General Board of Church and Society Bread for the World - Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation's decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities where we live. Casino Free PA - A statewide coalition of groups and individuals opposing casino gambling in Pennsylvania. Casino Free Philadelphia - Casino-Free Philadelphia's mission is to stop casinos from coming to Philadelphia and close any that open. The benefits of casinos can never outweigh the social and economic costs from an industry reliant on addiction to survive. Center for the Celebration of Creation - The Center for the Celebration of Creation is an inter-religious coalition sponsored by the Chestnut Hill United Methodist Church of Philadelphia. The Center encourages congregations to address environmental issues by providing education, support, and guidance to interested faith communities. Ecumenical Advocacy Days - Sponsored by the ecumenical Christian community, is grounded in biblical witness and our shared traditions of justice, peace and integrity of creation. Our goal is to strengthen our Christian voice and mobilize for advocacy on a wide variety of US domestic and international policy issues. Please mark your calendars for March 19 - 22, 2010 to attend the next Ecumenical Advocacy Days Conference. The 2010 conference will be held at the Doubletree in Crystal City, Virginia. Equal Exchange - United Methodist Committee on Relief Coffee Project Fair trade presents the faith community with a chance to make a real contribution towards the creation of a new life-centered economic model — one based on the biblical principles of justice, cooperation and sustainability." - Rich Aronson, Peace with Justice Project ~ The UMCOR Coffee Project is an innovative way to reach out to small-scale farmers in the developing world while enjoying fellowship and an excellent cup of coffee. As Christians we can address a consumer dilemma by buying coffee that is fairly traded. United Methodist congregations that participate are helping small scale farmers in Latin America, Africa and Asia earn a fairer share of income, obtain access to credit and technical support, and gain a trading partner they can trust, a fair trade organization called Equal Exchange. Good Schools Pennsylvania - promoting the fundamental right of all children to a high-quality public education. Good Schools Pennsylvania is a statewide network of citizens who are informed and mobilized in support of public education. We believe that we can improve our schools when we join together in calling for adequate funds that are equitably distributed, proven educational practices to meet a standard of excellence, and effective accountability measures. H.U.B of Hope The H.U.B.(Helping Us Be) of Hope HIV/AIDS Ministry, a community ministry of the UM Church of the Open Door, is available as a resource to the EPA Conference for faith-based HIV awareness presentations, interactive studies, developing information stations, and mobilizing response initiatives. For more information contact Rev. Deborah Tanksley-Brown @ 610-444-2400 or e-mail hub@umcod.org. Just Peace JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation is a mission of the United Methodist Church to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation and restoration of community in and through the United Methodist Church and with the Church universal to the world in which we live. LANCASTER INTERCHURCH PEACE WITNESS (LIPW) is a grassroots association of Lancaster County Christian laity, clergy and congregations dedicated to promoting biblical values of justice, peace and nonviolent solutions to conflict. Methodist Federation for Social Action MFSA mobilizes clergy and laity within The United Methodist Church to take action on issues of peace, poverty and people’s rights within the church, the nation and the world. Working primarily through the ministries of the United Methodist Church, MFSA supports and augments peace and justice ministries at the local, conference, and national levels. As an independent organization, we call our church to expand its understanding of the radical call of the Gospel to be the inclusive, justice-seeking, risk-taking Body of Christ. MFSA lives out our belief that to be faithful witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to be involved in the transformation of the social order. MFSA is accountable to its Board of Directors, and is supported entirely by annual memberships and contributions. MFSA is not an official United Methodist body. National Council of Churches Eco-Justice Programs - Justice for God's planet and God's people. The Eco-Justice Program office of the National Council of Churches works in cooperation with the NCC Eco-Justice Working Group to provide an opportunity for the national bodies of member Protestant and Orthodox denominations to work together to protect and restore God's Creation. PA Council of Churches Ministry of Public Witness - Through the public advocacy ministry of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches we * empower people of faith, through education and skill-building, to make a difference for the common good in the public square and * advocate on behalf of the Council's member church bodies before Pennsylvania's legislative and administrative branches of government. Strategic Peacemaking - Its purpose is to pull together practical knowledge on (1) the many ways of peacemaking and (2) methods for achieving demilitarization and disarmament. Although there are original articles on the website, much of the content consists of linkage to online articles and to websites of other organizations with similar interests. This includes many organizations that are part of the Interfaith Committee for Nuclear Disarmament. Howard W. Hallman, Chair Methodists United for Peace with JusticeMethodists United for Peace with Justice. UM Witness in Pennsylvania - Also, please remember that we as United Methodists are represented in Harrisburg by a newly revitalized UM Witness in Pennsylvania. We are one of only two states (Iowa is the other) that have a United Methodist “lobby” in the state capital. Quite simply, we lobby for the last, the lost, and the least; in other words, those who have no other advocate, and we do it through the lens of our Social Principles. We recently hired Steve Drachler as the new Executive Director, and he’s doing a fabulous job. He has extensive communication experience, is a committed United Methodist, and has many contacts among state legislators. Though he’s spending a good deal of his time right now fighting gambling on several different fronts, he also needs to hear from his constituents, United Methodists in PA, about issues that are of vital interest to UM’s and all Pennsylvanians. Though it may not be a good idea for Steve to be deluged with emails from everyone on this email list (he is part-time, after all), it might be good for him to at least hear from Barbara and Carolene. As a new board member of UM Witness, please know that I will also represent the interests of our Conference Church and Society, so keep the emails coming! Steve’s email address is: sedrachler@umwitness.org. The United Methodist Church supports Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty United Methodist Reporter Interactive United Methodist Information Service |
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