United Methodist Women: News and Features

Why Should I Get Involved in Social Issues?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:01:32 GMT

Why Should I Get Involved in Social Issues? By Esther Madriz* — Updated by Susie Johnson Introduction For more than 100 years, women organized for mission have been involved in social action, often leading the church in the call for special justice. They have worked in the name of Jesus to change legislation, systems, structures, and practices considered unjust and oppressive to others. Why must the church be involved in politics? Why does the Women’s Division take positions on social justice issues? Homelessness, hunger, poverty, racism, illiteracy, economic justice, war and peace, health care for children, international conflicts: the list of national and global issues with which the Women’s Division has been involved over the years seems endless. What Does the Bible Say? In Genesis 1:27 we read that human beings were created in God’s image. Scripture shows that every human being is precious. We are people of different races, different genders, different heritages, and we are all precious in God’s sight. Genesis 1:31 reads, “God saw everything that was made, and behold, it was very good.” This affirmation clearly states God’s intention that all living creatures, all human beings, and all nature should experience the goodness of creation. ▲ A United Methodist Women member addresses the crowd at a Western North Carolina public education event. Photo courtesy of GBGM. Institutional structures and social relations that oppress people are instruments in defying the will of God. The gospel breaks down barriers of race, religion, and social class. In the Old Testament, God acted through Moses to free the Hebrew people from the oppression that they were experiencing under the Egyptian pharaoh. This teaches us that the spiritual dimension and the socio-economic and political dimensions are inseparable. Spirituality is demonstrated here as none other than God at work through human beings to penetrate all of life’s basic aspects. In the New Testament, because “God so loved the world,” God sent Jesus Christ. Jesus mission was undoubtedly a controversial one. It was a challenge to the social order proclaiming God’s reign as the establishment of a new set of human relationships. Jesus aligned himself with the captive, the blind, the oppressed, the poor, the widowed, and the weak. Jesus came to proclaim the “year of the Lord’s favor” (see Luke 4:16-19). The year of the Lord’s favor or the year of the Jubilee that Jesus was proclaiming is nothing less than a call for social justice, a challenge to social structures, and a call for liberation. Our United Methodist Heritage Our United Methodist heritage reflects a history of commitment to social justice and social action. John Wesley placed strong emphasis upon the Christian life as a combination of faith and love put into practice. In the United Methodist Book of Discipline, one can read one of the best-known Wesleyan phrases. “There is no religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness” (see 1996 edition, p. 45). Our commitment to social justice can be best represented in the church’s historic opposition to social evils such as slavery, inhumane prison conditions, and child labor. The biblical integration of the spiritual and the social is also well expressed in our Book of Discipline: “We proclaim no personal gospel that fails to express itself in relevant social concerns; we proclaim no social gospel that does not include the personal transformation of sinners” (p. 47). The Untied Methodist Social Principles and The Book of Resolutions speak to the human issues confronting the world from a biblical and theological perspective. ▲ Lois Cochran, a United Methodist Women member, next to her display for a letter writing campaign. Photo courtesy of GBGM. How Can United Methodist Women Get Involved? We can all do something toward building a just world, to “proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor,” as the Bible and as our Book of Discipline command us to do. First, choose an issue. Look in your community, your neighborhood, or even the world. Find an issue that interests you. The Women’s Division is always involved in social issues and can be a source of support for you. Examples of issues are economic justice, racial justice, child advocacy, women’s concerns, environmental justice, health care, and global concerns (such as child labor, human rights violations, self determination, and others). Always ask why the conditions exist. Develop a list of ways you can work to alleviate the reason for the problem in the area of public policy at the institution level and at the individual level. Second, narrow your focus. Social problems can be very complex. If you try to deal with the whole problem you will become frustrated and overwhelmed. So, find a focus. For example, you may choose child advocacy, deciding to work on an after school program for children of working mothers. The key is to find an aspect of the problem that you know you can manage. Third, learn about the problem. Knowledge is power. Join the Social Action Network at umwanet@gbgm-umc.org. To stay abreast about issues that affect women and families, visit www.umwmission.org. Receive a monthly email alert or a mailing 3 times a year. The more you know about a problem, the better equipped you are to deal with it. If you are dealing with a local issue, you should use the resources available in your community that can provide you with information such as you local government, your church and other churches, United Methodist Women’s groups, and local organizations. If you are dealing with an international issue there are also many sources of information: the Women’s Division through the United Methodist Office for the United Nations, newspapers, and local and national organizations. Fourth, design a plan of action. You have to set realistic goals. Then, plan clear ways to achieve them. Identify the sources of support that you have within the United Methodist Women’s organization, such as your Mission Team Mission Coordinators of Social Action, as well as Spiritual Growth, Education and Interpretation, and Membership Nurture and Outreach. In your conference and in your district you have many resources that can be useful to you. Contact the Secretary of Program Resources in your conference. Use your resources! Identify other resources in your community, your church, your United Methodist Women’s local unit. You can also collaborate with a local group that is already actively working on an issue. Involve others! Fifth, Act! Your action can take many forms: Education of others. Share with other people the skills necessary to effect social change. This is one of the fundamental steps toward the construction of a just society. Political action. This includes actions such as letters to elected officials, vigils and public prayers, acts of protest, voter registration, and radio and TV ads. Social and economic action. This can take several forms, from boycotting or refusing to buy a product to participation in rallies, marches, and public demonstrations. Issue Advocacy. Advocate for changes in unjust laws and regulations that relate to specific social issues. Get involved in media literacy in your community. Monitor media messages and images. Advocate for fairness in news coverage...

United Methodist Women Wins Awards for Response, Assembly 2010 Campaign

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:53:08 GMT

United Methodist Women Wins Awards for Response, Assembly 2010 Campaign At the annual meeting of the United Methodist Association of Communicators (UMAC), United Methodist Women publications won a ▲ Emily Miller, Women’s Division creative director, received the award for the Assembly 2010 campaign. variety of awards for excellence. Response, the official magazine of United Methodist Women continued its award-winning streak at UMAC with the Best in Division and Best in Class for excellence in magazines. Barbara Wheeler, editor of Response; Yvette Moore, contributing editor to Response and Women’s Division staff writer; and the Rev. Paul Jeffrey, senior correspondent for Response, received the awards for the magazine. Mr. Jeffrey also received awards for the April 2009 cover of Response, which featured a young girl who is a student in Southern Sudan, related to the geographic Mission Study on Sudan. They included the Donald B. Moyer Award for Excellence in Photography, Best in Division and Best in Class for excellence in photography. ▲ Paul Jeffrey received awards for the April 2009 cover of Response. The Assembly 2010 advertising campaign, featuring United Methodist Women members, won the Leonard M. Perryman Award of Excellence in Publicity and Advertising as well as Best in Class for excellence in publicity and advertising. Emily Miller, Women’s Division creative director, received the award for the Assembly 2010 campaign. Ms. Miller also received the Best in Class in artwork for A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial. Convening every year, UMAC is an organization for professional and volunteer communicators of the United Methodist Church. UMAC met in Nashville, Tenn., Oct. 20-23. Awards are listed in full below: Emily Miller, for the UMW Assembly Marketing Campaign, which won: Best in Class for excellence in publicity and advertising The Leonard M. Perryman Award of Excellence in Publicity and Advertising Emily Miller, Best in Class, Artwork, for: A Call to Prayer and Self-Denial Barbara Wheeler, Yvette Moore, and Paul Jeffrey for Response, which won: Best in Division for excellence in magazines Best in Class (general agencies) for excellence in magazines Paul Jeffrey, for the April 2009 cover of Response (Mission study on Sudan), which won: Donald B. Moyer Award for excellence in photography Best in Division for excellence in photography Best in Class for excellence in photography Click here to subscribe to the award-winning Response magazine. Click here to use the award-winning Assembly marketing campaign materials to promote Assembly 2010.

Human Trafficking: United Methodist Women Seeking Justice for Victims

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:40:01 GMT

Human Trafficking: United Methodist Women Seeking Justice for Victims ▲ Photos by Susie Johnson. By Susie Johnson* In 1998, Dr. Laura Lederer founded and directed the Protection Project at Harvard University, representing America’s first systematic examination of global commercial sexual trafficking and labor bondage. Human trafficking “affects potentially thousands of foreign and domestic women and children in the United States.” The Women’s Division seeded the formation of The Project with a grant. In 2000 Dr. Lederer moved the Project to Washington, DC, working with the Women’s Division Washington Office to heighten attention and national advocacy on the issue. Dr. Lederer joined the United States Department of State, assuming responsibility for monitoring and reporting on trafficking in persons and building on legislation she was instrumental in fostering. To learn more about the definitions of human trafficking, how to recognize trafficking and to find resources and Bible studies, click here. Contact your social action coordinator to find out how you can organize a training program in your community. Since the beginning of our involvement with this issue, our aim has been to create awareness of this form of “modern day slavery,” to ensure that United Methodist Women are able to serve as a channel of resource distribution, education and advocacy at all levels of government. United Methodist Women joined others around the nation to advocate for passage of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. And, in December 2008, President George Bush signed into law H.R. 7311 [110th]. The bill “authorizes[s] appropriations for fiscal years 2008 through 2011 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, to enhance measures to combat trafficking in persons, and for other purposes.” In October of last year the Women’s Division Board of Directors affirmed an anti-trafficking resolution of the National Council of Churches, and directed staff to develop program responses that result in justice for those violated by trafficking. From August 6-9, 2009, Social Action Coordinators of United Methodist Women joined staff and a national mission institution partner for an intensive Train-the-Trainer program. They are the first round of members who will be trained to recognize, report and care for women and children and through their efforts equip all United Methodist Women to take action to stop the third most profitable criminal business activity—after drug and arms trafficking. By leveraging our collective power, we can pierce the veil of secrecy and sorrow, and become actors in a global movement of resistance to a complex web of sexual slavery, prostitution, household workers, day laborers, restaurant workers, culture, and tradition that prevents women and girls from experiencing their full humanity. *Susie Johnson is the executive for public policy with the Women's Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.

Children Hard Hit by Punitive Immigration Policies

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:39:46 GMT

Children Hard Hit by Punitive Immigration Policies By Carol Barton* Editor’s Note: This article is one in a series on United Methodist Women representation at the Global Forum on Migration and Development in Athens, Greece, Nov. 1-4. At the opening of the People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights in Athens, Greece, migrant families in ▲ Filipino children in Athens perform at the People's Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights. Photo by Carol Barton. Greece gathered to share their experiences. Hailing from many nations, parents and children all came to be part of this unique opportunity for local immigrant groups to share with migrant rights organizations from around the world. These groups are in Athens in conjunction with the governmental Global Forum on Migration and Development. The children of migrant families in Greece who do not have formal documents or are “out of status” face a difficult future. In the United States, children born in the country have a birthright to US citizenship regardless of the status of their parents. But in Greece and several other European countries, children do not have that birthright. They are also out of status, and face the potential of being deported when they turn 18, to a nation they have never known. This was a central demand, then, of the United African Women Organization in Greece and other migrant groups. According to Loretta Macauley of Sierra Leone and Greece, “We want our children to feel that this country embraces them and gives them the opportunity to progress and to achieve their dreams. We want them to have a homeland.” These children were a prominent part of the opening program on Sunday. As proud parents gathered round with cameras, the children of the Munting Nayon Community School presented songs in English, Greek and Tagalog. Debbie and Joe Valencia, of KASAPI, a Filipino migrant organization in Athens that is hosting the People’s Global Action, started the school. Debbie comes from a United Methodist family in the Philippines and her mother, now in California, is a United Methodist Women ▲ Bangladeshi mother and son are residents in Athens. Photo by Carol Barton. member. The school was initially created to educate Filipino children in Athens, but in response to demand it now serves 60 children of 16 different nationalities. As we heard them sing about a world without conflict or hunger, and about being the embodiment of their parents’ dreams, it was both inspiring and painful to consider their precarious status in Greece. There is good news on the horizon. A new Greek government has committed to giving migrant children legal status. This will be a huge victory, which needs to be echoed in other European Union countries. However, this is only a first step. When parents are detained and deported in the US, children who are US citizens may be left behind with relatives, or even incarcerated with their parents. The larger concern is regularization of status for parents as well – so that families can fulfill those dreams without fear, persecution, discrimination and exploitation. We are reminded that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child can be a tool to hold governments accountable for the rights of migrant children throughout the world. The United States government played an active role in the drafting of the Convention and signed it on 16 February 1995, but has not ratified it. The Obama administration has committed to reviewing this—so now is an important moment for United Methodist Women members to call on the administration and the Senate to ratify the Convention, as well as to lift up concerns for the rights of migrant children. Closer to home, we can advocate for US immigration policies that end mandatory detentions and deportations and focus on family unity. Read more about UMW’s presence People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights in Athens, Greece. *Carol Barton is an executive for social action with the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.

New Guide For Visiting Immigrants in U.S Detention Facilities

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:00:12 GMT

New Guide For Visiting Immigrants in U.S Detention Facilities This manual, published by Detention Watch Network, a partner organization of United Methodist Women, provides a step-by step guide for people interested in visiting immigrant detention facilities. The resource is geared toward people of various faiths (with a focus on Christian, Jewish and Muslim based groups) who want to reach out and provide a friendly interaction with immigrant detainees. Detention Watch Network provides all of the tools required for leaders to begin visitation program including interest forms, leadership team advice, statements on confidentiality, and important contact information. A human, more subjective touch is added from first hand accounts of leaders from around the United States. United Methodist Women might find this tool to be extremely resourceful in recruiting interest in their own districts, jurisdictions, or regions. The Christian emphasis on love of neighbor and “the stranger” is highlighted throughout this travail and it can be downloaded here. To learn more about Detention Watch Network’s social justice work, please visit http://www.detentionwatchnetwork.org/

Global Media Monitoring: Who Makes the News?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:03:20 GMT

Global Media Monitoring: Who Makes the News? By Glory E. Dharmaraj* “The meaning of media messages is constantly being created, negotiated, and constructed between the producer of the text and the receiver of the text. The locus of meaning is the viewing experience.” Adán M. Medrano in Belief in Media: Cultural Perspectives on Media and Christianity What is the role and representation of women in media? Even when women are present in the media coverage, are their perspectives reflected? United Methodist Women & Media Monitoring You are invited to take part in monitoring news media on November 10, 2009 to identify the role and representation of women. Media monitoring is not new to United Methodist Women members. Since 1976, we have been monitoring the image, role, and representation of women in media. The results were published in a booklet, Prime Time Television: The United Methodist Women’s Television Monitoring Project. This monitoring project began in 1975 in a National Seminar in Norman, Oklahoma. In 1990, we had a mission study on Mythmakers: Gospel, Culture and the Media by William F. Fore. This book tells us how media shape our culture and how we should exercise our critical thinking in viewing media. Medium is not the message, but life is, Fore reinforces. Since 1995, the World Association for Christian Communication has been sponsoring the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) in order to analyze how media represent women and their perspectives. United Methodist Women members have taken part in the GMMP in 1995, 2000, and 2005. The results of the 1995 were tabulated and released in the Non Governmental Organization forum in the UN World Conference on Women in Beijing. GMMP results from 1995, 2000, and 2005 consistently show that significant gender imbalances in newsmaking and news practice. Last year, we did peace monitoring the day after the International Day of Peace to analyze whether peace is front-page newsworthy. Communication as Mission The results of Global Media Monitoring on the role and representation of women on November 10, 2009 will contribute to two key events in 2010. That is, the 15-year review of Beijing Platform for Action for the Advancement of Women (Beijing plus 15), and the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit. Communication as mission is an area where we need to ask whether all the voices are represented at the table. This activity is a key tool. Using the results of the monitoring, a study guide from a Christian perspective will be written and posted on the web by Glory Dharmaraj for use in the local units. Newspaper, Radio or Television This year, along with 110 countries in the world, we will be taking part in the media monitoring activity. You are invited to decide on one particular news medium, or more than one media (newspaper, radio, or TV news) ahead of time. I invite you to buy a daily newspaper in your area on the set day of monitoring, and monitor it. You can tape prime time news on radio or television on that day and monitor it, too. Take time to review the materials ahead of time, with a small group of persons or a partner. Buy the newspaper on Nov. 10, and if you are not able to gather as a small group or with a friend on that day, save the newspaper and fill out the monitoring/coding form later. The newspaper should be a newspaper from Nov. 10. The taped radio or TV news should be from that day. If there are questions, please contact Glory Dharmaraj at 212-870-3760 or GDharmar@gbgm-umc.org or PPollard@gbgm-umc.org Please take pictures of your monitoring and send them, also. The deadline to send the completed form with the front page of the newspaper, taped radio news, or TV news is NOVEMEBR 30, 2009. Address to send it: Glory E. Dharmaraj Women’s Division, Global Ministries 475 Riverside Drive, Room 1504 New York, New York 10115 *Glory E. Dharmaraj is the director of spiritual formation & mission theology for the Women’s Division and coordinator for media monitoring in the U.S.

Global Migration and the Quest for Justice

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:18:03 GMT

Global Migration and the Quest for Justice ▲ Photo by Carol Barton United Methodist Women is present in Athens, Greece this week to attend global deliberations on migration, development and human rights at the Civil Society Days event at the Third Global Forum on Migration and Development. We will be sharing the experience with you! The United Methodist Church has committed to understanding and responding to the realities of Global Migration in a new 2008 General Conference resolution, Global Migration and the Quest for Justice. That resolution affirms, “Christ calls us as Christians to drop barriers of tribe and nation and to embrace all as children of God.” The General Board of Global Ministries in conjunction with the United Methodist Task Force on Immigration developed the resolution. For United Methodist Women, a concern for global migration expands our Immigrant/Civil Rights Initiative, challenging us to learn about what drives migration in many parts of the world, the experience of migrants, and the growing rejection of migrants by nations of the global North. Our particular concern is about migrant women and their children. This is not new—through International Ministries we have supported ministries with women migrants, including the Batis Center for Women in the Philippines; Bethune House in Hong Kong; and protection for women migrant workers in the Persian Gulf through the Middle East Council of Churches. In the US, our National Mission Institutions often serve immigrant communities. And in our advocacy work at the UN and in Washington, DC, around global debt and trade, we have addressed some of the causes of migration. United Methodist Women was invited to be present at the Civil Society Days event at the third Global Forum on Migration and Development in Athens, Greece. Two hundred non-governmental delegates from around the world are gathering to discuss the links of migration and development as well as concern for the rights of migrants. This event takes place in conjunction with a meeting of governments – the Global Forum on Migration and Development. Carol Barton, executive for community action and lead staff for the Immigrant/Civil Rights Initiative is representing United Methodist Women in Athens at the Civil Society Days. In addition, she is attending a parallel People’s Global Action on Migration, Development and Human Rights. This five-day event is by and for immigrant communities from around the world. It is an opportunity for them to share experiences and organizing strategies and to network to build a global voice in defense of migrant rights. Migrant communities in Athens – including Albanians, Filipinos, Bangladeshis, Nigerians, Zimbabweans and others, will host the event. Through our presence in Athens at the Civil Society Days and the People’s Global Action, we hope to: Hear stories about the realities of women and children migrants around the world to share with members and consider how we might respond Deepen our awareness and understanding of migration flows to Europe, and current European migration policies. How are these similar or different to current US policy? How are church and community organizations responding, and what can we learn from them? Get to know women leaders in migrant rights organizations regionally and globally who can continue to resource UMW and partner with us in global advocacy for migrant women’s rights Understand some of the root causes of global migration, and how both governments and civil society organizations are responding. How does this inform our long-term commitment to a just international economic order and human rights? In the coming days, look for updates through www.umwmission.org, www.umwonline.org, and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. We’ll share voices from women migrants and migrant rights organizations; descriptions of migrant realities in Europe; and debates about what migration has to do with “development.” Tune in this week to learn more about it!

Did You Know?

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:16:36 GMT

Did You Know? Editor’s Note: According to their website, the Women, Faith, and Development Alliance (WFDA) – “a unique partnership of internationally focused faith, development, and women's organizations – is dedicated to engendering global efforts to reduce poverty by increasing political will and action to increase investments in women's and girls' empowerment around the world.” This is a reflection responding to a Breakfast Briefing sponsored by WFDA for members of the House of Representatives and their staff in Washington on Sept. 30, 2009. By Harriett Olson* Did you know: All over the world, 1.4 billion people subsist on just over a dollar a day, and the majority of them—829 million—are women and girls? More than 60% of the people who are illiterate are women? Scholars and United Nations staffers have been saying for decades that unless economic development focuses on women, the world will remain unable to reverse the growth of poverty worldwide? The U.S. Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on foreign operations is the only committee in the House of Representatives whose chair and ranking member are both women? The Department of State, under the leadership of Hillary Rodham Clinton, has begun a Quadrennial review of spending on development and diplomacy, designed to parallel the Pentagon’s quadrennial review of defense spending? The Women, Faith and Development Alliance (WFDA), of which United Methodist Women is a member, sponsored an SRO briefing on gender in foreign aid attended by Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Kay Granger (R-TX) and Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)? Leaders from the Islamic Relief organization, Catholic Relief Services, the National Council of Churches, Women Thrive and United Methodist Women are working together, through WFDA, to urge congress and the administration to make women’s human rights and economic development one of the granting criteria for US foreign aid? What does this mean for United Methodist Women? We can support our women-centered schools, hospitals, clinics and economic development efforts around the world with renewed vigor, knowing that they are not only core to our particular calling, but also that they can make more of a difference than larger budgets focused on trade or governments or structures other than women and families. We may have new partners in both advocacy and action on this effort to transform US foreign aid. We may also get new access to leaders who can hear the stories of women, children and youth with whom we work—this means more briefings, hearings and advocacy. We can be part of a faith-based coalition that lets Congress and the Department of State know that they have our support for revising our foreign aid priorities. How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell together in harmony! (Ps. 133:1) Stay tuned! We will be calling on you for letters, calls and visits to our legislative representatives to express your support as work on this effort proceeds. *Harriett Olson is the Deputy General Secretary of the Women’s Division of the United Methodist General Board of Global Ministries.

Mission Studies Theme Proposals for 2013 and 2014

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:57:35 GMT

Mission Studies Theme Proposals for 2013 and 2014 As you know, the Women’s Division carries the responsibility for producing study materials for use in annual Schools of Christian Mission and other mission education opportunities across the church. These mission study resources are developed around three areas of focus: spiritual growth, geographic (country or region) and general issue. Through participation in the mission studies, participants grow spiritually and increase their knowledge and understanding of the needs of the world and their responsibility in meeting those needs. We invite you to suggest possible study themes for the years 2013 and 2014 Please use the accompanying form to submit your suggestions for consideration (PDF, 60K). Feel free to copy the form and submit more than one proposal. All proposals must be submitted via the form. Two themes will be selected for each year: a spiritual growth theme and either geographic or general issue. Themes identified to date are: 2010 : · For the Love of God: John’s Letters · Mission and Evangelism · Sudan 2011 · Coming Out on the Side of Grace: Reconciliation · Haiti · Mission and Evangelism 2012 · Living Sacramentally, Walking Justly · Poverty · Haiti Thank you for your assistance. We are excited about our mission study resources and welcome your suggestions!

Women's Division Statement on ACORN

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:24:07 GMT

Women's Division Statement on ACORN Since United Methodist Women members received the January 2009 issue of Response carrying a photograph of an ACORN poster on the cover, we have received a number of inquiries regarding our relationship with ACORN as well as expressions of concern due to issues that have been reported about this organization over the last 10-12 months. Click here to read the whole statement in PDF form (PDF, 98K).