Receive MFSA updates
|  |
|
|
|
Volume X
Issue 15
|
3 December 2015
|
|
Greetings!
Advent is a difficult time for many people. Days grow shorter as we hurtle towards winter solstice. The hustle and bustle of the holiday season stresses us to no end. Add on top of it all of the parties and pageants and pastries - it all becomes a little too much! And that's not considering all that is happening in the world today. A friend sent me an amazing poem by United Church of Christ pastor Maren Tirabassi. It didn't bring peacefulness, as I had expected, but instead her words reminded me of God's presence in the midst of the frustration and fears we call life. May God-with-us find a way to every corner of our world this Advent.
Seeking justice, seeking hope,
Chett Pritchett Executive Director
|
|
Prayer and Action: Gun Violence
|
Yesterday's mass shooting in San Bernadino, CA has once again created a call for prayer for those killed and injured in this terrible act of gun violence. Sometimes prayer is silent; sometimes prayer is a song or dance; and sometimes prayer is active.
MFSA invites you to an act of prayer: contacting your members of Congress. You can easily find their contact information here. Call them - it only takes a few minutes. Email them. Write them a letter. Do not let the moment pass to prayerfully say, "I am a person of faith, and I am asking you to take steps to end gun violence. This means standing up to the gun lobby and enacting criminal background checks, and banning military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines."
|
|
#StandWithPP
|
On Friday, November 27, an active shooter shot and killed three people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic. MFSA's work on reproductive health, choice, and justice leads us to continue our support of Planned Parenthood and similar clinics across the United States. Access to abortion care, sex education, contraception, and women's health care are being threatened - both by atrocious acts of domestic terrorism and by right-wing political action.
 To show our support, MFSA is joining Planned Parenthood in sponsoring acts of solidarity in Colorado Springs and Washington, DC this Saturday, November 5. If you can attend, please register. If you can't be in either location, you can join via social media AND you can sign a statement calling for an end to incendiary rhetoric against Planned Parenthood, abortion providers, and those who use Planned Parenthood's services and facilities.
Throughout Advent and into January, faith organizations will be creating a resource guide for ways in which clergy, congregations, and people of faith can witness in support of reproductive health, choice, and justice. If you'd like access to that resource guide when it is available, please email ReproFAN@mfsaweb.org.
|
|
Giving (Thanks) Tuesday
|
We would like to share our gratitude to all of our supporters who donated on #GivingTuesday. With their help we were able to raise $1872 in a few short hours! Even more so, we're thankful for those who created a culture of generosity through their #WhyIGive stories.
|
|
Mid-Week Advent Prayers
|
This year we will be sharing mid-week Advent prayers, created by our seminary intern, Sarah Cobb. Use them at home, at bible study, in a mid-week service - be creative! You can find them on our Facebook page every Wednesday and on our website!
|
|
MFSA ON THE ROAD
| |
Saturday, January 16: Winter Warming, sponsored by Northern Illinois Reconciling United Methodists; First UMC of Arlington Heights, 2:00pm; Chett Pritchett, executive director, presenting
Sunday, January 17: First UMC of Arlington Heights, Arlington Heights, IL, 9:30am; Chett Pritchett, executive director, preaching.
Thursday and Friday, January 21 and 22: Pre-General Conference Briefing, Portland, OR; Chett Pritchett, executive director and Rev. Steve Clunn, Coalition Coordinator, present
|
|
|
Justice in the News
Job Postings
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
