of faith communities, participants lobbied legislators for a unified social justice agenda.

Present for the day was the Children's Choir from Plymouth Congregational Church, one of Earth Ministry's Greening Congregation partners. Plymouth member Robin Appleford gives more detail of the day in her posting below.


By: Robin Appleford

Eleven children, in addition to parents and friends, journeyed to Olympia for the third year in a row. Our goal has always been to inspire hard-working public servants through song and the lively presence of our intergenerational group. We have no political agenda and were there to inspire and support our elected officials.

We sang to the Interfaith gathering which included people from across the state. Linda Strandberg and the children had everyone in the room singing along to “We Shall Overcome” and “Eyes on the Prize”. The children taught them the “Crossing Bridges” song, along with the hand movements. It was amazing to see the whole room join in song and hand movements!

We were invited to the Senate Rostrum by Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen where we sang to members of legislative leadership and their staffs. We continued our inspirational journey by “caroling” through the Senate Republican and Democratic office buildings where staff and legislators came out to hear the angelic voices of the children. They joined in from time to time because our songs are known to those of many denominations. We brought tears to Sen. Haugen’s eyes for the second year in a row. Her quote:

“You are beacons of Christ’s light and we are grateful for your gifts.”




Check out the short video above, shared by Plymouth's Children, Youth, and Family Blog, to learn more about the choir's adventures in Olympia.

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