Hope Is Still Alive—Because People Like You Keep Showing Up
We are in a moment where much is being taken away—affirming care for trans youth, honest education, protections for immigrants and workers, and even the right to protest. Diversity and inclusion efforts are being dismantled, and military force has been turned against civilians. It feels relentless. The list of attacks grows longer by the day, and the weight of it all can feel insurmountable.
In difficult times our history reminds us of the importance of maintaining hope. During the McCarthy era in the early 1950s, MFSA (then MFSS) was targeted by the government for its refusal to remain silent. Even then, we persisted. When the denomination enacted harmful prohibitions against queer clergy and same-gender weddings, MFSA refused to be silent. We organized, we protested, we prayed, and we kept showing up—at General Conference, at annual conferences, and in communities around the world—to demand that our church live out its calling to justice and love. This work not only resulted in the removal of the discriminatory policies against LGBTQIA+ people in our church, but also in the passing of the Revised Social Principles and Worldwide Regionalization.
We just learned of our most recent victory, the ratification of all four constitutional amendments by overwhelming margins. The result of decades of faithful advocacy by countless United Methodists who have worked to build a church rooted in justice, equity, and God’s unconditional welcome. These amendments strengthen our shared life together: affirming that no one can be excluded because of gender or ability, naming and confronting racism and colonialism as sin, empowering regional decision-making across our global connection, and expanding pathways for clergy leadership.
Hope is not naïve optimism—it’s rooted in resistance. Hope is what allows us to imagine something better, even in the face of harm. It’s what has always driven justice movements. From the abolition of child labor to women’s suffrage to civil rights to queer liberation—progress has never come without people choosing to resist with hope and to act. Today, we continue our legacy by equipping leaders, resourcing movements, and organizing for a just and liberated church and world.
Your faithful giving helps sustain a bold, public witness for justice in our church and communities, making hope and resistance possible. When you include MFSA in your annual giving, you are saying: We will not be silent. We will not back down. We will resist—in faith and in action.
As we prepare for a new year, we ask you to stand with us again. Would you consider making a meaningful financial investment in MFSA’s vital work ahead? Your contribution fuels this faithful resistance. It will directly support leadership development, our continued advocacy work for inclusion, denominational engagement, educational webinars, and movement-building across the connection to work for change in our church and our world. Work that many are still too afraid to do.
Please make a year-end gift to MFSA. Together, we will not turn away. Together, we will press on.
With resolve and hope,
Pat Stewart and Rev. Andy Oliver (Board Co-Presidents)
Bridget Cabrera (Executive Director)
You make our collective work possible by your witness for justice every day in your church, community, and Annual Conference. MFSA does not receive any financial support from the United Methodist Church's giving channels. 100% of our budget is funded through your membership donations and your generosity in giving.