Report to the Church 2015 | Page 63

for issues surrounding domestic poverty. The conference brought bishops and young adults from nearly 20 dioceses, in all eight U.S. provinces, to Washington, D.C. for advocacy training and to meet with their congressional representatives on issues such as education, prison reform, nutrition, rural poverty, and the federal budget. EPISCOPAL PUBLIC POLICY NETWORK (EPPN) A group of 25,000 Episcopalians convened by the Missionary Society and committed to living the Baptismal Covenant’s commitment to strive for justice and peace, the EPPN led significant churchwide Lenten advocacy campaigns around violence (2013) and peace in the Holy Land (2014), engaging the network in grassroots advocacy and education surrounding these two topics. To sign up, visit: http://advocacy.episcopalchurch.org. FEDERAL ADVOCACY So far this triennium, our Office of Government Relations has facilitated or participated in more than 500 congressional or administration-level advocacy meetings focused on challenging unjust structures of society and peacemaking at home and abroad. Participants have included the Presiding Bishop, diocesan bishops and other 63