| Special Sabbath seeks health care for all BY DAWN S. ONLEY
UMCONNECTION CORRESPONDENT The lack of health insurance in the United States is grim, shameful and ready for reform, church leaders believe. According to statistics from the General Board of Church and Society, 43 million Americans are without health insurance and millions more are underinsured. Although the United States is one of the richest countries in the world, it is the only industrialized nation that does not provide healthcare to all of its people. These problems affect one-seventh of the U.S. population. The Health Care Justice Sabbath is looking to change those facts.  Healthcare is a right that all people should have, said the Rev. Jackson Day, program director of health and wholeness at the General Board of Church and Society in Washington, D.C. The Baltimore-Washington Conference has endorsed an interfaith initiative that supports health care reform. The Sabbath began in 1994 as a national effort for faith communities to set aside a weekend in April to raise awareness and commitment to the plight of millions of uninsured and underinsured Americans. During the weekend, church leaders are encouraged to focus their teachings on themes of healing and justice and encourage their congregations to write legislators in favor of universal healthcare for all. Its important as a means of lifting up the concept of healthcare as a right which everyone should be entitled to because they are human beings, Day said. This is making the link between the Christian faith and practical aspects of life out in the world. My whole life really has been focused on trying to find ways to link the two. More than 2,000 groups have pledged to support the Sabbath by raising awareness of health care issues and working to bring about change, said Sandy Ferguson, associate council director. In the state of Maryland, you have poor people and working poor, hundreds of thousands who do not have healthcare, she said. Were looking for ways to rectify that. The conferences Committee on Persons with  disabilities, chaired by the Rev. John Nupp, pastor of Salem UMC in Cedar Grove, also supports the Sabbath as a voice for poor and uninsured people who are in dire need of the churchs support. Traditionally, the church has spoken up for people who dont have a voice, Nupp said. There are a number of children who dont have healthcare, Nupp added. Ten million children to be exact, according to the health care resolution co-sponsored by 28 Congress members. The United Methodist Churchs Social Principles call health care a basic human right. The Health Care Sabbath is designed to ensure this right is granted to as many people as possible. It is not known how many people will participate in the health care sabbath, said the Rev. Hanna Walling, the faith project director for Universal Health Care Action Network. However, Walling said in an E-mail about the event, The Christian community, in coalition with other faith traditions will be vital to making health care for all a reality. In fact, history shows that voices of faith have been integral to the success of any social reform movement in our country, she said. Particularly important is the faith communitys role in raising health care for all as a moral imperative. For more information, contact the Universal Health Care Action Network at (800) 634-4442. | 
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