Vote Your Values

Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) believes that voting is one of the most powerful ways we can live out our faith and values. This "Vote Your Values" resource calls upon people like you to reflect deeply on how your vote can support justice, equity, and the common good. Grounded in the principles of inclusion and solidarity, this focus highlights seven core areas where our values intersect with today’s most pressing issues:

1. Equity and Justice
2. Climate and Creation Justice
3. Inclusion and Accessibility
4. Diversity and Representation
5. Democracy and Human Rights
6. Reconciliation and Accountability
7. Peace and Conflict Resolution

Each of these values reflects the heart of our Christian faith—a commitment to love our neighbors, care for the Earth, and stand in solidarity with the marginalized. As you consider your ballot, we invite you to think about how your vote can help build a more just, inclusive, and compassionate world.

Let’s take a closer look at how these guiding principles can shape our voting choices. Use the button below to access this resource.

Forum on Income Inequality

October 17, 2024
6:45-8:30 PM ET, 3:45-5:30 PM PT

MFSA/NY in collaboration with the MFSA National Office is very excited to present an online forum on Income Inequality, featuring guest speaker Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, staff member of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. The program will take place on Thursday, October 17, 6:45-8:30 pm. 

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is co-author with Dr. William Barbour, the Center's director and co-chair of the Poor People's Campaign, of the recent book, White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy. He will address the themes of that book along with the issues related to income inequality in this country.

Respondents will include Rev. Jodi Bullard, associate pastor of Haywood Street UMC, Asheville NC and Deaconess Dr. Katelin Hansen of Church and Community Development for All People in Columbus, OH. Rev. Jodi has extensive experience as a rural nurse and pastor with people living in the margins while Deaconess Katelin has experience with with those living in the margins in an urban setting.

We will also hear from Bridget Cabrera, Executive Director for Methodist for Social Action National Office.

Making History: Watch the Recording of our General Conference Recap Webinar

MAKING HISTORY
The United Methodist Church General Conference of 2024

Did you miss our webinar covering the historic changes made at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference? Catch up now by watching the full recording and exploring the resources shared during the event!

This year’s General Conference was truly groundbreaking. From the United Methodist Church becoming the first Christian denomination to divest from the State of Israel to monumental changes in church law regarding our LGBTQIA+ siblings, the decisions made in Charlotte, NC, will have a lasting impact on our church and the world.

Don’t miss this opportunity to understand the transformative moments that took place at General Conference and what they mean for our shared future.

Fossil Fuel Divestment as Climate Change Strategy

Cobb and Friends Presentation with Sharon Delgado

October 15, 2024
1:00-3:00 PM ET, 10:00 AM-12:00PM PT

Author and long-time climate justice activist Sharon Delgado proclaims God’s tangible presence in and through creation and the glory of a sacramental universe, but she contends that we face a reckoning as climate change advances and fossil fuel profits multiply. Will we phase out fossil fuels, as climate scientists say we must, or will the quest for profits bring about a living hell on earth?

In this presentation, Rev. Delgado, Convener of Fossil Free UMC, will take us through the steps of awakening to what is at stake as the impacts of climate change multiply. She will explore the forces that perpetuate this crisis and the limitations of the dominant paradigm for climate rescue. She will point to fossil fuel divestment as a faithful response: as both a practical and symbolic way to challenge the power of the fossil fuel industry and to strengthen the global movement for climate justice.  

Christian Delegation Makes Pilgrimage
For Peace in the Holy Land

The Holy Land’s sacred sites overflow with tourists in normal times, but with an intractable war in Gaza and the looming threat of attacks by Hezbollah and Iran, airlines have canceled most flights into the region. Ancient churches normally filled with pilgrims are as empty as Jesus’ tomb. The streets of the old city of Jerusalem are deserted, merchant’s stalls shuttered.

Larry Clark, a retired United Methodist pastor in Toledo, Ohio, decided it was the perfect time to visit the Holy Land.

In response to an invitation by Palestinian Christian groups, he joined 11 other Christians from the United States and flew to Jordan. From there, the group journeyed overland to Palestine and Israel in order to call for a ceasefire in Gaza and an end to mistreatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“It’s important to be a witness. This is a critical moment to be here, to be present with ordinary people as they struggle to survive,” Clark said.

WMJM: What’s Next for Constitutional Amendments?

With the General Conference a fading memory, many United Methodists may not realize another critical step in legislation is coming up next year.

General Conference passed several constitutional amendments that must be ratified at Annual Conference Sessions worldwide. Every United Methodist Church has a vote on these proposals.

To help you, your church, and your conference prepare, WMJM is hosting a web event to help people understand the voting process, who can vote on ratification, how the votes are counted, how this conversation is happening around the globe, and how you can have an impact, even if you are not a voting member of your annual conference.

Join others around the Western Jurisdiction and the globe on October 16, 2024, at 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time (6:30 Mountain) to hear updates on Regionalization and other areas with a variety of speakers from general agencies, central conferences, and the Western Jurisdiction.

In this community conversation we will look at the upcoming amendments being brought on regionalization, gender and racial equality.

We will also look at the process for ratification, and what can happen at the local church and annual conference level to support the measures. Important to that conversation is the ongoing conversation on Central Conferences, especially in Africa. United Methodists in the United States need to be aware of these conversations and how the community of United Methodist is impacted.

From Coalition of Immokalee Workers - Silence of the Wolves: Bombshell Axios report reveals rampant forced labor in grocery supply chains, Kroger has no comment. Again.

A stunning report in Axios paints a damning picture of widespread farm labor abuse in the US agricultural industry outside the protections of the Fair Food Program. 

Yet while federal prosecutions of forced labor operations grow more common in agriculture, many massive food corporations like the grocery giant Kroger continue to turn a blind eye to the extreme abuses of some of the most vulnerable workers at the bottom of their opaque supply chains, according to a shocking report, months in the making, by Richard Collings of Axios.  Meanwhile, according to the report, the lack of adequate resources for state and federal authorities to protect farmworkers is only making matters worse, and is likely allowing even more widespread exploitation of the agricultural workers who put food on our tables to go undetected. 

Against this backdrop of pervasive abuse, Worker-driven Social Responsibility programs like the Fair Food Program and...