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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.

"If we ever needed to vote for democracy and justice, we sure do need to vote now."

The Poor People's Campaign has been working hard this midterm election season, to educate, mobilize, and encourage voter registration in poor and low-wealth communities. Their non-partisan nationwide effort is grounded in an agenda that addresses living wages, health care, strong anti-poverty programs, voting rights and policies that fully address systemic racism, ecological devastation, and the war economy.

It's not too late to get involved! Click the link below to join a text bank, educate yourself on the stories of poor and low-wealth people, watch livestreams from past events, read the Third Reconstruction Agenda, and sign the Prophetic Pledge to turnout voters this 2022 election. 

Upcoming Webinar:
Palestine is a Climate Justice Issue Emergency!

Five Eras of Black Reconstruction & White Rage

Discover how African Americans have accomplished major advances despite white supremacist rage in this MFSA New York sponsored presentation by Rev. Dr. George McClain with panel of respondents including Rev. Limina Grace Harmon, Rev. Herman Darden, and Ann Craig.

A Call to Care for All God's Creation

The Supreme Court’s ruling on June 27th, 2022 in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) diminishes the EPA’s ability to regulate emissions from the power sector as the world is experiencing rapid growth in carbon emissions and rising temperatures. This decision prevents federal environmental regulators from taking the action necessary to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and protect the public from the impact of climate change. 

Those impacts of climate change include more intense wildfires, extreme heat, stronger storms, deeper droughts, and more widespread flooding. Though the impacts of climate change are felt by all, they are especially felt by the most vulnerable populations as they have to leave their homes in search of better food supply and economic opportunity, leading to increased poverty, conflict, and hunger. A 2021 EPA report shows disproportionate impacts of climate change falling on those “people least able to prepare and cope.”

MFSA works for climate justice within and beyond the United Methodist Church because we believe, as Christians, we are caretakers of and called to care for all of God’s creation. The United Methodist’s Book of Discipline states “All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creation and not solely because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of creation. We should meet these stewardship duties through acts of loving care and respect.” (Social Principles, ¶ 160)

As elections approach and federal environmental protections diminish, it is more important than ever that we Justice-Seeking People of Faith come together to take action on climate justice. We can vote for leaders who take climate change seriously, advocate for policies that adequately address the growing threat of climate change, and support vulnerable communities that are experiencing the greatest impacts of climate change. 

Save the Date: Giving Tuesday is November 29, 2022

MFSA has once again joined #GivingTuesday, a global day of giving that harnesses the collective power of individuals, communities, and organizations to encourage giving and to celebrate generosity worldwide. Giving Tuesday, a follow-up day to major shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is an opportunity to kick off the holiday season with generosity. Save the date November 29, 2022 for #GivingTuesday2022

Through the generosity of several donors, the first $5000 will be matched. There are multiple ways to give: you can give by FB fundraiser, by check with Giving Tuesday in the memo, or through our online system closer to the date. 

Checks can be sent to: MFSA 996 Main Ave SW #307 Washington, D.C. 20024

Western Methodist Justice Movement Provides Episcopal Discernment- Through a Social Justice Lens

The Western Methodist Justice Movement (WMJM) hosted a Jurisdiction-wide web event in July 2022 to “develop questions with a social justice focus for episcopal candidates.” The intention for these questions is to “assist annual conference delegations and other groups to keep social justice concerns before episcopal candidates through the discernment process of electing new bishops this November 2022.”

During the web event, the 60 participants were organized in small groups and asked to share their thoughts via Menti polling and conversation. Two documents were provided as resource materials for these conversations that originated from jurisdictional work groups that met in July of 2021:

1. The theological and missional context of the work of bishops with a report section entitled “the role of the episcopacy.”

2. A Values Rubric “that lifts up inclusion, contextualization, connectionalism, and decolonization. The rubric is designed to assist in viewing the work of ordering and administering the ministry of the church in a new way.”

You can find videos explaining each of these resources here (scroll to the bottom of the page).

Participants considered what the Book of Discipline outlines as the role of Bishops as well as what the Western Jurisdiction looks for in Bishops. Participants were invited to lift up values, and questions were developed around 9 values via small groups. You can access the list of the 14 questions here.

Now's the Time for Action

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

1. VOTE and make your voice heard in Midterm Elections on November 8, 2022. Join the Poor People's Campaign effort. to educate and mobilize poor and low-wealth eligible voters for the Midterm Elections
2. 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. 
3. Sign ICHRP-US's open letter to President Biden on human rights in the Philippines. 
4. Tell Congress to reduce funding for ICE detention capacity and shrink the cruel immigration detention system. 
5. Reject U.S. support of the Marcos Dynasty in the Philippines and sign the Unity Statement. 
6. Tell Congress to protect children in agriculture through co-sponsoring the Children's Act for Responsible Employment and Farm Safety (CARE Act). 
7. 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. 
8. #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
9. Call on Congress to pass an Afghan Adjustment Act which will help keep families together and ensure lasting protection for at-risk Afghans. 
10. 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.

In Case You Missed It

1. Learn from the National Farm Worker Ministry's 2022 Harvest of Justice that highlighted Child Labor in Agriculture. 
2. Access the latest recording and resources from MFSA and UMKR's webinar, "The Press & Palestine: The Bad, The Ugly...and a Shift?"
3. Access all five sessions in the Stealing the Earth webinar series, and explore the Dismantling the Doctrine resource list.