Budgets aren’t just abstract numbers and endless, confusing line-items. They’re moral documents.
That’s what a group of two dozen Wyoming faith leaders said, when they gathered at the State Capitol on February 12 at the start of the Legislature's budget session. Clergy from across denominations and Wyoming communities eloquently expressed how their Christian faith calls for a budget that takes care of our neighbors.
The event, which Better Wyoming helped organized, featured faith leaders from Sheridan, Torrington/Lingle, Casper, Laramie, Cheyenne, and Gillette. Rev. Jeromey Howard (Casper), Rev. Dan ODell (Casper), Deacon Mike Leman (Cheyenne), and Scott Clem (Gillette) all addressed the need for public programs to meet the needs of their communities.
Rev. Jordan Bishop of Laramie opened the event:
Wyoming families are struggling to find housing, to access healthcare, and to afford the rising costs of just getting by - and our churches, we cannot carry that alone, especially in a state as vast and as rural as ours.
Rev. Jeromey Howard, the General Presbyter of Wyoming and a veteran of the US Air Force, drew on his experience losing a colleague to suicide to advocate for mental resources supplied by the Wyoming Department of Health.
Rev. Dan ODell of First United Methodist Church in Casper cited his faith tradition which...
insists that love of God and love of neighbor belong together in very practical ways.... There is no holiness except for social holiness.
Deacon Mike Leman, the legislative liaison for the Catholic Diocese of Wyoming, spoke the the essential partnership between church and state:
A realistic approach means that we acknowledge that our parishes are in no position to replace the critical lifesaving healthcare currently provided by licensed mental healthcare professionals that people have access to in our state, by our state.
Scott Clem, a former legislator, current county commissioner, and former pastor in the Baptist denomination, was the final speaker, emphasized Deacon Leman’s comments on partnership:
The work is overwhelming, the need is greater than the resources, and what is required is true partnership.
Watch the full video of the Wyoming faith leaders speaking up about Wyoming’s budget below.