Methodist Federation for Social Action
Oregon-Idaho Chapter
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NEWS, OPPORTUNITIES AND ACTION |
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COURAGEOUS CONVERSATIONS IN SOUTHERN OREGON |
In January of 2020 over 250 people crowded into the sanctuary at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Grants Pass, OR (before COVID) for an annual community Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration. In years past the celebration was held at Newman United Methodist Church, but grew beyond the church’s physical capacity to host the event. In 2019, Newman UMC partnered with Bethany Presbyterian and St. Luke’s Episcopal Churches to pull off the event which included live music, key note speakers, and a panel discussion on racism in Southern Oregon.
As a result of this event, it became clear that the community was seeking more opportunities to engage in conversations around race and systemic oppression. These are conversations that rarely happen in predominantly white and conservative Grants Pass. Seeing this need for deeper conversation the three churches partnered up with Rogue Community College to host monthly conversations on systemic oppression, specifically as it relates to Southern Oregon, thus the Courageous Conversations Project was born.
“The goal of The Courageous Conversations Project is to get the community talking to one another and to educate ourselves so that we can engage meaningfully with issues of systemic oppression in our community.” Says Scott. On May 25th the Courageous Conversations event is titled: “Putting the Civil Back in Civil Discourse.” In June, Rev. Scott will be leading a discussion on the Queer Liberation Movement for LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
The Courageous Conversations Project shows what can be done when church reaches beyond denominational boundaries and into the community. “The community response has been very positive,” says Scott, “we regularly have over 60 people in attendance. Some of the participants are church members, however most of them had no prior relationship with the church. Not only has this project been a great way to engage in important topics, it has also been a wonderful tool to reach out to our community and deepen our relationship with Christ.”
The next Courageous Conversations event will be held on May 25th 12:00pm-1:00pm on Zoom. Anyone is welcome to join in. You don’t need to be from Southern Oregon, however, some of the conversation is specific to communities and events in the Rogue Valley region. You can access the zoom link here.
Photo: Courageous Conversations planning team (Sarah Bristol)
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JOIN OUR VIRTUAL ANNUAL MEETING
Jan Nelson
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Enjoy an evening with justice seeking friends from around the annual conference! The Oregon-Idaho chapter will meet virtually for our annual meeting on Wednesday, June 16 at 6:00 pm Pacific time/7:00 pm Mountain time. Our guest speaker will be Bridget Cabrera, Executive Director of MFSA. Through the magic of technology, Bridget will be with us from the national office in Detroit, Michigan to share the bigger picture of MFSA’s work. We will also worship together, discuss legislation that will come before the annual conference session, and hear brief reports on membership, finance, and nominations.
Please put this date on your calendar now. Watch for more details and a registration link coming in the next few weeks. We hope to see you to celebrate justice and joy.
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WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE THE WESTERN JURISDICITON?
Rev. Karen Nelson
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On April 30 and May 1, more than 100 people from around the Western Jurisdiction gathered by zoom to discuss what it means to be the Western Jurisdiction. This gathering was planned by a team of grassroots organizers from all of the Annual Conferences of the jurisdiction. Friday evening was spent looking at the values of the jurisdiction through a lens of worship. Saturday included small group work around the four primary issues from the Team of Ten report, as well as large group presentations, worship, and menti polls.
This gathering was the first of several that will happen throughout the next year as we begin to discern who we are as the Western Jurisdiction and where we want to go as a jurisdiction. Resource materials that were used to guide the first gathering can be found at here. When you get to the webpage, click on resources to see a variety of documents. The planning team will be adding material created by large and small groups at the gathering in the coming weeks so you can take a look at what the discussion looks like so far. Future gatherings are planned for late summer and into the fall. If you are interested in participating in future gatherings, go to the website and send your contact information to the e-mail at the bottom of the home page.
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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY MEETS APRIL 23-24
Rev. Steve Mitchell
Note: This summary is subject to error, as I failed to record votes on the actions as we met. So do check for the actual report from the Legislative Assembly. I apologize for any errors I made.
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Action Requests and Standing Resolutions proposed by members of the Annual Conference or bodies of the Annual Conference for action by the 2021 Session of Annual Conference were considered by the Legislative Assembly on April 23 and 24. The Legislative Assembly recommends actions to be taken by the Annual Conference on each item. The Legislative Assembly also has the power to revise and rewrite proposals to be submitted in place of the items.
The Annual Conference packet will include the Action Requests and the changes and recommendations of the Legislative Assembly, and they can be found on the 2021 Annual Conference webpage on the Annual Conference and Rules section. At the time of writing this, the Legislative Assembly packet holds the original proposals. There is another packet of amendments to be considered at the Saturday session of the Legislative Assembly that will show additional actions taken.
Here are the Action Requests and Standing Resolutions along with the actions for or against recommended by the Legislative Assembly. MFSA will send out recommendations for how to vote in a later email.
Consent Calendar for Approval, Majority Vote Needed:
· AR 2 Revision of Board of Ordained Ministry Scholarship Policy.
· AR 5 Clarify Sexual Ethics Policy to Include Retired Clergy.
· AR 7 Delete Conference Rule 10.042. (Clergy Election vote percentage)
· AR 12 Amending Clergy Housing Standards and Policy.
· AR 13 Join the Oregon Interfaith Solar Campaign.
Consent Calendar for Approval, 2/3 Vote Needed (Standing Resolutions and Conference Rules)
· AR 1- Revision of Conference Rule 10.011.
· AR 10 New Conference Rule 2.041c.
· SR1 Supporting Sanctuary for Immigrants and Refugees.
· SR 4 Supporting Middle East Peace Efforts.
· SR 5 Supporting the Right to Peacefully Address Injustice through Boycotts.
Action Requests Recommended for Approval but Not on the Consent Calendar
· AR 3 Support for Christmas Covenant Proposals.
· SR 3 Confronting Racism and White Supremacy.
· AR11 Methodist Ministry on Eugenics, Neurodiversity, and Disabilities.
Actions Referred and/or to be Considered at a Special Legislative Assembly Session June 15
· AR 4 Calculating Unfunded Pension Liabilities.
· AR 8 and AR 9 Regarding Lay Members of Annual Conference for New Church Starts.
· SR 7 Climate Change.
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ACTION OF THE WEEK
Rev. Karen Nelson
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A quarterly newsletter is not always the best way to share information about social justice actions that need to be taken. And the newsletter only goes to a limited e-mail list. How do we get information about important actions out to more people in a more timely way?
Those were the threads of a conversation at a recent MFSA board meeting. We are gathering together a list of actions to share on social media – one each week. Our hope is that once you take action on an issue, you will share it with others in your congregation and circles of friends. Watch for “Action of the Week” coming soon to the MFSA Facebook page.
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SACRED GROUND CIRCLE RESOURCES OFFER RACISM INSIGHTS
Greg Nelson
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Oregon-Idaho Camp and Retreat Ministries has been sponsoring a program on understanding and fighting racism based on a program of the Episcopal church called Sacred Ground.
The program is based on watching a video segment for each session, two core books and supplemental articles. Even if you aren’t doing the full program, some of the video segments can offer great learning opportunities.
Here’s a sampling:
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‘American Creed’ looks at what it means to be “American” from different perspectives. (86 min.)
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‘The myth of race, debunked in 3 minutes’ is a video by vox.com that helps to show how race is a social construct, not a scientific one.
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‘The African Americans: The Black Atlantic’ is available if you have a PBS Passport account (login, then search for it). It explores the truly global experiences that created the African American people and how that history predates North American colonization.
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A Geography Lesson for the Tea Party is an article by Collin Woodard in Washington Monthly magazine. It gives an insight into how regional divides affect the United States in ways more complex than just north or south, red, or blue.
To see all the videos (some are not available without a course password) and fully participate in the conversation, consider joining a future Sacred Ground Circle. See Todd Bartlett’s invitation in the camping e-news for more information.
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What is truth?
What is the cost of telling the truth?
Let’s start with something that might seem a bit easier. Think of a time in your childhood when you were required to tell the truth. What were the consequences? As children, we may have felt that the consequences were enormous (and in some situations they were). Yet those childhood moments may seem simplistic compared to what we encounter as adults needing to discern and tell the truth.
How do we determine what is truth? What evidence is required before you believe something to be true? In the 8th chapter of John’s gospel, we read about Jesus and his encounter with the Pharisees and others who do not believe him. What is truth and how can the truth set you free?
For the past few months, I have been engaged in a dialogue group on racism. We have spent several sessions looking at the history of various peoples of color in relation to the United States. And we have discovered how much of history we do not know. We are also learning to deal with the consequences of what one group of people considers the truth, while that same truth causes great harm to another group of people. Truth does not always look the same to everyone. Those of us who live with privilege because of our skin color, our economic status, our sexual orientation… those of us who live with privilege must always examine the truth before us and ask ourselves who is being harmed by this truth.
Who is being harmed when our history books tell only one side of the story of our history? Who is being harmed when our country cannot agree on who won the 2020 presidential election? Who is being harmed when people declare as truth that Covid-19 is not real? Who is being harmed when misinformation is spoken as truth about the safety of vaccines?
And when we have determined the truth as we understand it, we must speak it to others. We must speak for those who have had their voice taken away by circumstances or by those of us who live with privilege.
What is truth?
Working Together for Justice,
Karen Nelson
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NOW'S THE TIME FOR ACTION |
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Now is the time to continue to push for broad systemic change. Here are a few ways you can seek justice: |
[ ]Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
[ ]Call your legislators (202-224-3121) and advocate for permanent federal paid sick leave, expanded unemployment benefits, SNAP increases, and a moratorium on evictions, utility shut-offs, and payments.
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OREGON-IDAHO CHAPTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE |
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Karen Nelson, President
Taylor Gould, Vice President
Louise Kienzle, Secretary
Membership Secretary
Newsletter Editor
Jan Nelson, Treasurer
Claudia Roberts, National Program Council
Representative
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Members At Large:
Shawn Clark
Janine Delaunay
Esteban Galan
Debbie Mallis
Steve Mitchell
Greg Nelson
Ryan Scott
Jeri Silfies
Emeritus:
Paul LaRue
Ruth Walton
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