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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. COVID-19 continues to highlight the inequities in our society that has literal life or death consequences. 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.

Goodbye from Yeo Jin

Hi friends!  As you can see from the heading above, my time at MFSA is coming to a close, and I will soon be saying goodbye to my time serving as a Global Mission Fellow US-2 and as the Communications and Development Coordinator at the National Office of MFSA.  I want to express my gratitude to you all.  It has been a blessing and privilege to serve at MFSA.  I learned so much and was stretched, not just professionally but also spiritually.  In fact, my time at MFSA, as a GMF US-2, and in Michigan marks a significant part of my discernment journey. My last day will be June 30, 2021. Following a short break after my departure from MFSA, I will be headed to Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL to study Pastoral Care and Counseling.  I thank you again for welcoming and encouraging this young adult, and I’m looking forward to continuing my connection with MFSA as a member of the community.  The individuals and communities I have crossed paths with and connected with during my time at MFSA will always hold a special place in my story, and I am so thankful.  Thank you.

Introducing our Summer Intern Sarah Walsh

Hello! My name is Sarah Walsh. I will be the new intern here at MFSA. It’s nice to meet you all! I specialize in marketing and communications.  I am a rising senior at Washington College who is interested in working in the nonprofit sector after graduation. I discovered MFSA from an article in an issue of Time Magazine on “The Pink Fringe of Methodism”. I converted to Methodism and was baptized when I was eleven. I reached out to MFSA in early 2021 because of our shared values. I was thrilled to find out I was accepted!

Due to both personal experience and events I witnessed throughout my life, social justice is very important to me. Equality and advocacy go hand in hand with my faith. Jesus himself advocated for those who were outcast by society and challenged oppressive systems. He also believed in promoting unity through understanding, which I try to do with my podcast “Come Pray with Me”, an educational show about world religions. It is an honor to join MFSA.

An Update from Our Racial Audit Team

The MFSA Organizational Racial Audit Team, are excited to share that we are preparing the final tool of the Racial Audit: an organizational survey.  The previous tools were designed to identify the various ways in which white supremacy culture operates within the organization by examining behaviors, structures, programs, and policies of MFSA.  The survey will consist of asking a broad, representative sample of our constituents to identify patterns of white supremacy culture they see working in our organization.  Combining the qualitative data collected from the previous tools - research, interviews, and focus groups - and the quantitative data to be collected, the survey will enable the audit team to confirm major themes to be addressed within MFSA.

The survey will be distributed in two phases: (1) demographic survey and (2) content-based survey.  The purpose of the first phase, the demographic survey, is to gather information about our constituency.  The demographic survey ensures that we are not missing input from segments of our community. It will help us understand the way that our current demographic makeup matches or differs from our surrounding population.  In order to work with the most accurate data set of MFSA, this first phase will be sent as widely as possible.

The purpose of the second phase, the organizational survey, is to gain critical content.  This survey will include questions about patterns and themes of white supremacy culture that may be present in MFSA and will be sent to a randomized representative sample of those who respond to the demographic portion. Not everyone who fills out the demographic survey will receive the organizational survey.

The key to the success of the survey is broad participation among our members, friends, and associates.  It is especially important that we hear from people of color and communities most directly impacted by white supremacy culture in MFSA.  Please watch for the initial survey in the next few weeks, respond, and encourage others to respond.  It is essential that we have a high response rate in both phases.  Your input is vital because it will help shape the future of MFSA!

From Sanctuary to Freedom

After living over three years within the confines of the church building, Ded was able to step foot outside Central United Methodist Church on May 18, 2021.  It was January 15, 2018 when the Rranxburgaj family moved into Central United Methodist Church in Detroit, MI seeking sanctuary.  Since their application for asyulm from the communist rule of Albania was denied, Ded and Flora Rranxburgaj had lived in the US undocumented for 17 years.

As Rev. Dr. Jill Hardt Zundel wrote in February, during the time the Rranxburgaj’s case was in appeal, “Flora was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis which now has her confined to a wheel chair.”  Both Flora and Ded were given stays of removal on humanitarian reasons, and they checked in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) every year.

June 14 - June 19: Colors of Pride

This Pride Month MFSA is teaming up with various non-profits for “Colors of Pride”. "Colors of Pride” is an opportunity for congregations to take a public stand of support for equality during Pride month and commemorating Juneteenth. Our goal is to create opportunities for allyship with the queer community, Black and Brown communities, and congregations by engaging at least 300 congregations nationwide to agree to participate in our pro-equality actions during Pride month. We invite you to join us in celebrating and advocating together throughout the week by participating in activities, webinars, and workshops. 

As many of you know, June is pride month, a month dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQ+ community as well as fighting for LGBTQ+ rights. We are participating in Give Out Day, a campaign dedicated to raising funds for non-profits engaged in LGBTQ+ justice work. Give OUT Day is June 30th, but you don't have to wait until the day to give!

June 2-3: Faith & Fair Food Summit

June 2nd and 3rd, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Alliance for Fair Food are hosting the first-ever Faith and Fair Food Summit. Inspired by the CIW student ally “Encuentros,” this virtual summit is an opportunity for clergy and lay leaders of all faiths to come together to reflect upon, strategize, and grow our farmworker solidarity network. These two days will orient allies to the legacy of faith organizing within the CIW’s impressive history, and provide space for us to co-create the next chapter of faith and fair food solidarity. Programming will include interactive sessions on the history of faith organizing in Immokalee, the expansion and operation of the Fair Food Program, and the ongoing boycott of Wendy’s.

Now's the Time for Action

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

1. Join clergy, lay leaders, and faith allies from across the Fair Food Nation on June 2-3 for the first-ever Faith & Fair Food Summit.
2. Get your congregation and community to participate in Colors of Pride.
3. In solidarity, join workers demanding $15/hr and tell McDonald’s to raise wages now.
4. Contact your elected officials and demand Congress cut funding for ICE and CBP and defund hate.
5. 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.
6. Advocate for farm worker rights and sign on to a letter that calls for British American Tobacco to ensure freedom of association for farm workers on Reynolds American contract farms.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. Check the State Voting Bills Tracker to find out if your state lawmakers have introduced one of the 253 bills aimed at suppressing voting rights, and contact your state lawmakers to demand they support voting rights.
11. Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
12. 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.
13. Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
14. 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.
15. Write a letter and join the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
16. 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."
17. Take free online university courses on systemic racism.
18. Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
19. 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. 

In Case You Missed It

1. Access the latest webinar and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar "Waking the World"
2. Watch the recording of MFSA and Association of Ministers with Disabilities's webinar titled "A Conversation on 'A Healing Homiletic Preaching and Disability' "
3. Watch the discussion with the I’m Black. I’m Christian. I’m Methodist. writers and editor Rudy Rasmus, moderated by M. Garlinda Burton.

We at MFSA encourage you to be a witness and a good neighbor. Please continue to do your part in flattening the curve by practicing physical distancing.