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Dear Justice-Seeker,

I invite us to take a moment to pause and center the families and communities impacted by the mass shooting in TX at an elementary school. This is the 27th school shooting this year in the US, meaning one has occurred almost every five days this year.  According the New England Journal of Medicine, guns surpassed car accidents as the No. 1 cause of death among children in the US in 2020, increasing almost 30% between 2019 and 2020. According to CNN, there have been more mass shootings this year than there have been days this year. We as humanity who share this home that we call Earth together with all of creation are responsible for each other and to each other. It should not be easier to buy a gun than it is to get access to health care or baby formula in the US. We as a society here in the US can and must act to pass common sense gun reform laws at the National, state, and local levels. We must do better.

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.

Racial Audit Reflection

White nationalists protested outside my church during worship a few weeks ago. My congregants were forced to walk through a crowd that shouting that they were pedophiles and groomers. These slurs were in response to a recent message on our church sign that named the harm Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was doing, and the name calling parroted his press secretary who said that those opposed to the “don’t say gay” bill must be groomers.

Last week we all witnessed a self proclaimed white supremacist target and kill Black people in a grocery store. This was followed by a man attacking Taiwanese-American church-goers.

It is not hard to connect the dots between White Nationalism, White Supremacy, and other forms of hatred that inspires violence. Politicians, media pundits, and others have been gaining power by stoking the fear of white people and culture being replaced by people at the margins. We see this “Great Replacement” fear-mongering tool at work in everything from voter suppression laws, anti-CRT rhetoric, chants of protestors calling LGBTQ worship attendees groomers, to cable news pundits’ rants, the writings of both of last weekend’s shooters, and to the actual chants of torch carrying marchers in Charlottesville.

As a white pastor who has done the intellectual work of studying this evil, everything listed above is easy to spot and name. The hard work is knowing how to cure this disease. And the hardest work is moving beyond only an intellectual understanding into connecting the dots back into our own organizations, our churches, our people, and even ourselves.

Said another way, where does the fear of “being replaced” dwell within me? As someone who benefits greatly from every form of privilege, how do I properly examine and root this from myself and our still white-dominated spaces? How do I go about this task especially now as I live in a state where the legislature how outlawed making people feel guilty or uncomfortable about systemic racism?

After all the progress made, new laws are codifying harm and protecting it from being touched. And meanwhile, the racism that has lingered in all white-dominant progressive institutions, has more oxygen to breathe. We are great at naming forms of explicit bigotry and at the same time, lack the tools to deal with our own fears of our white cultural power and spaces being replaced. 

As a board member of MFSA, I am part of a team that spent the last two years facilitating an audit of ourselves to name and deal with the ways our intentions, marred with the stains of institutional racism, have betrayed our impact. The final report and action steps will be coming out soon. My hope is that this work will lead to a new and different future. 

In the meantime, I invite us to continue to not just name the evil we see, but to push deeper into ourselves and our spaces. Read deeper in the links provided. But most importantly, be fully open to self examination. Only then, will Beloved Community ever be a possible reality.

Welcoming new Justice Seeking Community:
Christ Church UMC

Christ Church United Methodist is a reconciling, justice-seeking community in the Coral Ridge neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We welcome all regardless of age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, political affiliation or economic status. 

We are a community dedicated to shaping children and families in the image of God through our church and school ministries. We are a justice-centered congregation. We strive to be a voice and a friend to the marginalized, oppressed, excluded and rejected in the same way Jesus was, and the prophets before him. We will not be silent in the face of evils like racism and the systems that perpetuate injustice.  
We are a reconciling congregation. We will fight to make sure the doors of Jesus’ Church are fully open to all people, especially our LGBTQ+ siblings, who are beloved and important members of Christ’s body. We are open to the leadings of the Holy Spirit. We celebrate our past, but we don’t let it close us off to new things, ideas, people or ministries. We live into God's future with a sense of wonder and courage. 

If your church, small group, ministry group, or community is interested in becoming a Justice-Seeking Community, please click the link and check out the JSC Covenant: https://bit.ly/2HUTgA1

Stealing the Earth Part 5: Undoing the Doctrine: Developing a Theology of Repentance & Repair

Watch the recording and access the resources from the fifth and final session in the Doctrine of Discovery series "Undoing the Doctrine: Developing a Theology of Repentance & Repair." 

Check out the Dismantling the Doctrine Resource list to discover an extensive list of books, faith based statements, international statements, videos, and other resources that will support you in learning and taking action to dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery. 

Ukraine & Palestine: Double Standards, Hypocrisy, Racism
What does it mean for the Palestinian Rights Movement?

Faith for Pride 2022

This Pride Month, the Faith for Equality Coalition is launching Faith for Pride: a month-long effort to include the fight for LGBTQ+ rights in religious services and programs. 69% of people of faith nationally support laws to protect LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. Despite this fact, religion is too often used as a scapegoat for denying LGBTQ+ rights. As people of faith, it is vital that we voice our support for LGBTQ+ rights this June and year round.

YOU can take action for LBGTQ+ rights this Pride Month by finding an event online or near you on our website, checking out the resource library, and sharing with loved ones! No events nearby? Urge your local congregation or organization to co-sponsor #Faith4Pride and list their pride-related events here!

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 month-long campaign dedicated to raising funds for non-profits engaged in LGBTQ+ justice work. The campaign begins June 1 and culminates on June 30th, Give OUT Day, but you don't have to wait until the day to give!

Now's the Time for Action

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

1. Urge your Senators to pass gun safety legislation now. 
2. #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
3. Urge your members of Congress to include housing investments in the FY23 federal funding legislation for affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs, including an expansion of rental assistance. 
4. Call on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act which will help keep families together and ensure lasting protection for at-risk Afghans. 
5. Join a National Nonviolent Moral Direct Action Call-In in calling the offices of Senator Manchin, Senator Sinema, Senator McConnell, and Senator Schumer. 
6. 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.
7. Sign up for Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fair Food mailing list to learn more about what you can do to advocate for farmworker rights. 
8. 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. 
9. Join the #WelcomeWithDignity movement by signing the pledge to reimagine the way our country and our communities treat people seeking safety.
10. 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.
11. In solidarity, join workers demanding $15/hr and tell McDonald’s to raise wages now.
12. Check out what military acquired by your local law enforcement, and sign the petition to demanding more police transparency.
13. Contact your elected officials and demand Congress cut funding for ICE and CBP and defund hate.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. Sign the petition and tell Congress to abolish the federal death penalty.
20. 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.
21. Check out the BDS Toolkit and learn what economic actions you can take to fight along the side of Palestinians and their struggle.
22. 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.
23. Write a letter and join the grassroots organizing for the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants.
24. 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."
25. Take free online university courses on systemic racism.
26. Host a virtual Card Writing Party to write and mail letters to immigrants in detention via The Casa Mariposa Detention Visitation Program.
27. 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 part 5 in the Stealing the Earth webinar series, "Undoing the Doctrine: Developing a Theology of Repentance & Repair." 
2. Access the latest webinar and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar: "Ukraine & Palestine: Double Standards, Hypocrisy, Racism...What does it mean for the Palestinian rights movement?" 
3. Read the 2021 MFSA Annual Report
4. MFSA's Statement on the Delay of General Conference