Methodist Federation for Social Action
Oregon-Idaho Chapter
May, 2023
Witness Masthead
Put this on your calendar:

June 10:
12:00noon-1:30pm, MFSA Lunch at
Annual Conference/Annual Meeting;
Meridian UMC

June 13:
1:00-3:00pm PST/2:00-4:00pm MT
OR-ID MFSA Executive Board meeting,
via ZOOM

September 10:
Newsletter submission deadline

YOU ARE INVITED to any of our regular MFSA Board meetings!
We are meeting virtually on the 2nd Tuesday of every month from 1:00pm-3:00pm PT/2:00pm-4:00pm MT.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13.

Our meetings sometimes begin with a short program on topics relating to social justice. If YOU or your group have an idea for a future program you would like to share, please let us know!

If you want to join us, please contact Karen Nelson for the ZOOM link.
ARE YOU AN MFSA MEMBER?
MFSA AT ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Karen Nelson
MFSA will be hosting a lunch at Annual Conference. We have been scheduled for lunch on Saturday, June 10. Anyone who will be at Annual Conference or lives in the area, is invited to join us for this face-to-face gathering. You can still sign up for lunch until May 15. If you are a member of AC, include this lunch in your registration. If you are not a member, you can register here as a guest. And if you have already registered and didn’t choose the MFSA lunch, you can go back into your registration and add lunch.
 
Our lunch will include time for table conversation and reconnecting with other justice seekers, a guest speaker from Idaho, and a short business meeting. We hope you can join us.
 
We are aware that the MFSA lunch conflicts with the “Go and Do Likewise” justice walk. We have been told that we will receive information about the stops on the justice walk so that we can participate on our own at other times. 
 
National MFSA Address

996 Maine Ave. SW #307
Washington DC 20024
(not a physical address, mailing only)
Phone: 202-240-2546
PRESIDENT'S COLUMN

4 Come to [God], a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones let yourselves be built[b] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in scripture:
  “See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a
   cornerstone chosen and precious, and
   whoever believes in him will not be put
   to shame.”
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
                                                                 1 Peter 2 selected verses
 
Sometimes a particular scripture captures my attention and tugs at me and tells me it is time to listen carefully. Recently this text from 1 Peter was like that. It was one of the lectionary texts for May 7 and I happened to be a guest preacher that day, so I spent quite a bit of time with it prior to May 7. But then it didn’t let go after that Sunday either.
 
“You are a chosen people.” What does it mean to be chosen by God? It is a challenge and a huge responsibility. It is also a privilege. I invite you to consider how you are being chosen by God. What is God asking you to do? Where is God asking you to speak out, to be a voice for the voiceless?
 
When God chooses each of us, we have a decision to make. Will we listen and follow in the place that God is leading us? Or will we say no thanks, that’s not for me. Sometimes saying yes feels overwhelming and it is time to stop and really listen, to identify the places/situations where we can most follow God’s calling, and to let some things be done by others.
 
The other message that stands out in this text is that we are not alone. We are God’s people, not as individuals, but as a community. And as a community, we can offer support to one another.
 
You are a living stone, precious in God’s sight. What does that look like in your life?

Working Together for Justice,
Karen Nelson
NEWS, OPPORTUNITIES AND ACTION
2023 MFSA LEGISLATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
MFSA is a social justice organization founded in 1907 originally to speak out against child labor. It was created through the United Methodist Church and for many years was the voice for social justice within the church. Later it became a distinct, stand-alone organization working alongside the church.
 
Today, the Oregon-Idaho Chapter of MFSA has partnered to bring to the Annual Conference one piece of justice legislation that comes before us. In addition, the MFSA board has reviewed all other legislation coming to Annual Conference and has made recommendations on the issues that speak to social justice.
 
We offer these recommendations for you and urge you to be in conversation with your member to Annual Conference and pastor about legislation. You can find the full text of legislation here.
2023 MFSA SPRING EVENT
On April 22, 2023, Oregon-Idaho Methodist Federation for Social Action invited justice-seekers to its spring event, “Why Justice Matters – A Conversation with Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth.”
 
Bishop Bridgeforth shared how and why justice matters to him with stories of his roots in justice work and experiencing injustice, as well as the presence and absence of love in key moments of our lives and our history. He recognized that justice, mercy, and truth are not accidental, and they are not optional, as expressions of love and holiness.
 
Did you miss it? It's not too late to hear Bishop Bridgeforth’s message, his questions to us and the conversations that followed. You can view the video here. 
NEW GUN LAWS IN OREGON?
Jan Nelson
Many people worked hard in the fall of 2022 to pass Oregon Initiative 114. This new law requires permits, training, and completed background checks for firearm purchases. It also bans ammunition magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds. So what happened?
 
A judge in one county has put a hold on the major parts of the law pending a trial on the matter. No date has been set for the trial. Supporters of the law have appealed to the state Supreme Court and hope to have the county judge’s injunction overruled.
 
Meanwhile, the state legislature has had a number of gun-related bills introduced. HB 2005 would ban “ghost guns”, untraceable and undetectable guns, and has passed the House. The walkout of Republicans in the Senate is preventing final action on the bill.
 
There is little that individual citizens can do to influence the court case over Measure 114. You can contact your legislators to insist on legislative action to prevent further gun violence. More information about specific legislation is linked from the Lift Every Voice Oregon website. And we can all pray for an end to the mass shootings, accidents, and suicides enabled by the flood of guns in our society.

BOOKS, VIDEOS, MOVIES...
Sometimes one stumbles across a book, article, video or movie and thinks:
“my social justice friends need to read/see this!” 
Please share your suggestions with newsletter editor Louise Kienzle for a future edition.
The Librarian of Burned Books by Brianna Labuskes (submitted by Karen Nelson)

This book is set in the 1930s and 1940s of Germany, France, and the United States. The story weaves through the book burnings that happened in Nazi Germany and other occupied countries and the Armed Services Editions which were mass-produced paperbacks selected by a panel of literary experts from among classics, bestsellers, humor books and poetry. The ASEs were sent to United States service personnel during World War II. During the writing of the Soldier Voting Act of 1944, a number of restrictions and bans were put on the ASEs going overseas, claiming that anything political was no longer acceptable. The definition of political was fairly open-ended.
 
While this novel is based on historical events, it brings to mind the book bans that are happening in many of our states today. How does a small group of people get to decide what are appropriate books for students to read? In too many places, teachers are being threatened with firing for having books in their classrooms that are on a banned book list, often a list of books that those banning have not even read. Other places have chosen to ban categories of books so that there is great confusion about what is banned and what isn’t. Where does the banning of books end? History tells us one story. What will the future story look like?
NOW'S THE TIME FOR ACTION
Now is the time to continue to push for broad systemic change. Besides the calls to action found in the articles above, here are a few other ways you can take action to seek justice: 
Human Rights and Economic Justice
[ ]Show your support of farmworkers and their fight for dignity by signing a petition to expand the Fair Food Program to protect more farmworkers. 
[ ]Sign ICHRP-US's open letter to President Biden on human rights in the Philippines.
[ ]Contact your legislators and tell them to support the Banning All Neurotoxic Organophosphate Pesticides from our Food Act (The BAN OPs Act) to make a difference for farm workers and their families.
[ ]Join a National Nonviolent Moral Direct Action Call-In in calling the offices of Senator Manchin, Senator Sinema, Senator McConnell, and Senator Schumer. 
[ ]Sign up for Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fair Food mailing list to learn more about what you can do to advocate for farmworker rights.
[ ]Contact your Senators and Representatives to pass common sense legislation that saves the lives of farm workers like the Asunción Valdivia Heat Illness and Fatality Prevention Act.
In solidarity, join workers demanding $15/hr and tell McDonald’s to raise wages now.
[ ]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.
[ ]Tell Congress to protect children in agriculture through co-sponsoring the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act). 
[ ] Write your Representative to join Representative Susan Wild and urge the Administration to hold officials responsible for grave human rights violations in the Philippines accountable through targeted sanctions.
[ ]Tell your Senator to pass the Equality Act so that all people have comprehensive, nationwide protection against discrimination.
Gender Justice
[ ] Write your senators to urge them to prioritize the needs of pregnant and postpartum workers by passing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act without delay!
[ ]Contact your Senators and demand they vote yes on the Women's Health Protection Act.
Racial Justice
[ ]Tell your Member of Congress to support the Accessible, Affordable Internet for All (AAIA) Act, an act that can help bridge the digital divide that disproportionately impacts Black, Latinx, Indigenous, rural, or low-income people.
[ ]Contact your elected officials to take an intersectional response to the incidents of AAPI hate and to center the needs of those most impacted, Asian American women and elders.
[ ]Grow in your personal learning or as a community with a group study by taking advantage of free online university courses on systemic racism.
Immigration and Refugee Rights
[ ]Tell Congress to reduce funding for ICE detention capacity and shrink the cruel immigration detention system.
[ ]Call on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act which will help keep families together and ensure lasting protection for at-risk Afghans.
[ ]Join the #WelcomeWithDignity movement by signing the pledge to reimagine the way our country and our communities treat people seeking safety.
[ ]AIDNW continues to serve 50+ newly release guests outside Tacoma’s NW ICE Processing Center at the RV Welcome Center each day. They are in desperate need of volunteers and supplies. Find out how you can help!
[ ]Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
[ ]Contact your elected officials and demand Congress cut funding for ICE and CBP and defund hate.
[ ]The Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice (IMIrJ) hosts IMIrJ Advocacy Nights on the 2nd Monday of each month from 6:00-7:30pm. RSVP here and invite your friends to join you!
[ ]Write a letter and join in the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
Justice in the Holy Land
[ ]Encourage your congregation to sign the Apartheid-Free Pledge and take action against Israeli Apartheid.
[ ]Help protect land and life in Wadi Foquin and the West Bank, and sign the petition to stop Israeli Settlement Expansion. 
[ ]Discover more campaigns targeting companies making a negative impact on Palestinians lives and human rights, from the The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC) and use Investigate! to discover corporations involved in incarceration and immigrant detention, the Israeli occupation, and the border industries.
[ ]Hold Siemens and Chevron accountable for fueling Israeli apartheid and climate disaster. 
[ ]Send a message to your legislators in Congress to speak out publicly and also urge the Biden administration to press Israel not to fulfill its plan for ethnic cleansing and destruction in Masafer Yatta.
[ ]Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor HR 2590: Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act. 
[ ]Write to the leadership of the township of Fairfield, CT to contact Sturm Ruger, the largest firearm manufacturer in the United States with headquarters in Fairfield, and demand the company suspend weapon and bullet sales to Israel.
[ ]Tell President Biden and Vice President Harris to hold Israel accountable to its obligations as an occupying power and insist that Israel provide COVID-19 vaccines equally and fairly to Palestinians living under its occupation.
[ ]Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
[ ]Manufacturing in an illegal Israeli settlement is a war crime. Tell General Mills to stop making Pillsbury products on stolen Palestinian land by signing the petition, sending an email to the CEO, and #BoycottPillsbury.
[ ]Sign the petition and join Palestinian Cry for Hope: a Call to Decisive Action, a global movement set by Kairos Response that "rouses churches to action and awakens civil society to the reality of Palestinian suffering." 
Gun Violence
[ ]Take action to support gun safety legislation that will help end gun violence.
Peace and Justice
[ ]Join a National Nonviolent Moral Direct Action Call-In in calling the offices of Senator Manchin, Senator Sinema, Senator McConnell, and Senator Schumer. 
[ ]Sign ICHRP-US's open letter to President Biden on human rights in the Philippines.
[ ]Reject U.S. support of the Marcos Dynasty in the Philippines and sign the Unity Statement.
[ ]Write your Representative to join Representative Susan Wild and urge the Administration to hold officials responsible for grave human rights violations in the Philippines accountable through targeted sanctions.
[ ]Has your country signed on to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons? Contact your elected officials to support the end of nuclear weapons in the world.
Climate Justice
Voting Rights
[ ]This election season, pledge to vote your values and fight for your rights and encourage your friends and family to do the same.
Death Penalty Abolition
[ ]Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
Justice for those with Disabilities
[ ]Learn how you and your ministry can truly embody open hospitality by enrolling in Be A Disciple's courses and getting a Certification in Ministry with People with Disabilities. 
OREGON-IDAHO CHAPTER EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Karen Nelson, President

Louise Kienzle, Secretary
Membership Secretary
Newsletter Editor

Jan Nelson, Treasurer

Claudia Roberts, National Program Council
Representative
Members At Large:
Vickie Johnson
Debbie Mallis
Steve Mitchell
Greg Nelson
Jeri Silfies

Emeritus:
Ruth Walton