"We have friends now in high places," the Rev Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners and perhaps the best-known progressive Christian leader, told over 1,000 people on Monday.
To say nothing has changed in Washington and that government is always government would be a mistake, he said during the four-day Mobilisation to End Poverty conference at the Convention Center.
While the conference drew a handful of conservative Christians, the movement is largely seen as progressive.
Jason Gedeik, deputy press secretary of Sojourners, told Christianity Today magazine that the event was "our first formal coming out party".
"It's definitely not the religious right or conservative movement," he told the magazine, while describing progressives as possibly having conservative theological principles but not conservative political principles.
Sojourners head Wallis and many attending this week's poverty conference believe they have the wind at their back with US President Obama in the White House and the Democrats' expanded majorities in both houses of Congress.
Speakers at the poverty conference repeatedly stated that they've reached a turning point.
"This is movement time!" Wallis, who is part of Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, said to loud shouts of "Amen!" from the diverse crowd, which included many young adults.
Their main agenda is the poor and the hungry - a population that is expected to grow amid the economic recession.
Currently, 37 million Americans live below the poverty line and many more are on the brink, said Rep Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) in a Monday morning session at the conference.
DeLauro urged the hundreds gathered to take action and to make their voices heard on Capitol Hill, particularly during a time when Congress has put the finishing touches on the $3.5 trillion budget and is set to vote on it this week.
"You are here at the right moment," DeLauro said. "This budget is a moral document. It reflects our moral values and our priorities.
"Poor people did not create the deficit," she said to applause. "Let's not talk fiscal responsibility on the backs of the poor."
Hundreds of attendees are visiting Capitol Hill on Tuesday to advocate for commitments and leadership in protecting and prioritising funding to help reduce domestic and global poverty. The activists are attending 86 Senate office appointments which were confirmed for Tuesday morning.
"It's an opportunity. It's also a challenge," Wallis noted. "How do you act now when you have the ear of those who you believe wants to make change and yet we know without the movements they won't be able to make the change?"
