"With sponsorship by more than thirty religious denominations and organizations including SEIU, an estimated 140,000 people of faith from across the country joined President Obama's healthcare call on Wednesday and committed to press Congress to finish work on health care reform when they return after Labor Day Recess. Obama urged the listeners to reject misinformation about his plans, saying "There are some folks out there who are, frankly, bearing false witness."

President Obama cited one example the right-wing has used to create a sense of fear in their base supporters -- the rumors that the government is planning to set up "death panels" to determine the fate of the nation's elderly. "That is just an extraordinary lie," said President Obama, explaining that that it was based on a provision in the House legislation that would allow Medicare to reimburse someone who voluntarily sought counseling on how to set up a living will for the end of life.

"For 75 years, this nation has tried and failed to bring everybody into the healthcare table of plenty, so success is far from assured," said Dr. Joel Hunter, a Christian leader and pastor from Florida. "But we're not alone....our differences are unified for a higher purpose." "40 Days for Health Reform" is an effort from the faith community to make sure reform creates a path to making healthcare secure and affordable for all American families.

Listen to the call here.

Click here to get straight facts on the President's plan to fix health care.

In case you missed it, the Washington Post recently highlighted the Believe Together Coalition, a coalition SEIU helped form with a multitude of faith groups earlier this year. The Post writes that "the group originally grew out of frustration that conservative Christian groups were dominating the national faith conversation on social issues. The coalition is speaking out on such issues as healthcare reform and comprehensive immigration reform."

Last month, the coalition brought together Americans from different faiths on Washington's Freedom Plaza to focus on the urgent, moral need to provide for all members of our community. Check our live blogging from the event.

There's a ton of stuff happening in Washington, DC this week in the movement to win health care reform. Below is a snapshot of what's going on, to help you keep track of everything that's happening during this crucial time period.

You may have heard of President Obama's support for the Employee Free Choice Act, but today, Catholics for Working Families is launching an ad with another president's endorsement: President Bartlett (or, as he's known in the real world, Martin Sheen).

Martin Sheen, an active Catholic and a union member since 1961, says in the ad that the decline in the number of unionized U.S. workers is intricately linked to the massive increases in executive bonuses, and has led to a bad situation for working families.

The Employee Free Choice Act, in the words of Martin Sheen, will "help build a more just economy...promotes families, an economy that values human life and serves everyone, not just the people at the top."

Watch the YouTube version of the radio ad airing in Pennsylvania here:

Similar ads are running in Alaska and Louisiana.

Yesterday, over 50 religious leaders from a diverse range of faiths and denominations came to Washington, DC to lobby members of Congress on support of the Employee Free Choice Act. The newly-formed coalition of religious leaders and people of faith--Faith Leaders for Workplace Fairness--publicly announced their support for the labor reform bill on a conference call with press last week, calling the legislation a "moral imperative" and a civil and human right.

The lobbying day begin with an early a.m. prayer breakfast at the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, where clergy, union members and political figures gathered to hear uplifting music sung by a multicultural choir, and pray for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. "Unions are indispensable for a just social order," said Dr. Joseph Fahey, a Manhattan College religious studies professor and founder of Catholic Scholars for Worker Justice. "They are not something that just gains better wages and working conditions for workers---on a far wider level, we won't have a just social order unless we have unions to bring justice to workers and their families." The event featured speakers that included SEIU's Anna Burger, Rev. Sue Gaeta of the Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus and SEIU Virginia home care worker Athena Jones. Longtime labor supporter Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-Md.), also appeared at the breakfast to give a speech, telling the crowd that "the faith community has always been on the side of workers."

At the (tpress conference afterwards held with Sen. Tom Harkin he original sponsor of the legislation in the Senate), the senator called the Employee Free Choice Act "one of the real social justice issues of our time," expressing his determination to get legislation passed in 2009 that will restore balance and fairness to the organizing process. "For too long, our constitutional right to organize a union has been systematically undermined," said Harkin.

Watch faith leaders discuss why, more than ever, we need the Employee Free Choice Act to restore balance to economy and our society:

After the press conference, union members, workers and religious leaders dispersed to lobby their individual Members of Congress. During the lobby visits, religious leaders were able to have a face-to-face discussion about the legislation with newly-Democratic Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter--an exchange sponsoring organization Catholics for Working Families caught on tape. Watch a video clip of the exchange between Fr. Jack O'Malley and Sen. Specter.

Select photos from yesterday's event here. To join the campaign for workplace fairness, visit http://faithforworkplacefairness.org/