Youth Advocacy Retreat with LOPPW

The Lutheran Office for Public Policy in Wisconsin (LOPPW) exists to engage people of faith in the ministry of advocacy for policies that support peace, justice and care for all of God's creation. They do this work in faithful response to God’s love. The other gift that LOPPW provides is the means and the space to network the larger church in Wisconsin to do some of this shared work of advocacy together.

This past weekend, April 14, 16, all six synods in Wisconsin and LOPPW partnered to offer a Youth Advocacy Retreat. Young people from our synods gathered together in Madison with Bishop Anne, Pastor Jenn, and other leaders to begin at the beginning: seeking to understand the basics of advocacy and why we, as Lutheran Christians, are called to faith based advocacy, in particular.

Our synod representation included a group of young people and adults from Faith Lutheran Church in Rosholt. Together we engaged in workshops, listened to talks, and worshipped. The weekend ended with a visit to the Capitol and conversation around why we’re called to take action.

When the youth were asked which social issues meant the most to them, they replied quite clearly: mental health advocacy, addressing gun violence, women’s reproductive health, and anti-racism work topped the list. To quote bishop Anne, who reflected on our motivation to do this work, she recalled words of wisdom once heard from a legislator she had met with when advocating with Bread for the World on hunger support: “We do this work because it’s the right thing to do.”

Christ compels us to advocacy - and - we do this work because it is the right thing to do. Check out the work of LOPPW and how you can be engaged in more active activism.