The meeting, orchestrated by Call to Renewal, provided an opportunity for the church leaders to share their concerns about poverty and hunger, especially as it affects children. The group joined some 200 other religious leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday in group meetings with members of Congress. Jerome Nelson, director of church and society ministries for the Central Conference, accompanied Palmberg.

President Palmberg was one of three asked to lead in prayer in a meeting with House representatives and senators who joined the group in the Senate caucus room. The series of discussions concluded this morning with a prayer breakfast attended by a number of congressional leaders.

"The group was predominantly evangelicals," Palmberg said upon his return, "but many of them work together to address poverty in America." It had been hoped that President Bush could join the group briefly, but events in the Mideast precluded his participation.

"When I came out of the Senate caucus room, five young people were waiting to see me," Palmberg said. All work with mission ministries in that area and have Covenant backgrounds. Asked how the young people knew he would be there, Palmberg suggested they may have seen his name in some kind of information publicizing the event.

The event, "Pentecost 2003: Pray and Act to Put America's Poor Back on the National Agenda," was billed as Call to Renewal's national mobilization to overcome poverty. An open letter to the president had been drafted prior to the event and was delivered when the smaller delegation met with White House staff and others. The letter articulated the group's concerns on the faith-based initiative and its relation to domestic policies affecting low-income Americans.