Advocacy for Marriage Equality
by Rev. Erik ChristensenLast night, following an amazing Community Dinner at which I literally heard Christa Creps say, "before we welcome Young Killer onto the stage to rap for us, I want to remind everyone that there's a rummage sale coming up next weekend," a small group of four -- members of St. Luke's and neighbors from the surrounding community -- gathered in Haberland Hall to phone bank for Illinois Unites for Marriage, the organization working for marriage equality for same gender couples in the state of Illinois.Over the course of the evening we spoke with residents of Illinois' 34th congressional district, inviting people to connect with their elected representative and voice their support for marriage equality. I got to speak with an 82-year old former school teacher on the south side of Chicago who told me that she supports marriage equality because
"life is long and hard, and if you can find someone to share it with, you should be able to do that!"
In the coming weeks there are two more opportunities for members and friends of St. Luke's to be involved in the movement for marriage equality:
Phone Bank on Wednesday, October 16 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Phone banking is far less intimidating than it sounds. You don't actually do any of the dialing, instead you bring your WiFi enabled laptop (though we have two desktops that you could use as well) and a cell phone. Once you're logged into the auto-dialer, you simply wait to be connected with a voter in the district we're calling, and you follow a script that leads you through a conversation where you're inviting voters to leave a message for their elected officials. It's relatively easy, and plenty of fun.For more information, or to sign-up, see our Facebook event page.
March on Springfield for Marriage Equality, Tuesday, October 22 from 8am - 8pm
On Tuesday, October 22nd members of St. Luke's and neighbors from Logan Square will be boarding a bus at the Logan Square El stop (Milwaukee & Kedzie) and driving to Springfield, Illinois where we will join with thousands of supporters of marriage equality from across the state to share with Illinois state legislators our vision for a community where all people are able to enjoy the rights and responsibilities of marriage.For more information on the event itself, click here.To purchase your ticket for the bus leaving from Logan Square, click here.