As Christians around the world prepare to celebrate Jesus' birth next week, pastors around the nation on Thursday renewed their call on Congress to solve the "fiscal cliff" debate without endangering the nation's poorest people.
More than 100 Missouri clergy signed a letter to the state's two U.S. senators and eight representatives, and delivered those letters Thursday afternoon.
At a 20-minute news conference at Jefferson City's Second Baptist Church, Pastor Cornell Sudduth noted: "As people of faith and conscience, we believe that the ongoing fiscal showdown in Washington over taxes, the safety net and the deficit is not simply a matter of dollars and cents - it is a question of right and wrong.
"The outcome of this debate has profound moral consequences for our nation and, potentially, harsh human consequences for American families."