Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

It’s been busy here. So far, it’s been three days, three major events and three states!

Friday night I attended a reception at the new Capitol Hill facility for the National Center for State Courts, sandwiched right between our two buildings. In the photo you can see the slate blue row house in the center with our Faith and Action ministry center to the right and our National Pro-Life Action Center and team offices to the left.

The mission of NCSC is to “improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to state courts, and courts around the world.” According to their website, they accomplish this, “through research, consulting services, publications, and national educational programs.” Included in their programs are training seminars for the judges who sit on the 50 state supreme courts around the country, as well as their top-level staff.

Among the guests at Friday night’s reception were state supreme court administrators, judges and chief justices. During formalities, NCSC executive director, Mary McQueen, graciously thanked me and our operations officer, Peggy Birchfield, for helping to bring the new center to reality. (I had put Mary together with the owners of the property and we did all we could to accommodate the Center’s expansive needs as they undertook considerable renovation.)

It goes without saying that having the state courts so close by is to our advantage, especially in view of how many of the very big social, moral and even religious controversies of our day are headed their way!

Saturday night I attended another kind of festivity. This one was a tribute dinner to our good friend of many years, valued colleague and extraordinary pro-life advocate Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life. For the soiree, my brother, Paul and I, and Christian Defense Coalition director Pat Mahoney, traveled together to Staten Island, NY, where PFL is located.

PFL is now the largest pro-life organization of its kind in the world. The occasion Saturday night marked Fr. Frank’s 15th year at the helm of PFL. (As well as the 20th anniversary of ordination.) Many of the country’s top pro-life leaders attended and others sent congratulatory notes. Paul and I have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Fr. Frank since before we moved to Washington in 1994. He has Washington, DC-based staff that work out of our facilities.

The Staten Island celebration was followed Sunday morning by a breakfast conference. It was interesting to listen to and interact with these movement leaders, especially in the wake of Barack Obama’s election. Please watch the videos of my conversations with Fr. Frank and others, as well as some of the presentations that were made and reporting that Paul and I did. Some will be posted here. Others can be found at www.faithandaction.org and www.nationalproliferadio.net.

Finally, Sunday night I was in Scranton, PA, for the Interparliamentary Conference on Human Rights and Religious Freedom sponsored by the Institute on Religion and Public Policy (I’ve mentioned one too many times that I serve on the IRPP’s board).

The Trustees for Scranton-based Marywood University and the school’s president, Sister Anne Munley, hosted an exquisite reception for IRPP founder Joe Griebowski, his staff and board, and, of course, for the legislators, observers and others. A news conference was also held summarizing the first day’s accomplishments. (Watch for video to be posted here.)  More than 20 countries are represented at the Conference, from mammoth China to tiny Moldova! (Click here to read more about the ICHRRF.) I’ll report more at this blog as the days go on.

Gotta go for now. Thanks for praying and keeping in touch!

Rob