Contact: Peggy Birchfield, National Clergy Council, 202-546-8329, ext 103, 202-236-0953

WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /Christian Newswire/ -- A top-level advisor and ten-member delegation for Sen. Barack Obama were no-shows at yesterday's Reese RoundTable on Capitol Hill, a forum for the campaigns to present their respective candidates' worldviews and how that informs their ideas about government.

The Obama representative, the Reverend Evna Terri La Velle, Senior Advisor Religious Affairs for Obama for America, inexplicably cancelled only hours before the event. When event organizers appealed to Democratic Party Officials, they were told someone would "look into it," but that these decisions are made in Chicago, meaning Obama campaign headquarters.

Event host, Rev. Rob Schenck (pronounced SHANK), who moderated the discussion, said he was profoundly disappointed. He released this statement:

"Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean assured me last year in a private meeting in his office that his party would do everything possible to constructively engage Evangelicals, traditional Catholics and other moral conservatives. He even pledged to participate in events like this. Barack Obama has made similar promises. They  did a couple of high-profile media events, but it appears they were not serious at a grass-roots level. Yesterday's last-minute unexplained cancellation was nothing short of a snub. Our capacity crowd was insulted by their absence."

Schenck is available for further comment . Contact Peggy Birchfield at 202-546-8329, ext 103 or 202-236-0953.