COVID 19 and MFSA

We at the MFSA National Office are doing our part to flatten the curve and care for each other by working from our homes, postponing work-related travel, and practicing physical distancing.  

Many of you have already canceled in-person gatherings of worship services, church gatherings, MFSA regional community meetings, and educational events. You have stepped up to care for your communities and each other in creative and loving ways. You are worshiping on Facebook live and having Zoom calls for your meetings and bible studies. You are sharing how your pets are your new co-workers, getting to projects that have been left undone, baking bread and cooking new recipes, and creatively connecting with each other virtually.  

Many of you work in industries where you cannot work from home or your work provides much-needed care. We give thanks for those working to serve those who are the most impacted and the most vulnerable. You are coming up with creative ways to continue to serve your communities.  

As you have probably heard, General Conference has been postponed until 2021 and we wait to hear more from the Commission on General Conference about rescheduling. As the fiscal sponsor for the Love Your Neighbor Coalition (LYNC) we have been working closely with LYNC to cancel contracts for GC. You can read LYNC's statement below. 

We see now more than ever the urgency of our work to make broad systemic change that honors the dignity and worth of all people, that puts people over money, and honors the earth and all her inhabitants. We will continue our work to advocate for peace and people's rights. 

Be gentle with yourself, care for each other, and go wash your hands,

Bridget Cabrera, MFSA Executive Director

Guiding Light for All People
By Ben Lasley

This Lenten season, I have seen division, fear, and hatred not only in Philadelphia, but throughout our country and the world. Nations and peoples turning against each other, fractured by theology and ideology, clashing on all the differences we may or may not have. All the while our economic, political, and social systems perpetuate daily injustices. We see our Creator’s beloved oppressed because of their nationality, gender, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability, and age; traits that God upholds with love.  

Matthew 18:14 states “In the same way your God in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish”, we here on earth cannot take this verse for granted. We cannot let anyone be oppressed or cast out because they may be different than others around them, that they may act, live, look, or love differently than the majority. We see that the city of Philadelphia incarcerates black and brown men at four times the national average, destroying lives and futures of our family, friends, and neighbors. The Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery, the largest refinery on the East Coast, exploded last summer, spewing dangerous chemicals into South Philly, endangering South Philly and the environment. These injustices must be counteracted by radical service and action, for all of creation to live in equity and love. Such as the Shepard finds and loves the one sheep, we must treasure and advocate for every person singled out.   

At our baptisms, we are asked to renounce the forces of evil, and resist evil, injustice, and oppression whatever forms they may present themselves, confessing Christ as our savior. This Lenten season let us act in radical love, radical discipleship, radical service, and radical inclusion to love and pursue justice for all people, but especially those marginalized by the world and church to this day; LGBTQIA+, women, people of color, and differently abled.  

Justice is constant, ever flowing outward and inward, like the oceans around us, uniting and providing for all. Justice is the roots and the branches of trees, always growing and expanding, providing nourishment for all realms of the tree. This Lenten season, let us lean into loving all creation, fighting for the rights of all creation, and bringing forth justice for everyone here on Mother Earth. As it has been written in Micah 6:8, “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God.“ 

Let us be lights, to cast out the darkness, and take part in our Creator’s kindom for everyone.  

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. Please consider making a gift to MFSA. 

Ben Lasley is a Global Mission Fellow with the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries, engaged in a two-year term of service.  Commissioned in August 2019, Benjamin currently works at Arch Street United Methodist Church as a Community Organizer and Education Coordinator in urban food networks.  Arch Street UMC is a Justice Seeking Community.

Now's the Time for Action 

Now is the time to continue to push for broad systemic change, whether that looks like filling out the 2020 U.S. Census or contacting your lawmakers!  Here are a few ways you can step up and seek justice in these uncertain and difficult times: 

1. Complete the 2020 Census. It literally takes up 10 minutes of your time, but it will define public policies for the next 10 years. Learn more about the importance of the U.S. Census from Church and Society board member Raúl Alegría, and join National Faith Leaders today at noon ET to "talk about the importance of the census and how people of faith can ensure everyone is counted, especially in these challenging times."

2. So much of this country is in an economic free-fall in response to COVID-19 while many Americans were already at rock bottom before the virus hit. Use your voice and sign the petition calling on Congress for a moral response to COVID-19. The current legislation doesn't do enough to address the extent of the crisis (universal health care, living wages, worker protection, adequate income, and anti-poverty programs to name a few).

3. Our taxpayer dollars should be invested in healthcare, not harm. Right now, we're paying for the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip instead of healthcare for all. That means Palestinians in Gaza are facing the COVID-19 pandemic with an Israeli-manufactured and U.S.-funded health catastrophe. Contact your elected officials.

4. Sign the petition: Demand state and federal lawmakers end the use of private prisons and protect incarcerated people from COVID-19.

5. April 1st at 10am pacific/1pm eastern, Rev. Dr. Munther Isaac, of Bethlehem, and Nadine Suheil Bitar, of East Jerusalem, will be sharing how this moment of global pandemic is impacting their churches, families and communities, as well as how it is shaping their thinking about the seasons of Lent and Easter. I hope you will be able to join us for this timely discussion on what it means to be an Easter people who continue to live in the midst of Empire - and how we can engage in joint struggle for freedom, justice and equality. We hope this call will be helpful to all of you as you prepare for Holy Week in these times of great upheaval. Hosted by FOSNA Register here

6. Contact your representatives to:

   1. Demand More for Hourly Workers

   2. Tell Congress to Include the Disability Community in the COVID-19 Relief Bills

   3. Support the Plan to Increase Benefits By $200 per Month for All Social Security Beneficiaries

Justice Seeking Community Highlights 

In this difficult time of COVID-19, MFSA's Justice Seeking Communities continue to seek justice and be in ministry in their communities.  Seeking justice in these times has become even more critical because those who were already marginalized and vulnerable are being pushed further into the margins and are even more vulnerable to the effects of the virus. 

In New York City, the epicenter for COVID-19 in the US, St. Paul and St. Andrew's United Methodist Church is continuing to be open for West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH).  St. Paul and St. Andrew's UMC houses WSCAH, a food pantry that "feeds about 10,000 needy families a year."  

In Philadelphia, PA, Arch Street United Methodist Church continues to be on for their Sunday Outreach Services.  Arch Street regularly provides a Sunday community meal for 'anywhere between 150 and 200' guests, and this past Sunday was no different.

Chapter Highlight

By Rev. Ed Horne, New York MFSA

This past fall, forty Methodists from around the NYAC attended MFSA’s presentation of the movie, From Selma to Stonewall, on September 29 at Asbury UMC in Croton-on-Hudson. Produced by the Rev. Gil Caldwell, UM pastor and longtime civil rights activist who walked with Dr. King at the 1964 Selma march, and Marilyn Bennett, activist and former Executive Director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, the movie touches on the events surrounding the Selma March and the Stonewall Uprising and engages in conversation with contemporary activists to explore the similarities, differences and conflicts between the civil rights and gay rights movements.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM LYNC TO THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

Beloved, as we grapple with the realities of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Love Your Neighbor Coalition calls on United Methodists and people everywhere to pick up the mantle of justice and speak out against oppression in all forms but especially the oppression of the most marginalized and at-risk in our world.