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WASHINGTON, D.C. - Children's Defense Fund President Marian Wright Edelman this week rallied thousands of leaders and members of a remarkable range of faith networks to resist the lure of divisive single-issue politics and support broader social protections for children and the poor.

In a stirring interfaith event beneath the soaring spires of the Washington National Cathedral, about 2,200 worshipers from across the nation gathered at a pivotal moment in the nation's history—the eve of final pre-election worship services this weekend—to pray for justice for the young and needy and urge government leaders to put the interests of children first. The nonpartisan event Thursday night was the culmination of a major voter mobilization effort for the Nov. 2 elections.

In a memo to reporters before the service, Edelman wrote: "The religious right has attempted to hijack and whittle God down into a single issue partisan God. In response, we organized a massive interfaith service with religious leaders across a wide political spectrum and issued a unified call for justice for children and the poor on election eve."

Edelman noted that the response from almost 200 faith leaders and networks of every kind was overwhelming, especially since it only took several weeks to come together. This broad base of mainstream faith leaders represent the denominations of more than 75 million Americans, including Catholics, Protestants, Evangelical Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Baha'is and Sikhs.

"I hope you will feel renewed as you go back home to mobilize everyone in your temples and mosques and churches and neighborhoods on Friday and Saturday and Sunday to go out and to vote and speak for those who cannot speak and vote for themselves—our children," Edelman said. "Let us come together and build a mighty movement to hold all of our leaders accountable for what they do to educate our children, to give them health care, and we will not stop until our children have justice..."

"And let's just make sure that there is food and shelter and education for every child, and that every child is ready for school and every school is ready to teach and love and respect every child," she said. "And let us go back home knowing that together with our voices across this wide spectrum of faiths and powering this audience that we can build a nation and world where no child is left behind, and every child and everyone is welcome, and everybody has a seat at America 's table."

Among those who addressed the gathering was Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes, senior pastor of Riverside Church in New York City . "There will be some adults who will consider themselves too busy this coming Tuesday to get out and to vote, and for that reason, I'm going to ask [young people] to be our witnesses that not to vote in a time like this is foolish!" he said.

Participants included The Right Rev. John Bryson Chane , Episcopal Bishop of Washington, D.C. and Dean of the Washington National Cathedral, The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar , General Secretary, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., The Rev. Dr. Otis Moss Jr. , Senior Pastor, Olivet Institutional Baptist Church of Cleveland, Sister Carole Shinnick , SSND, Executive Director, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, Rabbi Jack Moline , Agudas Achim Congregation, Alexandria, Va., Afeefa Syeed , Founding Director, Al-Fatih Academy and Director, Muslim Education Resource Council, Jamesina Evans , President, Women's Missionary Society, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Rev. Dr. Suzan D. Johnson Cook , President, Hampton University Ministers' Conference, Rev. Dr. James A. Forbes , Senior Pastor, Riverside Church, New York, N.Y., Joe Volk , Executive Secretary, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Rev. Jamal Bryant, Pastor, Empowerment Temple, Baltimore, Md. Bishop Susan Murch Morrison , Bishop of the Albany, N.Y., Episcopal District of the United Methodist Church, Rev. Mayra Castañeda , National Christian Education Coordinator, the Board of National Ministries of the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A., Rajwant Singh , Guru Gobind Singh Foundation and Director, Sikh Council on Religion and Education, Rajan Narayanan , Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, Lanham, Md.

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The mission of the Children's Defense Fund is to Leave No Child Behind and to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities. CDF provides a strong, effective voice for all the children of America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. We pay particular attention to the needs of poor and minority children and those with disabilities. CDF educates the nation about the needs of children and encourages preventive investment before they get sick, into trouble, drop out of school, or suffer family breakdown. CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations. We have never taken government funds.