Having trouble viewing this email? View it in your web browser

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.  

Gmail users—move us to your primary inbox 

• On your phone? Click the 3 dots at the top right corner, click "Move to" then "Primary" 
• On your desktop? Back out of this email then drag and drop this email into the "Primary" tab near the top left of your screen 

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.

Lent Devotional: Week 2

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up;
do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness.” 

– Isaiah 43:19 

By Rev. Antoine Love

My GOD Talk

Well, hello there. It’s me once again. Checking in with you, the God who is my everything. As I write this prayer, I thank you for the gift of life, a precious gift that I’m realizing more and more not to take for granted. I praise you for guarding my mind, guiding my steps and giving me your daily grace as well as your mercy. Without you, I wouldn’t be much of anything. 

So, let’s talk. This has been a season. From the onset of COVID-19 until now, this pandemic has been no joke. Everything that I once knew and considered normal has been highjacked. You know full well that I like stability and appreciate routine. This season is not my preferred plan, nor my cup of tea. Yet, I must admit I’m grateful. Grateful for this clarifying moment ... it’s helping me to redefine what’s important, what’s necessary, and what’s not; what I can live with and what I can live without. I’m discovering what I will live for. I’m discovering who I really am as my so-called life is disrupted. God knows – of course that’s you – I’m learning a lot about myself, some good, some not as good. But through it all I’m thankful for these self-revelations. 

As I am making this journey to remember the hill bearing the cross of my salvation, there are other pandemics that concern me. There are the tragedies of gun violence and racial injustice. Relationships are strained, if not being pulled to the limit. Fake news to half-truths to bold face lies are masquerading as true. Common courtesy and decency are not as common as they once were. Respect and tolerance are no longer practiced or promoted as they use to be. Stories of scarcity plague our thoughts and give rise to fears. 

I want to pray for the church, your church ... heck, the church I call mine. I pray that this season of disease and dis-ease will bring us, people of faith and those on the faith journey, to new places of purpose, understanding, and allowances. That we be stretched to work for your Kin-dom like never before and may we find space at the table for all of your beloved. It’s gonna be alright. God has always worked with a remnant, the faithful who stay the course, committed and focused. 

God, you have been our Waymaker, the One who supplies all our needs and has a plan for us – a plan not to harm us, but to prosper us and give us a hopeful future. Despite the world’s ways, there is your will and way. You can do all things but fail. I trust in that fact. You are the righteous God, seeker of justice and fair treatment. Filled with grace and mercy, you reign now and forever. 

Therefore, I still believe renewal is rising. You are on the throne. Yes, you are. 

This is my God Talk that I ask in and through the name of Jesus, my cross-bearer and lifter.
Hallelujah, amen! 

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.

Within the Baltimore-Washington Conference, the Rev. Antoine Love is frequently called upon to pray when leaders feel the need to turn to God for comfort, assurance, or vision. As assistant to Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling, Love is known for his deep abiding faith that connects people with God and one another. 

Entering ordained ministry in 1992, Love pastored several Maryland churches, including Corkran UMC in Temple Hills; Zion UMC in Lexington Park; Covenant Point – Lakeside Cooperative Parish in Waldorf; the Journey of Faith Church, a new cross-racial United Methodist congregation in southern Maryland; and Wesley Freedom UMC in Eldersburg. His innovative spirit of renewal and revival also led him to serve as the Baltimore-Washington Conference Director of Vibrant Communities for several years, before being appointed as the Assistant to the Bishop.  

He has also served on several committees throughout the denomination, including chairing the Baltimore-Washington Conference Board of Trustees and as executive director of the Northeastern Jurisdiction’s Multi-Ethnic Center for Ministry. He now chairs Black Methodists for Church Renewal. 

A noted preacher and teacher, Love’s ministry centers around transcending the differences that separate people and creating Beloved Community. 

He holds dear to his heart the words from Lamentations 3:22-23: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning; Great is thy faithfulness, O Lord unto me.”

Webinar APARTHEID-FREE COMMUNITIES:

MFSA Organizational Racial Audit Webinar

You have been hearing updates for the last three years on MFSA's work conducting an Organizational Racial Audit. We are pleased to announce that we have completed the Organizational Racial Audit and want to share it with you-individuals, churches, and other organizations.

We hosted a Justice-Seeking Movement wide presentation of the MFSA Organizational Racial Audit Report on Monday Feb 27th at 7pm ET, and you can now access the recording. 

Read the Executive Summary, Full Audit Report, and stay up-to-date with the next steps through the Racial Audit Report page. 

2023 Build a New World March!

Farm workers and allies are preparing for 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 inviting all to "join us in building a new world of freedom for all farmworkers – either by taking part in the 2-mile grand finale in Palm Beach on March 18, or marching with us for the entire five days." 

MFSA joins 110 faith-based organizations in supporting the EACH Act 

MFSA joined 110 other faith-based organizations in signing a letter supporting the introduction of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance (EACH) Act. The EACH Act "would permanently end Hyde and related coverage bans while prohibiting political interference in private insurance coverage of abortion at all levels of government."

MFSA believes that every person deserves access to abortion care, regardless of income or type of insurance! We’re proud to join 110 other organizations in supporting the EACH Act because everyone deserves to make their own, informed decisions about their bodies and futures. 

Showing up for Racial Justice: Lent Resources

As we enter the season of Lent, Showing Up For Racial Justice (SURJ) wants to draw attention "to the ways in which antisemitism and anti-Judaism can impact our understanding of what is happening in Jesus' story." Historically and presently, our Jewish neighbors have experienced increased violence during Holy Week, and SURJ is offering resources to "help us hold the complexities of these stories with more care, keep our attention on who the antagonists actually are (hint: it’s Rome), and find our shared interest as Christians in rooting antisemitism out of our tradition."

The Word is Resistance podcast will be "focusing specifically on addressing antisemitic and anti-Jewish interpretations of the lectionary gospel readings, and offering alternative understandings of these stories."

• You can join in a "Listener Meetup" for the podcast on March 14 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. Register here. 

Check out the webinar “Rome Will Destroy Us:  Resisting Anti-Judaism in John” -- led by SURJ-Faith Coordinator Rev. Anne Dunlap. 

Check out previous episodes that have addressed lectionary texts in previous years including the "Reflect the Deflection" episode from Lent 2022. 

Explore the Countering Antisemitism Resource List for even more information and resources. 

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. Watch MFSA's Organizational Racial Audit Webinar.
2. Access the latest recording and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar, "United Methodists in Palestine." 
3. Access all five sessions in the Stealing the Earth webinar series, and explore the Dismantling the Doctrine resource list.