A faith-based movement to win paid sick-leave is growing in Philadelphia and is now pushing for changes at one of Philadelphia’s most iconic institutions.

A week long celebration of workers, which began in twenty churches in Philadelphia on Labor Day Weekend, will culminate with a “Blessing of the Hands” ceremony at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Sunday, September 7.

The Philadelphia Officers and Workers Rising (POWR) campaign, which is lead by church leaders from around the city, has won paid sick-leave for security officers at the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University. Now the churches that prayed about sick-leave turn the power of their faith to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

“The changes that we want are already enshrined in the Philadelphia Living-Wage Ordinance. Now, we need the museum to meet the moral imperative supported by Philadelphians.” States Bishop Dwayne Royster, the pastor from the Living Water United Church of Christ in north Philadelphia.

Bishop Royster refers to a living-wage ordinance that was signed into law in 2005. The ordinance states that any business or non-profit that receives $100,000 or more from the City of Philadelphia must pay its workers 150% of the Federal or State minimum wage, which ever is higher. The statute also provides that these workers must receive equal to those of a worker on the property that receives any benefit.

If the law were applied to security guards it would raise their wages from $10.03 per hour to $10.62 per hour and would provide paid sick-leave.

“They get the money, $2.5 million this year alone.” says Donald Lindsay, a security guard who is involved in the campaign to compel the museum to meet the standards outlined in the ordinance. “but the museum uses a loophole, that they sub-contract five companies for security, to not give us any of the things in the law.”

Activists expect one hundred or more supporters to visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Sunday and withhold their $10 optional donation, and will leave “I.O.U” notes instead. Activists will view the general collection while wearing stickers with a message of support for the security guards. The event will culminate in a “Blessing of the Hands” ceremony at 4:00-5:00 pm. Supporters will hear music from several musicians and be anointed with oil on the museum steps by local ministers Dwayne Royster, Jay Broadnax and Schaunel Steinnagel.