Alaska Conference Special Sunday - September 19
Please mark your calendars! We are celebrating Alaska Conference Special Sunday this year on September 19th. In the coming weeks we will be sharing suggestions on how to celebrate this day in your local churches as well as actionable items that can be done in your local communities including but not limited to a special offering. Our focus this year will be on the following statement of values that we agreed on at Annual Conference to guide our transition into a Mission District:
We acknowledge that the Methodist Church is complicit with and rooted in the colonization of Alaska and recognize that we live in that ongoing legacy. We lament the harm and trauma that our faith community causes. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Movement, summarized God's directives with three Rules: do no harm, do good, and attend to the ordinances of God. We also celebrate the grace, the love, and the good that our church does that calls us to re-imagine mission through intentional discipleship with one another.
We will live into the transition to a Mission District committed to:
1) The love of God, neighbor, and self demonstrated by the deliberate embracing and valuing of differences, the leveling of imbalances between people and systems, and the intentional dismantling of inequities in whatever forms they present themselves.
2) Healing, grace-filled mission with communities and churches that prioritizes local experiences and shares resources across time and distance through equitable relationships.
3) Living into connectionalism by belonging to and trusting in one another to nurture relationships that celebrate the gifts each of our communities bring, allowing us to move forward in a decolonized way.
