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Dear Justice-Seeker,

This issue of MFSAVoices is jam-packed with resources and information. So much so that it won't all fit in your email message so be sure to click view entire message at the bottom of this email to view the entire issue. Our newsletters are designed to be used all month long. So take a quick glance and take note of important dates to add to your calendar but also come back in the following weeks to work your way through the action items.  

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We continue to see the urgency of our work to make broad systemic change. Change that honors the dignity and worth of all people, puts people over money, and honors the earth and all her inhabitants. Since 1907, MFSA has been shining a light on injustice and organizing to change it.  

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 dues and your generosity in giving.

Webinar: Racial Audit Report

After three years of intense work, the MFSA Racial Audit Team presented its final report and recommendations to the MFSA board of directors and program council on Mon Jan 30, 2023. It was unanimously and enthusiastically affirmed and adopted. MFSA invites you to a Justice-Seeking movement wide presentation of the MFSA Organizational Racial Audit Report. Date TBD. We will share more details in the coming weeks.

Justice-Seeking Congregation Offers Space for AP African American Studies Class

Justice-Seeking congregation, Allendale United Methodist Church, is offering a space for Advanced Placement African American Studies to be taught following Florida's push to ban this course in high schools. The church space is "for any educator to come in and teach AP African American Studies to any students or adults who want to know more."  

Rev. Andy Oliver, MFSA Board Co-President and pastor of Allendale UMC says “I believe we have to know our history, so that we can do better as a community. When one part of our community suffers, whether that’s Black or brown children or LGBTQ children, all parts are attacked. We are part of this inescapable network of mutuality that we have to stand in solidarity together.” Watch Rev. Oliver's interview on CNN.

If your church, small group, ministry group, or community is interested in becoming a Justice-Seeking Community, please click here and check out the JSC Covenant.

Virtual Symposium:
"The Deadly Intersection of White Supremacy and Firearms"

The John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions and the Bloomberg American Health Initiative are co-hosting a free virtual symposium, "The Deadly Intersection of White Supremacy and Firearms" on February 9 9am-5pm ET. 

"The intersection of access to guns, hate crimes, and political violence enable violent and deadly manifestations of white supremacy that serve to maintain the status quo and prevent Black, Brown, and Indigenous people from attaining and exercising social, political, and economic power in the United States."

Survivors, researchers, legal scholars, and political scientists will discuss the intersection of white supremacy, political violence and firearms, and the devastation it causes. Learn more and access the symposium agenda via the button below. 

Save the Date: 2023 Build a New World March!

Farm workers and allies are organizing a 5-day march from Pahokee, FL to Palm Beach March 14-18 to demand that Wendy's, Publix, and Kroger join the Fair Food Program. 

Coalition of Immokalee Workers are "calling on all conscious consumers to join farmworkers for the 2-mile grand finale on March 18 through the heart of downtown Palm Beach to build a new world of freedom for all farmworkers"

United Methodists in Palestine

Access the latest recording and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar, "United Methodists in Palestine."

Michigan United Methodists lead a time of storytelling at North Central Jurisdictional Conference

During the North Central Jurisdictional Conference, in early November, delegates took part in a time of storytelling, listening, and learning about "the impact of homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism on individuals within The United Methodist Church." This came out of the "Covenant to Build a BeLoved Community" approved at the November 2021 special virtual session of the North Central Jurisdiction which "called on the jurisdiction to work to end racism and to create a culture that welcomes and affirms LGBTQIA+ people." 

Alex Plum, an ordained deacon from Michigan Conference and member of Michigan MFSA, curated and led the liturgy for the gathering and "attendees were encouraged to begin the time of storytelling and conversation by remembering their baptisms." Delegates were given a list of resources and definitions to inform the listening of the stories told by three people within the North Central Jurisdiction. 

The storytellers included:

Rev Angie Cox, licensed local pastor at Livingston UMC and Broad Street UMC in Columbus, OH, spoke to the impact of Homophobia on the Church. Listen to her story here. 

Kiri Anne Ryan Bereznai, a non-binary trans woman of faith, spoke to the impacts of Transphobia on the Church. Listen to their story here. 

Rev Mary Anne Moman spoke to the impacts of Heterosexism on the Church. Listen to her full story here.  

Following each speaker, the audience was provided questions to contemplate and discuss. Access these questions and more information on these powerful conversations the North Central Jurisdiction took part in through the button below. 

[Image Source: Michigan UMC Conference]

Lenten Resources

As we head into the Lenten season, check out these resources that center intersectional justice.

Join MFSA in our Lenten Devotional Series that will feature weekly reflections from Justice-Seeking People of Faith. The devotionals will be shared on our social media and sent to our email list each week of Lent. You can access previous years' Lent devotionals here. 

General Commission on Religion and Race: Imago Dei- A Lenten Bible Study of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This free resource is a five-week study written in the style of Lectio Divina, and seeks to "facilitate our ability to live in the image of God and to perceive that same sacred image in others."

enfleshed "creates and facilitates spiritual resources for collective liberation through prayer, liturgies, art, meditations, teaching, and other resources." You can access past free Lenten studies here or sign up and subscribe for Liturgy that Matters here. 

Creation Justice Ministries offers a 2023 Lent Resources which provides a Daily Reflection-Action Calendar to Cultivate Creation Justice. Access it here. 

Now's the Time for Action

Here are a few ways you can seek justice and work for broad systemic change:

1. Help buy up medical debts through RIP Medical Debt. Learn about churches who have had successful medical bill forgiveness campaigns. 
2. 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.
3. Hold Siemens and Chevron accountable for fueling Israeli apartheid and climate disaster. 
4. Contact your legislators and tell them to 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. 
5. Sign ICHRP-US's open letter to President Biden on human rights in the Philippines. 
6. Tell Congress to reduce funding for ICE detention capacity and shrink the cruel immigration detention system. 
7. Reject U.S. support of the Marcos Dynasty in the Philippines and sign the Unity Statement. 
8. Tell Congress to protect children in agriculture through co-sponsoring the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act). 
9. 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. 
10. #Standwithblackgirls and encourage your legislators to pass the Pushout Act H.R. 5325 (IH) – Ending Punitive, Unfair, School-based Harm that is Overt and Unresponsive to Trauma Act of 2019

In Case You Missed It

1. Access the latest recording and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar, "United Methodists in Palestine." 
2. Read MFSA's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. 
3. Watch MFSA New York Chapter sponsored presentation "The Five Eras of Black Reconstruction & White Rage."
4. Access all five sessions in the Stealing the Earth webinar series, and explore the Dismantling the Doctrine resource list.