Ethnic local church, Human Relations Day grants made

Nearly $220,000 approved for social justice ministries across U.S.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The directors of the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society (GBCS) awarded at its spring meeting $185,231 in Ethnic Local Church Grants and $30,748 in a Human Relations Day Grant.

The Ethnic Local Church Grants program is to strengthen congregations through education, advocacy or leadership development for social justice engagement. The grants are awarded twice each year during the directors’ spring and fall meetings.

The $185,231 in Ethnic Local Church Grants was split among 13 programs in the five U.S. jurisdictions of the denomination. The programs are spread among nine annual conferences, one ethnic caucus and a cooperative program between a general agency and general commission.

Funds were approved for a wide variety of ministries. For instance, the denomination’s Hispanic/Latino caucus received a grant for advocacy training related to racism and immigration. Others included a seminary program for Native Americans in Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference, an African-American heritage program in New Jersey, and a community garden program by a multi-racial congregation in Chicago.

Ethnic Local Church Grants
The 2009 Ethnic Young Adult Summer Internship (EYA) Program received $75,000. This program is a joint endeavor of the Inter-Ethnic Strategy Development Group (IESDG) of the General Commission on Religion & Race and GBCS. IESDG comprises the leaders of the denomination’s five U.S. racial/ethnic caucuses: Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA), the Native American International Caucus, the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists, and the Pacific Islander National Caucus of United Methodists.

Twelve persons, ages 18-25, from around the world participated in the 2008 summer internships. They worked for eight weeks with social justice advocacy agencies in the Washington, D.C., area. GBCS supervises intern placements and activities.

“Listening to Native Churches: Visioning a Seminary Program for Native American Leadership” received $12,331. The funds will support a dialogue tentatively set for this August that will address Native American theological educational needs at seminaries. The event is a partnership involving the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University.

“The Annual Pathways to African-American Heritage Program” was granted $5,000. The Galilee United Methodist Church History and Archives Center in Englewood, N.J., received the funds for its scholarship initiative that sends youths on a pilgrimage to explore African-American history.

New Day United Methodist Church in the Bronx, N.Y., received $15,000 for its “Abundant Social Justice Ministries.” The multi-racial communitywide program aims to build a comprehensive justice ministry that includes, but is not limited to, congregational-based community organizing. New York Conference is helping the ministry get started by providing financial support.

“Faith Focused Church and Community Restoration” in Desoto, Texas, was awarded $15,000. The program of United Methodist Church of the Disciple includes direct service mentoring and social justice education especially targeted to teenage mothers, the mentally ill and children.

Brentwood United Methodist Church, Denver, will receive $10,000 for its faith-based community organizing program. The multi-racial program will provide a foundation for collaborative ministry, neighborhood revitalization, and congregational development in Southwest Denver. Six bilingual, faith-based organizers, both Spanish and Vietnamese, will provide the Denver Public School system quarterly training sessions, and be deployed to build partnerships with existing institutions. GBCS seed monies are to be applied to components necessary for organizing.

The grant to MARCHA of $10,000 is to help create comprehensive resource materials to raise awareness of institutional racism and issues surrounding immigration reform. A three-day consultation will gather information for the materials, and an advocacy workshop will be offered at the MARCHA Annual Encounter in August. The goal is to equip and mobilize persons who will work for social change on behalf of the Hispanic/Latino population.

The $7,000 to Hedding United Methodist Church in Barre, Vt., is for a local church multi-racial initiative to confront systemic, white privilege. Invitational events, ecumenical partnerships, community-based gathering events and creation of a Council on Racial Reconciliation will be employed to realign existing ministries to address racism. GBCS monies will support an internship and resources for the community events.

The Pharr, Texas, Literacy Project will receive $5,000 for a leadership development outreach to a predominantly Mexican-American population. This ongoing program seeks to provide comprehensive community outreach through literacy, hurricane relief, food pantry, cultural arts and English as a Second Language classes. This program also received $8,000 through an Ethnic Local Church grant in 2008.

Edison Park United Methodist Church in Chicago will receive $10,000 for “Education, Advocacy and Action for Filipino Social Injustices.” This is a new initiative for a Filipino-American congregation to be educated for advocacy through cultural presentations, and four specific workshops on poverty, Filipino World War II veteran equity, extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the Philippines, and advocacy for undocumented persons.

Sons of Thunder Summer Day Camp in Titusville, Fla., will receive $10,000. This program of Indian River City United Methodist Church is a five-week interracial youth camp for boys. GBCS monies will be applied toward camp supplies. In approving the full grant request, GBCS said the ministry of a Caucasian church partnering with African-American churches provides “a great model for social justice mentoring programs.”

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Community Garden Program in Chicago will receive $5,900. The ministry is a multi-racial response to inequitable food access as a justice issue. The proposal addresses health concerns among people of color and access to public space, sustainability, agricultural subsidiary and local ownership of food. GBCS monies will be applied toward project implementation.

GBCS described the ministry by Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Church as “a good program on environmental issues, but needs to deal more with economic justice.” John Hill, director of GBCS’s work area on Economic and Environmental Justice, will provide support for this program.

Social Justice Advocacy for Refugees in Albany, N.Y., was awarded $5,000. A multicultural leadership team at Emmaus United Methodist Church leads the ministry.

Nearly $270,000 was available for the grants, and $83,100 has been carried over for the fall board meeting.

Human Relations Day Grant
The Human Relations Day grant of $30,748 was to “Redemption Church: Freedom from Bondage for Young Nonviolent Offenders.” Human Relations Day is one of the denomination’s six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings. Human Relations Day strengthens United Methodist outreach to communities in the United States and Puerto Rico, encouraging social justice and work with at-risk youths.

The Redemption Church grant supports a two-pronged effort of criminal justice and mercy ministries by Penn Avenue Redemption Church in Oklahoma City and Tulsa Redemption Church. This ongoing restorative-justice ministry seeks to deepen advocacy, victim/offender reconciliation and reunification of families. It also is intended to heighten public policy challenges to the prison-industrial complex through several community-based efforts: Exodus House, Redemption Church and Redemption Kids.

Grant funds will be applied to transportation of inmates, families and community members. The grant committee said it considers Redemption Church “a model program for criminal justice ministries.”

Deadline to apply for the fall grant cycle is Aug. 10, and for the spring cycle is Jan. 10. More information and applications are available on GBCS’s website, www.umc-gbcs.org, under Leadership Development. For more information about either grant program, you may contact the Rev. Neal Christie, GBCS assistant general secretary, Education and Leadership Development, at (202) 488-5611 or send e-mail to nchristie@umc-gbcs.org.

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program agencies of The United Methodist Church. The agency’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations in New York City.