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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT OUR FUTURE GROWTH
The following email from Lee Merrell, former Director of Christian Coalition of Maryland, will be of exciting interest to all E-NEWS FOR THE FAMILY team members.
We are delighted about Lee’s announcement and hope you will want to join us in this exciting growth opportunity for pro-family/pro-life supporters in Maryland.
This is something I have been praying over for several years. The wider our network the more influential we can be in State and local government actions. We will have more ability to turn the tide of family and cultural destruction in Maryland
Please read the announcement by Lee below. If you have any comments or questions about this expansion, please give us a call.
Doug Stiegler
410-760-9166 410-897-0700
In an effort to become even more effective, the Christian Coalition of Maryland is merging with two other Maryland groups and is seeking to become an associated State Family Policy Council of Focus on the Family. Please read the exciting announcement below. As a result of these changes, Christian Coalition of America has asked me to forward all of your email addresses to them.
However, each of you would have to give me your permission before I would be willing to do that, and I simply don't have the time to devote to that. If you want to volunteer or be added to the Christian Coalition of America email list, you can go to their website, www.cc.org, click on Get Involved, and select one of the options for how you wish to be involved with them. Since our Board of Directors also does not want to continue operating, I have no idea if, or when, a new Christian Coalition of Maryland Chapter will be formed. If any of you wish to form such a chapter, please let Christian Coalition of American know, or contact me and I will put you in touch with the right people. If an effort is made to form a new chapter, I will inform you so that you may contact them.
While we are leaving the Christian Coalition, we are not going out of business. Over the next few months we will be supporting Focus on the Family in an effort to register Christian voters in Maryland. When it is time for the election, we will still be putting out a Voter Guide. We cannot do either of these efforts without you. We'll be sending you more information about both programs in the future
Important Announcement Regarding the Christian Coalition of Maryland
April 22, 2006
I am stepping down as the State Director of the Christian Coalition of Maryland, and am assuming the role of Field Director (Grassroots Coordinator) of the Association of Maryland Families and the Family Protection Lobby. My role will be to coordinate our volunteers and activists, beginning with our statewide voter registration drive. I will also be involved in helping our Board of Directors take the steps necessary to be recognized by Focus on the Family as their associated Family Policy Council for Maryland. Visit our Grassroots website at www.ccmaryland.org to learn more about the new organization.
Effective immediately, the Christian Coalition of Maryland will cease operating under that name. My prayer is that all of our volunteers and associates will merge with the Association of Maryland Families and the Family Protection Lobby, and become the grassroots component of those organizations. Nothing else will change. This year's Voter Guides will be prepared under the name of the Association of Maryland Families instead of the Christian Coalition of Maryland, but the funds you have donated will be spent on the printing, and distribution will be handled by our volunteers. The merging of our organizations should allow us to be much more effective. We will combine resources rather than duplicate efforts.
The Family Protection Lobby has been active in the Maryland Legislature since 1980. Adding our grassroots activists as backup and support to the full time salaried Christian lobbyist in Annapolis will make all our voices stronger. As we continue to build up our grassroots network, more and more members of the General Assembly will find that we have hundreds of activists in their districts, and when our spokesperson comes to visit them, he will be speaking for all of us. He will also convey back to us their positions on issues of concern, and provide guidance on the actions we can take in response.
The Association of Maryland Families began in 1999 as a 501 (c)(3) non-profit, tax deductible organization dedicated to educating and providing support to Maryland families. They provide education to both the public and our elected officials on Christian issues which confront our elected representatives. They keep us informed about what is happening throughout the nation on these issues. They encourage prayer for our state and nation and support a prayer house in Annapolis during the Session for the use and encouragement of the members and staff of the General Assembly. They support marriage by conducting marriage enrichment weekends. They conduct an annual week-long City on the Hill symposium, in which 14-18 year-olds receive training on how the Maryland political process works, culminating with two days in Annapolis, where they form a mock Senate, hold committee hearings and spend a day in the Maryland Senate Chamber voting on the bills they have been discussing.
The Association of Maryland Families seeks to become recognized by Focus on the Family as their associated Family Policy Council for Maryland. Members of the Focus staff have already visited us to discuss the steps that must be taken to obtain this recognition, but we are already able to participate in many Family Policy Council forums and obtain support from Focus on the Family for some of our activities. Our first big effort in support of Focus on the Family will be a statewide voter registration drive this year.
I wish to thank all of you for your support over the years, and I hope you are as excited about this new development as I am. I pray that all of you, from our County Chairs, Area Captains and Church Liaisons, to the many individual members and supporters, will want to continue your support to both the Association of Maryland Families and the Family Protection Lobby. I truly believe that by combining our organizations, we will greatly enhance our ability to oppose the forces of evil that seem to be in control of our State.
Lee Merrell Lee Merrell Field Director Association of Maryland Families& Family Protection Lobby Email:ccmaryland@comcast.net Phone (443) 417-0823
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