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WELCOME TO FAITH-BASED ADVOCACY
Dear Advocates,
The Virginia Interfaith Public Policy Center is pleased to begin posting the following educational and training materials on our Web site as a resource for equipping advocates to work with legislative policy priorities. These resources have been created over the course of the Center's history since 1984 with the help of partners across Virginia and the U.S. Funding for the creation of this resource is from the Public Welfare Foundation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the United Church of Christ, and our many members.
You may use this material as a self tutorial or you may want to download files to share with others for speaking or educational activities. We are indebted to a variety of advocacy resources. We especially thank the Advocacy ministries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America for sharing generously their many resources.
When you are sharing these resources please credit the Virginia Interfaith Public Policy Center, or other sources when appropriate.
We hope that as you review this curriculum your knowledge of advocacy and its religious heritage will grow, and your skills as an advocate will strengthen. Remember to continue to Learn, to Pray, and then to Act. The Commonwealth truly does depend on us.
IF YOU HAVE RECENTLY PARTICIPATED IN A WORKSHOP WITH POLICY DIRECTOR, ANN RASMUSSEN, HERE IS THE FAITHFUL ADVOCACY(.PPT) POWERPOINT SHE REFERS TO. YOU MUST HAVE POWERPOINT TO VIEW THIS FILE.
An Introduction to the Center
About the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy
The setting of the Center's Legislative Agenda
How is the Center governed and is it tax exempt?
An introduction to advocacy
POWERPOINT - ADVOCACY (watch or download .ppt)
Advocacy Defined
Advocacy actions to take...and not to take
POWERPOINT - DO'S AND DON'TS (watch or download .ppt)
Learning about the legislative process
The Virginia General Assembly
Genreral Assembly at a glance
The Legislative Process
POWERPOINT - LEGISLATIVE PROCESS (watch or download .ppt)
Legislation and the "Bill"
How a bill becomes a law overview
How a bill is introduced
What happens to bills?
What do you mean a bill is on second reading....?
Alphebet soup - Richmond shorthand A-Z
Faith and Advocacy; the "Pray" of our actions
Faith-based Advocacy
Helpful scripture from the Jewish tradition
Helpful scripture from the Christian tradition
Helpful scripture from the Muslim tradition
Public and social statements from faith communities
POWERPOINT - SCRIPTURES (watch or download .ppt)
Knowing why, how, and when to ACT
How do I decide what issues I am interested in?
How do I know good information from bad information?
How do I decide what issues my congregation should focus on?
POWERPOINT - SELECTING AN ISSUE (watch or download .ppt)
Staying on message
Making your letters to legislators count
Creating an e-mail action alert
Creating a letter to the editor
Setting up a telephone advocacy program
Preparing to meet with a legislator
THE MEETING - don't sweat it!
Working with legislative staff
Following up after meeting with an elected official
You are trained, now what?
Next steps now that you are a trained advocate
POWERPOINT - NOW WHAT? (watch or download .ppt)
Training Others - A congregational lesson Plan
Creating open safe-space for congregational conversation
Preparing for tough questions from anti-advocates - Questions
Preparing for tough questions from anti-advocates - Possible answers
What happens if there is disagreement in my congregation about priorities?
Training tough people in your group or congregation
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