First state-wide gathering for LAMA advocates and friends to connect! Guests discuss food insecurity and poverty and what we can do to help.

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7 FROM 9:00AM - 12:00PM

REGISTER TODAY via link below!

Join Lutheran Advocacy Ministry Arizona (LAMA) for its first annual summit of advocates and friends, gathering on the theme, “We come to the Hungry Feast.” Participants will learn more about LAMA, its mission and partners; about how Lutherans connect to advocacy; about food security globally and here in Arizona; and actions we can take in support of LAMA's mission to join with the most vulnerable of our society to voice our common needs in the public square, activating our faith in love.

Keynote address will be presented by Dr. Ryan P. Cumming, Program Director for Hunger Education with ELCA World Hunger. Dr. Cumming will address the following topics:

• How Lutherans' baptismal call ties in with politics and advocacy, and why people of faith need to care about this subject

• How Lutherans use their faith to make a difference in the world

• The book, The Forgotten Luther

• How Lutherans connect to hunger, specifically, beyond food pantries and funds?

• The state of world hunger and barriers to food security globally

• Food security in Senegal, the Grand Canyon Synod's partner synod

• Q & A

In addition, Angie Rogers, president and CEO of Arizona Food Bank Network, will offer an update on the state of hunger and poverty in Arizona. Topics to include

• The State of Hunger in Arizona

• Barriers to food security

• What does it look like to advocate for hunger?

• How Lutherans can make a difference

• Why is it even more important than food pantries, to be an advocate

• Q & A

The three-hour meeting will include devotions, multiple breaks, Zoom breakout rooms for more personal conversation, an opportunity to sign up for Arizona's Request to Speak (RTS) system, an evaluation, and more.

Both Dr. Cumming and Ms. Rogers will take questions from participants. Participants are encouraged to submit their questions in advance in the space provided at Eventbrite checkout.

@LutheranAdvocacy

Ryan P. Cumming, Ph.D. has been a movie extra, a bartender, a factory worker, and a fishmonger, but he is currently Program Director for Hunger Education with ELCA World Hunger, his favorite job so far. He writes stories about hunger ministries, visits with congregations, and helps Lutherans learn about hunger, poverty and justice-seeking faith. Ryan graduated from Capital University and Loyola University Chicago, where he studied psychology, theology and ethics. Ryan teaches at Loyola and Central Michigan University and has presented his research in the U.S. and overseas. He is the author of The African American Challenge to Just War Theory (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and a contributor to The Forgotten Luther: Reclaiming the Social-Economic Dimension of the Reformation (Lutheran University Press, 2016). His writing also has appeared in academic and popular journals. When he's not working, he enjoys playing with his kids, camping, and traveling with his family.