MFSA
Sets New Directions
November, 2004
Meeting
in Chicago from October 14 through 16, the board of directors of
the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA)
began new program initiatives, called on the church
to take action related to the Middle East and elected several new
members to our Executive
Committee.
Marilyn Outslay of Oregon will join the MFSA board
of directors as Co-President along with Joe Agne
who enters his second term as Co-President. Marilyn,
who worked with MFSA at General Conference
2004 as one of two MFSA legislative coordinators,
brings a wealth of experience to this new post. She has
served on the board of the General
Board of Global Ministries, the Women’s Division, the General
Board of Pensions, the Episcopacy Committees of her annual
conference and jurisdiction, and as a delegate to
General Conference.
Marilyn brings outstanding leadership qualities to
the position at this important time when MFSA is approaching its 100th
anniversary of serving the church as a witness for justice and peace.
PROGRAM INITIATIVES
Primary among the new program initiatives adopted at
the board meeting are an emphasis on working for peace through active
nonviolence and working to dismantle racism and white privilege.
The MFSA board met with Janet Chisholm, Nonviolence
Education and Training Coordinator for the Fellowship
of Reconciliation (FOR), and enthusiastically agreed
to develop a collaborative relationship
with FOR in providing nonviolence training. MFSA
will explore adapting the FOR nonviolence training curriculum
to be used with United Methodist
groups across the country. The five themes covered
in the curriculum, violence, active nonviolence,
nonviolent social change, community-building
and action planning, fit in well with the “Pledge
of Nonviolence” adopted
by MFSA in 2003.
The Rev. Robert Campbell of the Northern Illinois
Conference joined the Executive Committee of MFSA to head up this
initiative on behalf of the MFSA board. According
to Rev. Campbell, who has used a
similar curriculum upon which the FOR curriculum
is based, “the
curriculum is very effective, particularly in understanding the full
range of the ways in which violence operates, from the personal to the
societal.” “It also fits well with MFSA’s commitment
to integrating our spirituality with action,” continued Campbell.
Bernadette Odyniec, a peace educator in Washington,
D.C., will join the MFSA staff as a volunteer consultant
to help develop and resource the
program.
VOICES OF FAITH CONFERENCE
This nonviolence theme will be carried through into
the second “Voices of Faith” conference sponsored by MFSA
from March 31 – April 2, 2005 in Los Angeles. The first “Voices
of Faith” conference took place in Atlanta in 2003 and drew together
over 300 progressive United Methodists. We anticipate that this second
conference, with the theme “From Swords into Plowshares,” will
attract 500 or more participants.
Bible study leader, Ched Myers will anchor the program
with four one-hour Bible studies on Scriptures related to the themes
of violence and active nonviolence.
BUILDING A PROGRESSIVE COALITION AND FIGHTING AGAINST
RACISM
On Friday, October 15, the MFSA board joined other
progressive United Methodist groups and spent part
of one day meeting with UCC pastor and anti-oppression
educator the Rev. Melanie Morrison.
Rev. Morrison is the co-director of the Leaven Center
in Lyons, Michigan and has been active in grass roots
ecumenical movements committed to
racial justice for more than twenty-five years. She
led the groups in several exercises including doing
an inventory of racism and anti-racism
in their organizations and networks. Of the nearly
100 people involved in this training, several commented
on the depth of new insights they
gained. All of the groups present made a commitment
to continue to deepen their understanding of the
dynamics of racism and to increase efforts
to bring about racial justice. (Click here to read
full text or Melanie Morrison’s address to the group.)
The Rev. Louis Chase of California-Pacific and the
Rev. Vicki Woods of New England joined the MFSA Executive Committee to
help hold the MFSA board and network accountable to these commitments.
MIDDLE-EAST ACTION
In actions related to a just peace in the Middle East,
MFSA’s Middle East Network (MENUM) and the MFSA board concurred
on the following:
-
MFSA/MENUM
requests the General Board of Pensions and
Health Benefits and the General Board of Global
Ministries
and Women’s
Division to research and identify companies
that profit from sales of products or services that cause
harm to Palestinians or Israelis.
-
MFSA/MENUM
requests that the above named general boards and
agencies continue to work with the Interfaith
Center on Corporate Responsibility, including organizations such
as the Jewish Voice
for
Peace, to persuade Caterpillar to halt
their sales of bulldozers to Israel.
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Upon
lack of significant progress within the next year,
MFSA/MENUM requests
the General Boards
and Agencies of the UMC join the ecumenical partners within other denominations
in divesting
of assets
in Caterpillar and other selected
companies.
Following
up on the actions dictated in the “Peace
in the Middle East Resolution” passed at
General Conference 2004:
-
MFSA/MENUM
urges the General Board of
Global Ministries and the General
Board of Church and Society to develop advocacy packets for local congregations
related
to Middle
East peace and offered
assistance
in identifying
resources and distributing packets.
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The
MFSA board urges the General Commission on Christian
Unity
and Interreligous Concerns to resource individuals and congregations in reaching
out to
local synagogues, mosques and Christian
faith groups
by
engaging in interfaith and
ecumenical dialogue on how to promote justice and
peace in the Holy Land.
SPEAKING
OUT ON IRAQ
The MFSA board released a statement decrying the
continued violence in Iraq.
The MFSA statement reads in part: On May 11, 2004, the
United
Methodist Council of Bishops spoke out forcefully
against the war, calling
for the UN to be involved in the transition
to a new Iraqi government and
the
rebuilding
of Iraq through multinational
assistance. As our Bishops
gather on October 31st on St. Simon’s Island,
GA, we urge them
to speak out once again.
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