Gathering 2009

10:00 am

Pre-Gathering Special Event
For those who arrive in town early, join Evensong Rising as they help lead a Bread for the World Offering of Letters during Sunday morning worship at St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church in Bethesda.

Saint Mark Presbyterian Church
10701 Old Georgetown Road
Rockville, Maryland 20852

1:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Bread for the World denominational and church partners displays

Ward 105

12:00 pm – 4:00 pm

Registration Opens

Ward Building Lobby

Housing Check-ins

Welcome Center, Centennial Hall

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm

Bread 101 — Room: Ward 2
Is Bread for the World new to you – or do you have questions about who we are and what we do? This session is for you! We’ll share what motivates us, how we go about changing national policies to benefit hungry and poor people, and how you, like thousands of Bread members, can be a catalyst in your church or community and engage your members of Congress in addressing the root causes of hunger.

Join us to hear all about the most effective anti-hunger movement around!

Facilitated by Bread for the World Organizers Tammy Walhof and Flavia De Souza

2:45 pm – 3:45 pm

Bread 101 (Repeat) — Room: Ward 2
Is Bread for the World new to you – or do you have questions about who we are and what we do? This session is for you! We’ll share what motivates us, how we go about changing national policies to benefit hungry and poor people, and how you, like thousands of Bread members, can be a catalyst in your church or community and engage your members of Congress in addressing the root causes of hunger.

Join us to hear all about the most effective anti-hunger movement around!

Facilitated by Bread for the World Organizers Tammy Walhof and Flavia De Souza

4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Welcome to Rejoice. Hope. Act.

Ward Auditorium 1

This opening session will explore the three imperatives that define our gathering: to rejoice in all that God has done in and through Bread for the World in our 35-year history; to place our hope in God’s power to deliver us from current crises; and to act boldly in calling our nation’s decision-makers to reform U.S. foreign assistance as a step towards ending hunger.

Participants:
- St. Camillus Multicultural Choir

- Rejoice: Carlos Navarro, Bread for the World activist
- Hope: Derick Dailey, Hunger Justice Leader
- Act: Rebecca Vander Meulen, Anglican Diocese of Niassa, Mozambique

- David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World
- Art Simon, founder and president emeritus, Bread for the World
- Michael Gerson, columnist for the Washington Post and Bread for the World board member
- Dr. Elnora Hamb, president, Women’s Missionary Council, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Dinner

Terrace Dining Hall, Mary Graydon Center

7:15 pm – 8:15 pm

Plenary Session 1:
Don’t Let a Crisis Go to Waste

Ward Auditorium 1

The current economic and food crises are contributing to increases in hunger and poverty in the United States and around the world. But they also provide opportunities to make progress on Bread for the World’s issues agenda of more effective development assistance and ending child hunger. This session will examine both the challenges and the prospects.

Speaker:
- Lisa Sharon Harper, Co-founder and executive director of NY Faith & Justice

8:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Regional Gatherings:
Join people from the different states in your region to meet each other; get to know your Bread organizers; share your own story about how and why you got involved in hunger work or advocacy; hear interesting ideas and stories from others about engaging churches, campuses and communities; and feel like you’re connected with a group of motivated, caring people like yourself.

9:30 pm – 11:00 pm

Coffee House

The Tavern, Mary Graydon Center

Come and connect with others in a relaxed environment, enjoy refreshments, and listen to the acoustic songs of Rev. Bryan Field McFarland.

8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Bread for the World denominational and church partners displays

Ward 105

7:00 am – 8:00 am

Breakfast

Terrace Dining Hall, Mary Graydon Cafeteria

8:15 am – 9:15 am

Morning Worship

Ward Auditorium 1

We begin the day with worship and praise.

Participants:
- Evensong Rising
- Jewells McMahon, Bread for the World intern
- Rev. Jim McDonald, Bread for the World
- Dr. Samuel Rodriguez, National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
- Sister Margaret Mary Kimmins, Diane Ford Jones, Matt Newell-Ching, Bread for the World

9:15 am – 10:15 am

Plenary Session 2:
Global Development Assistance: What Can We Accomplish When We Get It Right?

Ward Auditorium 1

This session will look at how development assistance can be effective in reducing hunger and poverty when properly focused and well-implemented. We will examine the issue from the perspective of a nongovernmental organization engaged in development and relief work around the world, and from someone working directly in development at the community level in Nicaragua.

Speakers:
- H.E. Cyrille S. Oguin, Ambassador of Benin
- Cheryl Morden, International Fund for Agricultural Development
- Dr. Francisco Gutierrez, Acción Médica Cristiana, Nicaragua
- Pastor Ed Spuler (translator), Heritage Community Church

10:30 am – 12:00 pm

Workshops:
Workshops have a room capacity of 30-60 people. If the workshop room door is closed, please choose another.

Green Jobs in Poor Communities — Room: Ward 3
Poor communities in the United States are chronically underserved. There’s a lack of jobs that pay living wages. Vital services like education, health care, and public transportation are deteriorating. Even more simply, it can be hard to find and buy healthy foods. Responding to the problem of climate change presents an opportunity to stop putting poor communities last. This workshop will discuss how it is practical and feasible to address poverty and climate change together.

Speakers:
- Connell Wise, National Association of Youth-Owned Businesses
- Randy Wilson, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth
- Elijah Collett, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth

Moderator:
- Todd Post, Bread for the World Institute


Getting Nutrition on the Development Agenda — Room: Ward 4
There is strong evidence that malnutrition has a major impact on both economic development and human development. We understand what to do to improve the health of mothers and their young children. But resources and attention to malnutrition remain scarce. In this workshop, a panel of leading experts will offer an overview of the causes of child and maternal malnutrition, share strategies that have worked in developing countries, and discuss how the United States can improve its support for global nutrition.

Speakers:
- Marie Ruel, International Food Policy Research Institute
- Tom Shaetzel, Infant and Young Child Nutrition Project
- Marcia Griffiths, The Manoff Group

Moderator:
- Eric Muñoz, Bread for the World


Reaching the Tipping Point: Organizing Strategies that Make a Difference — Room: Ward 5
Why do we remember some people and what they say better than others? What makes a message “sticky”? How does an idea spread like wildfire, and how can we start advocacy wildfires for Bread? This interactive workshop equips you with tools and techniques for building the grassroots in your church, campus, or community, and offers ideas for making hunger advocacy stand out amidst social justice causes. Workshop leaders will show how using humor, appealing to people’s senses, and being just plain sneaky can help deliver our messages more powerfully. We’ll also explore ways to reach more people, craft materials that are more effective, and ultimately reach the tipping point where hunger advocacy takes off in your community. How can we use technology like Facebook, PowerPoint, blogging, and social networking in ways that propel hunger advocacy to new successes? Let’s make our grassroots efforts count!

Speakers:
- David Gist, Bread for the World
- Matt Newell-Ching, Bread for the World


Telling Our Stories — Room: Ward 106
How do we turn good intentions into action? How do we engage both the head and the heart? Stories do both of these things. We—as individuals, communities, and nations—use stories to construct our identities, help formulate our choices, and motivate action. Telling our story is a way to share the values that define the people we are. “What is utterly unique about each of us is not a combination of the categories (race, gender, class, profession, marital status) that include us, but rather, our journey, our way through life, our personal text from which each of us can teach.” (Marshall Ganz, 2008) Come learn how to tease out and share your own personal story as an advocate for hungry people.

Speakers:
- Elizabeth Henry, Working East Bay
- Kimberly Burge, Bread for the World


The Bible and Hunger Advocacy — Room: Ward 113
Join us in exploring the biblical basis for the call to advocacy, especially hunger advocacy. Rev. Shannon L. Jung is a scholar of many facets of food and spirituality and is the author, most recently, of Hunger and Happiness: Feeding the Hungry, Nourishing Our Souls.

Speaker:
- Rev. Shannon L. Jung, St. Paul School of Theology


Organizing in Latino Communities — Room: Ward 102
Latinos make up 15% of the U.S. population and are one of the fastest growing communities in the country. Religious leaders from this diverse community will share their knowledge and expertise organizing in Latino communities.

Presentation Panel:
- Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, National Hispanic Leadership Conference
- Rev. Hector Carrasquillo, Hispanic Ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
- Aida Hidalgo, Hispanic Ministry, Diocese of Providence, RI

Response Panel:
- Rev. Walter Contreras, Hispanic Ministry, Evangelical Covenant Church
- Rev. Juan Martinez, Hispanic Church Studies, Fuller Seminary
- Rev. Juan Luis Calderon, Hispanic Pastoral Institute, Diocese of New Jersey

Moderator:
- Ricardo Moreno, Bread for the World


Making Lasting Progress Against U.S. Poverty — Room: Ward 6
At the end of 2007, even before the current recession, one in every eight U.S. residents was living in poverty. That’s completely unnecessary in a country as wealthy as ours. To move out of poverty, working families need both defensive and offensive strategies—keeping more of what they have, and building up savings and additional resources. So for the United States, a long-term solution to hunger requires investments in programs to help families achieve financial security. Many factors contribute to economic hardship, so the country needs a comprehensive framework of solutions. Come and hear more about how Bread is working to make lasting progress against U.S. hunger and poverty.

Speakers:
- Rachel Black, Bread for the World
- Alan Gold, RESULTS
- Colleen Daily, Capital Area Asset Builders

12:00 pm – 1:15 pm

Lunch

Terrace Dining Hall, Mary Graydon Center

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Workshops:

Just Faith — Room: Ward 101
JustFaith Ministries aspires to enable people of faith to develop a passion for justice, to express this passion in concrete acts of social ministry, and to expand the work of social ministry in their faith communities. Come learn more about our faith formation processes and resources that emphasize the Gospel message of peace and justice, church social teaching, and the intersection of spirituality and action.

Speaker:
- Jack Jezreel, JustFaith


Teens Taking Action — Room: Ward 102
You may not yet be able to vote, but you do have a voice! Learn more about how to organize against hunger and poverty – in your high school, at church, before and after mission trips, and as you transition to college. We’ll focus on how to tell stories that will energize others to join you in hunger advocacy. This workshop is open to teens and those working with teens.

Speakers: - Michael Chung, Sacred Heart Schools
- Krystal Grant-Crutchfield, Bread for the World


Winning Media Coverage of Hunger — Room: Ward 3

Our panel of media experts - will discusses how to pitch stories on hunger and poverty in a changing media environment. The panel will include journalists working in broadcast, online publications, and ethnic news.

Speakers:
- Roger Thurow, Wall Street Journal
- Terri Holley, Creative Blog Solutions
- Verna Avery Brown, Pacifica Radio Network (invited)


Photographs for Change — Room: Ward 4

Photography is a tremendous educational tool. In a very visual and powerful way, photographers can show us not only injustice in the world, but also stories of lives transformed through programs like those supported by Bread for the World. Join three professional photographers—and Bread members—as they share photos and stories that show how photography can be used to create a more just world. We will also discuss some of the challenges of entering a community or a situation in order to take pictures, and how you can use photography effectively in your own advocacy campaigns.

Speakers:
- Margaret W. Nea, Freelance photographer, Richmond, VA
- Rick Reinhard, Freelance photographer, Washington, DC
- Jim Stipe, Photo editor and photographer, Catholic Relief Services, Baltimore, MD


How A Bill Becomes A Law — Room: Ward 106
The legislative process can be baffling, but as advocates, we need to know how it really works so we can target our activism to the key moments and the most influential actors in Congress. Bread regional organizer Larry Hollar, who worked for a congressional committee and in the executive branch for a dozen years, offers his insights and amusing real-world vignettes on how the process typically unfolds on Capitol Hill, showing where advocates can have the most impact for hungry people. Bring your questions as we ride the Legislative Process 101 Express —it’s wilder than they described it in high school civics!

Speaker:
- Larry Hollar, Bread for the World


Reaching the Tipping Point: Organizing Strategies that Make a Difference — Room: Ward 5
Why do we remember some people and what they say better than others? What makes a message “sticky”? How does an idea spread like wildfire, and how can we start advocacy wildfires for Bread? This interactive workshop equips you with tools and techniques for building the grassroots in your church, campus, or community, and offers ideas for making hunger advocacy stand out amidst social justice causes. Workshop leaders will show how using humor, appealing to people’s senses, and being just plain sneaky can help deliver our messages more powerfully. We’ll also explore ways to reach more people, craft materials that are more effective, and ultimately reach the tipping point where hunger advocacy takes off in your community. How can we use technology like Facebook, PowerPoint, blogging, and social networking in ways that propel hunger advocacy to new successes? Let’s make our grassroots efforts count!

Speakers:
- David Gist, Bread for the World
- Matt Newell-Ching, Bread for the World


Ending Child Hunger in the United States — Room: Ward 6
How can we end child hunger in our country by 2015? Reaching President Obama’s goal will require action from the national level down to the local level. Our panel of experts discusses the interconnected need for advocacy, awareness, and direct service in ending child hunger for good. What can Congress do to help this year when it reauthorizes the Child Nutrition Act? What can you do in your community to help achieve the goal?

Speakers:
- Jean Jones, Feeding America
- Pat Nicklin, Share Our Strength
- Julie Brewer, U.S.D.A.

Moderator:
- Sophie Milam, Bread for the World

3:15 pm – 4:45 pm

Plenary Session 3 — Room: Ward Auditorium 1

Presidential Efforts to Reduce Hunger
President Obama has pledged to end child hunger in the United States and cut global poverty in half by 2015, doing more to elevate the issue of hunger than any previous administration. Learn from a top administration official what steps are being taken to achieve these important goals.

Speaker:
- Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA

Foreign Assistance Reform: Opportunities and Obstacles
Three individuals who are or have been at the center for the push for foreign assistance reform will lead a discussion of why reforms are needed, why this is an opportune time, and the impediments that must be overcome for genuine reform to occur. The objective for this session is to prepare attendees for Lobby Day activities which focus on foreign assistance reform.

Speakers:
- Andrew Natsios, former administrator (2001- 2006), U.S. Agency for International Development
- Diana Ohlbaum, senior staff, House Committee on Foreign Affairs, U.S. House of Representatives

Moderator:
- Ambassador Tony Hall, The Allliance to End Hunger

Ward Auditorium 1

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm

Closing Worship

Ward Auditorium 1

We end the afternoon with worship and praise.

Participants
- Rev. Bryan Field McFarland, Presbyterian Hunger Action Advocate
- Flavia De Souza, Bread for the World

5:15 pm

Depart for dinner

Meet at the Centennial Entrance to board buses.

6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Reception and Book Signing for Art Simon’s book, The Rising of Bread for the World

Capital Hilton Hotel, 1001 16th St NW, Washington DC, Congressional Ballroom

7:00 pm

Bread for the World’s 35th Anniversary Dinner

Capital Hilton Hotel, Presidential Ballroom

Maria Otero, president of ACCIÓN International (a leader in microfinance for entrepreneurs in poor countries) and an expert on sustainable solutions to poverty, will be our speaker. At dinner, we will hear music from some of DC’s hottest gospel and jazz musicians. A new song for Bread for the World, composed by Marty Haugen, the country’s leading liturgical composer, will be premiered during the celebration. ABC television anchor Maureen Bunyan will be the mistress of ceremonies.

9:30 pm

Board buses to return to American University

Capital Hilton entrance

7:00 am

Room check-out for those departing tonight

Welcome Center, Centennial Hall

(There will be a luggage storage facility at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation

7:30 am

Lobby Day participants board buses to Lutheran Church of the Reformation

Centennial Hall

8:00 am - 8:30 am

Breakfast

Lutheran Church of the Reformation Fellowship Hall, 212 E. Capitol Street

8:00 am – 8:30 am

Lobby Day Registration (for those not attending Gathering 2009)

Lutheran Church of the Reformation

8:45 am – 9:00 am

Lobby Day Opening Worship

Lutheran Church of the Reformation Sanctuary

9:00 am – 11:30 am

Lobby Day Briefing

Lutheran Church of the Reformation Sanctuary

Learn about foreign assistance reform and recent legislative activity in Congress in preparation for your afternoon lobby visits. Materials and background for a successful meeting with your congressional offices will be provided.

11:30 am – 1:30 pm

Caucuses and Lunch

Lutheran Church of the Reformation and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 118 Third Street SE

Meet with others from your region and strategize about your upcoming meetings. Regional organizers and policy analysts will be available to answer questions.

1:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Meetings at House and Senate offices

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

Congressional Reception

Rayburn Cafeteria, 50 Independence Ave SW

7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Closing Worship and Sharing

Rayburn Cafeteria

8:20 pm

Board buses to return to American University

U.S. Botanical Garden, 1st and Independence, SW (Bread staff will direct you to the buses.)

7:00 am – 11:00 am

Room check-out

Welcome Center, Centennial Hall