Ohio Pastor Thanks Senator Boxer and Representative Jones for Standing Up for Ohio Voters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Cathy Knight, Executive Director, Church Within A Church
Call: 773.348.2679 x 227
Fax: 773.348.2521
Email: cknight72@aol.com
Website: www.cwac.us

Ohio Pastor Thanks Senator Boxer and Representative Jones for Standing Up for Ohio Voters

Historic Objection to Ohio Election Promotes Honest Democracy
Chicago, Illinois, January 7, 2005 – Church Within A Church Movement (CWAC) leaders are thanking and praising Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones, for standing alone to challenge the electoral vote from Ohio in order to induce debate in both houses of Congress to expose voting irregularities in Ohio that disenfranchised many Black voters there.

Rev. Cheri Holdridge, pastor of Central United Methodist Church, Toledo, Ohio, and a national coordinator of the Church Within A Church Movement in the United Methodist church said: "Members of my congregation and I worked all day on election day, helping voters get to the polls. The poll workers' interpretations of provisional ballot procedures were inconsistent. Voters were misinformed about where to vote. These are my first hand experiences. As a religious leader in my community, I am concerned that our election day in Ohio did not meet acceptable standards of fairness and equality. Thank you, Senator Boxer and Representative Tubbs for having the courage to stand for those citizens in Ohio whose access to the voting process on November 2 is in question."

Rev. Gil Caldwell, retired United Methodist Minister, Denver, Colorado, who walked with Dr. Martin Luther King to secure back voting rights in the 1960s, and serves with Rev. Holdridge in the CWAC said:

"Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania said of the challenge; ‘This is a travesty. They (his Democrat colleagues) are still not over the 2000 election, let alone the 2004 election.'' Rev. Caldwell asks, "Is it a travesty for an NFL coach to challenge a ruling on the field?'

Senator Boxer said of her lone vote, "This is the first time I have ever voted alone in the U.S. Senate….in retrospect it was a mistake not to object four years ago."

Rev Caldwell responded, "There is a special kind of loneliness that occurs when a courageous white person of conviction stands alone with black persons. I have seen over-an-over again the pressure of white peers, silence the voices and the convictions of deeply committed people. We stand in solidarity with Senator Boxer.'

Rev. Kevin A. Johnson, pastor of Bloom in the Desert Ministries in Palm Springs, California, sent an email to Senator Boxer to thank her for standing alone for honest democracy. He also calls local churches to action for the future: "Since Jesus taught us to ‘render onto Caesar' we have a mandate to be active and concerned about government – not only by paying taxes, but by monitoring its honesty. Local churches who sense this call should begin now to prepare "the least of these" to be counted honestly and openly in the future."

Organized in February of 2002, Church Within A Church is a grass roots response to actions of the United Methodist Church General Conference. Refusing to commit itself to remaining within the United Methodist denomination or leaving it, the progressive movement declares its mission: "To BE Church in a fully inclusive way.' A ten-member coordinating team, which meets twice a year, guides the group.

Contact Information: Cathy Knight, Executive Director, Church Within A Church. 3344 N. Broadway Chicago, IL 60657. Phone: 773.348.2679 x 227. Email: cknight72@aol.com

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