WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A coalition that includes Catholics, mainline Protestants, evangelicals, Muslims and Jews pledged Aug. 10 to spend the next 40 days mobilizing the faith community to tell Congress that comprehensive health reform legislation must be passed this fall.

The effort includes a national television ad, a series of prayer vigils and rallies around the country, an Aug. 19 conference call with President Barack Obama and faith leaders, a national health care Sabbath weekend Aug. 28-30 and other events after Congress returns to work in September. It is designed in part to counteract the protests that have disrupted some health reform-related gatherings around the country.

"Shouting people down ... is not the American way," said Katie Paris, program and communications director of Faith in Public Life, during an Aug. 10 conference call with media to announce the "40 Days for Health Reform" initiative.

"We won't let this issue get hijacked," she added. "We want to put real people back into the center of the discussions."

The ad unveiled during the call features two Catholics -- Linda Filippini of Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Melbourne, Fla., and Stella Reese of St. Peter Claver Parish in New Orleans.

In the conference call, Filippini spoke about the problems she and her husband -- owners of a small business -- have had getting and keeping health insurance. In the ad she says they "keep praying, but our premiums keep rising."

Reese says in the ad, "Our church is trying to help (those without insurance), but it's just not enough."

The Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the 13,000-member United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., has been taking the issue of health care reform to his congregation in some innovative ways.

In a recent e-mail to the congregation, he asked them to consider the issue in light of the parable of the good Samaritan. "We (in the religious community) are binding up the wounds of people who have been left at the side of the road by the health care system," he said.

Rev. Hamilton also posted a discussion question about health reform on his Facebook page and got 70 responses, he said in the conference call.

Because his congregation has already heard sermons on the health reform issue, he planned to sponsor a panel discussion during the Aug. 28-30 weekend with representatives of various constituencies affected by the health care crisis, including the chief financial officer of a large employer in the area, physicians and ethicists.

"Pastors and local churches have a key role to play in helping their members and communities to understand the issue of health care from a biblical perspective, and inviting thoughtful, reasoned discussion in how best to move forward in reforming health care," he added.

The Rev. Stevie Wakes of Olivet Institutional Baptist Church in Kansas City, Kan., said he sees health care reform as "a profoundly moral issue" as well as a personal one.

"I have my own story of getting hit with a $1,000 bill for my daughter's tonsillectomy, and I had health insurance," he said. "I see countless similar examples in my congregation of people struggling to pay for health insurance."

Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington, said the "existing tragic disparities" in U.S. health care show that "the moral soul of our nation has been ill."

"The current health reform debate gives us a chance to heal our soul -- by arising to the call to ensure that each of God's children has the opportunity for good health and good health care," he added.

Organizers said they expected at least 4,000 people to participate in prayer rallies and other interfaith events scheduled for Aug. 11 in 15 states. They also hoped the 40-day initiative would generate at least 55,000 calls and e-mails to Congress with messages about the urgency and moral weight of the health care issue.

In Orlando, Fla., Catholic Bishop Thomas G. Wenski joined an imam, a rabbi, a Protestant minister and several people affected by the health care crisis at an Aug. 11 press conference. In Iowa, the Sisters of Mercy in Clear Lake sponsored a prayer vigil, while the Congregation of the Humility of Mary in Davenport sponsored a half-day of prayer for health reform.

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