Do You??

Our United Methodist baptismal vows ask this question, “Do you accept the freedom and power God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?”. What an incredible question! Do I accept the freedom and power God gives me? Will I use this power to resist evil, injustice and oppression? I want to but…How would I do it? Who would I do it with?

One answer is to sign up with our Conference initiative “Now, Action”. Please read the following information and go to the Conference website WPAUMC.org to sign up. After signing up, please let Pastor Sarah know so that we can support one another in the work to become an antiracist community.

    PLEDGE TO ACT: SIGN TODAY!

"So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." -James 2:17 (NRSV)

 As followers of Jesus and as leaders in the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference, we lament that systemic racism, white privilege and prejudice continue to harm Black people in our country.  We grieve the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd - and many others, named and unnamed, who have been victims of violence fed by racial injustice.

 Leaders have called in recent days for movement beyond words, including Bishop Cynthia Moore-Koikoi in her Statement on Racism and the Cycle of Violence and the WPA Conference Anti-Racism Team in an article to be published in the Summer 2020 edition of the In Focus. The time is now to answer this call, move past words, and ACT.  

Our faith compels us to act TOGETHER as faithful people of ALL RACES. Yet, many of us do not know where to start or how to learn new anti-racism skills on our own. Thus, we are pledging to learn and to act side by side to practice skills that disrupt white privilege, racial injustice, and systemic racism in our hearts, our churches, and our communities.

 We invite you to take action by signing our anti-racism pledge and committing yourself for a full year to monthly education and action tasks focused on dismantling racism. Learn more about this initiative and sign the pledge by going to the conference website WPAUMC.org