In 2017, MFSA Committed to becoming an intentionally anti-racist organization. We did intentional work to recruit people of color (POC) to serve on our Board of Directors and staff. Now, three years later we continue on our journey towards becoming a more anti-racist organization by partnering with Crossroads Antiracism and Training, a non-profit that focuses on dismantling systemic racism and building anti-racist multicultural diversity within institutions and communities, to conduct a full organizational racial audit. Our goal is to be better structured to perpetuate justice and equity throughout MFSA, our church, and our world.
Racial Audit Team Members
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MFSA Board Secretary
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MFSA Board Co-President
Co-Moderator, Racial Audit Team
Racial Audit Implementation Team
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Co-Moderator, Racial Audit Team
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Racial Audit Team Member
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Racial Audit Team Member
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Executive Director
Racial Justice News Items
My parents used to joke that my second home growing up was my hometown’s public library. When I learned to ride my bike, I spent my summer vacations waiting for the library to open so I could ride my bike there and spend the whole day reading in the children’s room. I signed myself up for every single program. At the end of the day, I would pack my bags with whatever books I could carry home on my bike. My hometown’s library was the catalyst for me to learn about new places outside of my small town in Indiana. I dreamed about travel, living in big cities, meeting new people, and making a difference in the world, all thanks to the magical worlds that books transported me to. That’s the library's power—it can transport you to new worlds and experiences.
Bishop Melvin Talbert died on August 3rd at the age of 89. One of seven children born to sharecropper parents in rural Louisiana, he was ordained a pastor in 1963 into a segregated Methodist church. He was elected and served as bishop of The United Methodist Church from 1980 until the year 2000.
Today marks what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. But last June, the Supreme Court of the United States eliminated the constitutional right to abortion, decimating access and jeopardizing people’s health, lives and economic security.
The Methodist Federation for Social Action has been looking deeply into its own life to examine how we have accommodated racist outcomes, not only in church and society, but in our own life.
“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.”
Rev. Dr. Mary Kay Totty reflects on her experience as a member of MFSA’s Racial Audit Team.