a new kind of "us"

by Eric Burton-Krieger

So what's next for a movement? Well, I don't have a black and white answer and I'm not interested in peddling a false sense of certainty. What I do know is that I've been blessed to share in so many stories over the course of Sing A New Song that as I drove back to Tennessee, I could not help but wear a smile on my face.

The smile came from the people I met, the new relationships that had been forged and my sense of hope—that God is indeed at work changing our church and our world into a place that slowly—sometimes very slowly, gives off the glow of God's reign. This doesn't make for easy work. As a pastor told me once, when we are frustrated and feel like the church does not stand up against injustice, these are the moments when we must be reminded that God is so great as to be able to use "us" despite "us".

Thankfully, there lots of young adults who are making space at the table for a new kind of "us" and in responding to God’s call are bringing with them a whole lot of creative and passionate change-agents for God to work through! We want to see those parts of the church that embody our instuitionalism change. To have them welcome all sexual identities and expression at the table, challenge unjust laws, and find creative solutions to real problems—mostly, we want a church that worries more about the Gospel than its own survival.

OnFire is committed to this kind of work and to finding new ways for the stories that give us hope to find tangible connections to the deep needs we witness all around us. We envision this work in local communities where people come together and out of their faith, touch hearts and transform lives (their own and others) after the witness of Christ. This is the new kind of "us" for which we and we think God, labors.

The invitation is for you to join the conversation not only with your mind through social media but with your body as well. We're starting local OnFire groups around the country and hope these are places for our stories to be part of God’s work and witness. Who knows, if we're faithful, maybe even Christ might crack a smile.

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Eric Burton-Krieger, is a co-facilitator for OnFire in addition to being a spouse, divinity student, candidate for ordination and staff member at a United Methodist congregation. He loves the church and has been working to help it change for longer than he would care to admit. If you happen to be in Nashville, he'd love to meet up and buy you a cup of coffee!

Raising the Dead, Waking the Sleepers

by Heather Kramer

In the closing worship of Sing a New Song, we heard from General Secretary of the Commission on the Status and Role of Women, M. Garlinda Burton, about the future of the church, the deceptions we have believed, and the hope we find in Christ's promise of the renewal of the church. In Matthew we hear the story of Jesus breathing new life into the dying daughter of the synagogue leader. Jesus walks into the room, sweeps away the mourners, and takes the little girl by the hand, saying "she is not dead, but sleeping!" She gets up, and the story of Jesus' power spreads.

Some people argue that our church is dying, if she isn't dead already. We're wearing the mourning clothes, singing the mourning songs, waiting for the final death knell. She is sleeping, maybe dying. We've left Wesley's example of on-the-ground, with-the-people ministry and locked ourselves away in ivory tombs- sorry, towers- of holiness. We sing mourning songs of nostalgia rather than new songs of the power of the Holy Spirit and await our final demise.

But Jesus is waiting to sweep into the room, shoo out the mourners, and wake our sleeping church. He invites us to put off our mourning clothes and take up the task of healing and rebuilding, to sing new songs of life and love that are offered to all. We are all children of God, we are all the church, and we are all a part of God's divine plan for the reconciling of the world.

Our church may be dying. She may be asleep. But she can throw off her burial shroud, we can throw off our mourning sackcloth, and she can rise. She can spread the power and the story of a healing, renewing, and loving Christ, and she can change the world.

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Heather Kramer is a second year Masters of Divinity and Masters of Theological Studies student at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC., where she is also the youth minister at Dumbarton United Methodist Church and an intern at the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA). In her free time (ha!) she tries to read, work for justice, and blogs at The Story I Find Myself In.

A Spirit of Transformation

I must admit, I came to Sing a New Song with some mixed emotions. Less than a month ago I left the staff of the Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) to prepare for seminary, which I will begin next week at the Boston University School of Theology. I wondered if it was too soon for me to return to “work,” whether it would be hard for me to watch others carry the torch as I stepped back for a bit. After all, I wanted to take some time to discern how I would carry my recent experiences in social justice ministry to seminary and beyond.

While laying low, I attended a workshop on environmental racism, hearing afresh the staggering inequalities in access to clean and safe living spaces, while learning how churches can facilitate local grassroots efforts to improve lives. Later I caught up with Susanna McKibben who gave a session entitled, “Immigration: Rhetoric and Realities.” Susanna also guided the OnFire delegation in an immersion trip to the Arizona-Mexico border, not long before the passage of SB1070. I also participated in a phone bank to make preliminary contacts to General and Jurisdictional Conference delegates to ask for their support in ending the harm to gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, and transgender persons (five calls made!), and I pledged to meet with at least one delegate to General Conference before next April.

Sitting near the back of worship one morning, a dear mentor leaned over to me and asked, “well, Jennifer, did you ever think you’d be sitting here when you arrived back from Germany [in 2008]?” “Nope,” I replied, as I returned my gaze to a room filled with color and song. And it hits me: I have been transformed. The music, the people, the travel, the education, the organizing, the relationships, the phone calls. I have never decided how the Spirit moves. I do not determine the “right time” to engage. I am not the one who carries the ministry of justice, but rather I am carried by a movement of people who are responding to a lifelong, ever-present call to being and doing church. I can’t wait to see where the Spirit carries us next.

Jennifer Mihok will soon be a first year MDiv student at the Boston University School of Theology and is seeking candidacy in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. Before joining the staff of MFSA in 2009, Jennifer served a United Methodist congregation in Genthin, Germany as a mission intern with the General Board of Global Ministries.

What is "hi" in the middle and round on both ends?

O-H-I-O

Greetings from the Buckeye State where several hundred progressive United Methodists have gathered to worship, fellowship and organize to make the UMC a better place for all of God's people.

Today I had the lovely privilege of co-leading a workshop about ways people can create safe spaces in their local congregations and communities as a response to bullying. The workshop included information about human development theory and counseling best practices. Together, my co-leader, Josh Noblitt, and I facilitated discussion among more than 30 concerned leaders about how they can shift their communities to be safer spaces for queer folk, migrant families, differently abled and others who are marginalized by our church and society. Those of us gathered shared our personal stories of times we felt unwelcomed or bullied, times of hope for the future of our church, and methods we have used to create safe spaces in the church. The conversations left the workshop space and continued into the hallways, lunch tables and afternoon affinity groups.

As the first day of Sing A New Song 2011, today has been a busy and productive day. We are learning, planning, and preparing to share our witness between now and the end of General Conference 2012, growing together as a community and moving our church to being fully inclusive of all God's people.

Family.

I really wanted to make this blog post one line long... because all I can think right now is, "THANK GOD for family." I live all year-round in the progressive haven of Berkeley, and it still surprises me that when I get together with folks from OnFire and MOSAIC I feel like I'm back in a home I didn't even notice I was desperately missing.

At the Young Adult forum at Sing A New Song, we talked about the hopes we have for the future of the church, and how we use biblical stories to sustain us in that work. To be honest, I had a hard time answering that question. I realized that I have so little that sustains me in my work changing the church.

I think we underestimate the need for close, like-minded, deep and abiding friendships. At the Wesley Seminary graduation this May, Kenda Creasy Dean talked about the huge number of protestant clergy in the United States who say that they do not have even one close friend. Religious leadership can be a lonely road. But after the opening worship service this evening, as I watched folks run into the open arms of friends and loved ones they hadn't seen in far too long, as I watched the smiles on the faces of new friends, as I watched groups of people disperse and dive into conversation and laughter, I could feel hope growing in our midst. It dawned on me that I couldn't possibly have a chance at doing this work without these folks. God sent the disciples out in twos for a reason: we were never meant to go this road alone.

I wish that all of you who are reading this post could be here with us in Ohio. I wish you could have heard Jennifer Battiest Neal preach this evening about righteous anger at the church and about forgiveness. I wish you could have talked about the biblical narrative of Rahab and our hopes for the church with Eric Burton-Krieger and Brad Corban this morning. But most of all, I wish for all of you the sense of family I get when I'm at gatherings like this. How can we possibly expect to go on about our prophetic work without this kind of support? So get on the phone. Write a letter. Make a connection. Reach out. I promise, you can't do this work without family... and we're all here with open arms!!

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Jamie Michaels is a third-year seminary student at Pacific School of Religion, a candidate for ordination in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, a self-proclaimed Methodist super-nerd, and a passionate justice-seeker.

Singing a New Song

For those of you who are not with us at Sing a New Song, or for folks just interested in different people's experiences at SANS, stay tuned with us here on the blog for updates and follow us on twitter @UMOnFire. This is an exciting time for us as United Methodists as we build coalitions and mobilize to make our church and our world a more just place for all of God's children.

For more information on how you can follow from home, head on over to the MFSA blog!

The Way to the Coffee

by Jennifer Mihok
Crossposted at the MFSA Blog

After two and a half years on the staff of MFSA, I am in the midst of a move from DC to Boston, where I will begin seminary this fall. For the past few weeks I’ve spent a significant portion of my time sorting through boxes and files—at my house in DC, at the MFSA office, and now at my parents’ house in Pennsylvania. A few days ago I was going through stacks of cards and letters that I had collected while living in Germany, and I came across a folded piece of white paper with colorful letters in child’s handwriting: “Jennifer, Hier geht’s zum Kaffeetrinken” (this way to the coffee).

The story behind this simple invitation is an important one for me. While serving as a mission intern prior to coming to MFSA, I had lived on the sixth floor (no elevator) of a Soviet block style apartment building in Genthin, a former East German “city.” It must have seemed strange to the neighbors when a US-American showed up to spend a year and a half in this hole in the wall of a town, or, to use the German expression for such places, “where the dog’s buried.” Explaining that I was there with the church didn’t make it any easier, as only about 10% of Getnthin’s population had retained or reinitiated any religious affiliation—let alone Methodist—after forty years of socialist rule.

My first encounter with any neighbors in the “block” came a few weeks after I moved in. I had been parking my bike in the only cellar I had a key to, which apparently was not the bike cellar, but the stroller cellar. The first person to speak to me was a woman who gruffly accosted me about parking my bike where her grandchildren’s playthings were. Only half understanding the “Ossie” (eastern) accent I wasn’t yet used to, I went away feeling less than “Willkommen.”

A few weeks later, a storm passed through Genthin leaving beautiful rainbows in its path. I took as many pictures as I could from my apartment window and then rushed downstairs to get some from a better angle. The same woman who had scolded me was leaning out of her second story window in the building next door. She watched me for a while and then in the same gruff voice, called down, “schön, nicht wahr? (beautiful, isn’t it?)” She began chatting away, making comments about my digital camera, suggesting where I might get a better view, explaining that her daughter and grandchildren lived in my building and her mother up the street—all still in that same, curt intonation that my senses hadn’t quite adjusted to.

The next day, I printed some copies of the rainbow pictures and left them in her mailbox. When I ran into her sometime later, her demeanor seemed to have softened. She thanked me repeatedly and whole-heartedly for the pictures and invited me to afternoon coffee at her daughter’s apartment—on the second floor of my building. The whole family would be there; all I had to do was show up at three. Despite the more welcoming encounter, I found myself quite nervous on the day of, and over little things, too. What if I didn’t understand them well enough? What if I mispronounced something? Which second-floor apartment was it anyway? What if I rang the wrong bell?

But when I got down to the second floor, I saw this sheet of paper in Jessica’s (the granddaughter’s) handwriting: “Jennifer, Hier geht’s zum Kaffeetrinken.” A personal pathfinder, just for me, just when I needed it. I remember smiling and breathing a sigh of relief as I rang the bell.

That afternoon led to many more occasions of “Kaffeetrinken” over the next few years, including visits made on return trips to Genthin after I began work in DC. When I came across that paper this week, I thought of the many times that people at MFSA and RMN have left pathfinders for me, including personal invitations to attend events like Sing a New Song. We all have a general idea of where we’re going—to a justice-filled and inclusive United Methodist Church. But getting there isn’t easy. We might be put off at first by personalities we don’t quite understand, or confused by the legalism and politicking that often goes into setting church policies. And yes, sometimes it’s as small as worrying about getting the right room number for the Reconciling Sunday School class. (In my personal experience, rainbows come in handy.) I’m looking forward to Sing a New Song for a lot of reasons, but mostly because of its ability to help us find our way together to a new and brighter future for the church that we love.

I hope to see you there, and if you’re wondering where to find me—it will probably be by the coffee. I’ll be sure to make some colorful signs to the MFSA hospitality suite—just for you!

Grace and Peace,

Jen Mihok

This is a New Song, Just Like the Old Song

Only two months from today until Sing a New Song begins. Have you registered yet? Join us!

by David Hosey
Crossposted at the RMN blog.
Playing guitar is one of the joys of my life. Everytime I pick up a guitar, I am once again amazed and grateful that I can actually make music come out of the thing. It's a little miracle each time.
I also love to write songs. I usually write pretty simple songs, nothing too unusual or amazing, but I love the expression and the voice that writing, playing, and singing a new song offers. Writing or learning a new song provides a new opportunity to once again inhabit the one old, old song that we are all trying to learn how to sing.
The funny thing about the best new songs is that they have a lot in common with the best old songs. They are made of the same notes and chords, try to express the same deep longings and mourning and celebration that the best songs have always tried to express.
This summer, August 25-28, I'm going to be joining with many others to celebrate Christ's inclusive justice and love at Sing a New Song. I'm attending Sing a New Song because I think that it is indeed time for the church to sign a new song to match the fresh Spirit that is moving and blowing in our midst. But just like any new song, the new song that the church is learning to sing has a lot in common with our oldest songs. It is a song about how God loves us--all of us--very, very, very much, and how God is always moving in new and suprising ways to create a new community composed of new and suprising people--people who, like me, never expected that we were loved enough to be here. It is a song about how we are called to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. It is a song about Christ being willing not only to die but to live and to invite us all to new life.

Ultimately, the new song that we are learning to sing is not about changes to the Book of Discipline, though I care very deeply about that. It is not about stances we take on Israel/Palestine, or on immigration, or on labor, or on any other justice issue, although I care very deeply about those things. It is not about withdrawing investments from companies that systematically violate human rights, or about continuing to support vital missional work in the U.S. and around the world, or about empowering young adults in the life of the church.

These things might all be expressions of our song. Ultimately, though, the new song is about the church becoming the church, becoming the Body of Christ, achingly broken but beautifully whole in a world that tries to cover up brokenness and deny the possibility of wholeness. It is about discovering that God's Spirit is moving and working amongst lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, amongPalestinian Christians and Muslims and Israeli Jews, among all sorts of people that, as it turns out, are not outsiders to be included but are the very vessels of God's dream for our world.

The new song is a lot like the old song. What a joy it will be to learn how to sing it, all over again.
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David Hosey is a life-long United Methodist and will be entering Wesley Theological Seminary in the Fall of 2010. From July 2007-July 2010, he worked as a Mission Intern with Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, serving with the Sabeel Center in Jerusalem, Israel/Palestine and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation in Washington, DC, U.S.A. He is an inquiring candidate for ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church and also blogs at http://hoseyblog.blog.com. He is pictured above with other members of an OnFire delegation to BorderLinks in October 2009.

Promoting Sing a New Song in your communities

It is not too early to be thinking about how to get people excited about Sing a New Song (SANS)! At Drew Theological School last week, Drew students involved in RMN and MFSA put together a chapel service with Rev. Tanya Bennett and Mark Miller, worship leaders for SANS. Heidi Tierney, Drew alum involved in the Greater New Jersey conference RMN who is also helping with worship, preached on Romans 12:1-2. This is the service we put together using RMN's liturgy resource Shaping Sanctuary and the Companion Litany for the Social Creed.

After the service we had a lunch discussion with Rev. Steve Clunn, Coalition Coordinator for MFSA, RMN, and Affirmation, about organizing for General Conference. The whole day was an excellent opportunity to connect and share about how we at Drew can work for justice in The United Methodist Church. If you are looking for a way to motivate your church or faith community to go to Sing a New Song, worship services and lunches are great ways to get the word out! Check out ours for ideas.

Opening Worship


Sermon


Closing (including when Rev. Clunn gives Dr. Graybeal the MFSA Good Community Award)

More Sing a New Song

Greetings OnFire members! Here is more information about Sing a New Song logistics from MOSAIC's website.

Sing a New Song is a multi-generational event for persons of all ages. This exciting opportunity to gather with progressive United Methodists, worship, learn and work for a fully inclusive church is a DO NOT MISS event for young adults. Learn more at the event website: sans2011.org

Hospitality Suite / Lounge

You are invited to visit the Young Adult Hospitality Lounge in the Shawnee Hospitality Suite for breakfast, snacks, soft drinks, nap, or just to hang out and with other young United Methodists. Informal gatherings are planned during recreation/affinity group time each afternoon, and late night coffee will be served each evening after event programming ends. The hospitality suite is located at the far end of the Shawnee building near Mulligan’s Pub.

Social Events

• Thursday meet and greet: Young adults are invited to meet one another in the Tall Pines lounge from 3pm until the programming begins. The Tall Pines lounge can be found by following signs posted at the pool and Big Sky Lounge (between the front desk and the hotel buildings).



• Late Night Coffee: Conversation, good music, laughter and games will be found in the young adult hospitality suite from 10pm to 1am each night. Join us for snacks, coffee and great conversations.



• Sunday Lunch: Help us finish off any leftover food (pizza will be ordered if needed).

Programming

• Thursday All-Day Forum: Join OnFire and MOSAIC for a day of education and action. We'll be exploring methods of resistance, helping us to become better organizers and activists in our own communities. We'll worship together, and in the afternoon we'll start planning action for General Conference. If you're a young adult in the UMC and you want to work for change, you don't want to miss this! All young adults are invited to attend the worship at 2pm, regardless of registration status.



• Leadership Interest Meeting: Do you have skills and passion for advocacy at the national and global level? Do you want to plan an action for equality at General Conference 2012? Have you ever wanted to serve on the board of directors of a national organization? Join current leaders and alumni of the young adult movements for a discussion about leadership at the national level with MFSA and RMN. This session with conclude with an opportunity to volunteer to work with standing working groups, upcoming projects and event planning.



• General Conference Advocacy Planning: Everyone is welcome to this time of concrete action planning, preparation and mobilizing our grassroots organizers (YOU!) to participate in the work of our Common Witness Coalition to help our church follow God’s call for justice and compassion.

Cost Reducing Options:

We have done our very best to lower expenses and make this event welcoming for those of us at all income levels, but some costs are unavoidable. Here are a few creative ways to lower your costs:

Meals: For those who cannot afford to participate in the event meal plan, light meals will be offered in the Young Adult Hospitality suite. A $20 contribution to help cover the cost of food is requested. These simple provisions will include pastry and fruit at breakfast, sandwiches and soups for lunch, and pasta on Friday evening. Coffee, tea, and snacks will also be available in the hospitality room throughout the event.

Housing: The best way to lower your lodging costs will be finding roommates. A message board has been created for this purpose at: SANS 2011 Roommates. However, if you would be willing to sleep on a couch or cot in the young adult hospitality suite, a limited number of spaces are available for participants who will be responsible for laying out meals, making coffee, and keeping the suite clean and welcoming. You can fill out the application on line for this position, or email Audrey (RMN National Organizer) with questions.

Registration Scholarships: Sing a New Song provides a limited number of scholarships to help cover event registration. For more information or an application, email RMN Associate Executive Director, Rachel Harvey at Rachel@rmnetwork.org

Educating to Counter Oppression

Greetings OnFire members! Planning on joining us in singing a new song? Here is an awesome opportunity for young people:

Young People's All Day Forum: Educating to Counter Oppression
Thursday, August 25, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Young People ages 18-35! Join OnFire and MOSAIC for a day of education and action. We'll be exploring methods of resistance, helping us to become better organizers and activists in our own communities. We'll worship together, and in the afternoon we'll start planning action for General Conference. If you're a young adult in the UMC and you want to work for change, you don't want to miss this!

Look for more information coming soon, and check out the Sing a New Song website and facebook page for more information on All Day Forums!

Join us in Singing a New Song!

Greetings OnFire members! I am writing to you today to inform you of an exciting opportunity in 2011 to join with hundreds of United Methodists committed to organizing for justice as we approach General Conference 2012. Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) and Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN) are coming together to Sing a New Song, to worship together, in worship designed by Mark Miller and Tanya Bennett, and organize for justice in our church and world.

Sing! Sing a new song!
Sing of that great day when all will be one!
God will reign
and we'll walk with each other as sisters and brothers united in love!

Save the Date!

August 24-28, 2011
Sawmill Creek Resort
400 Sawmill Creek Drive West
Huron, OH 44839

Not convinced that you need to be there? Then check out the MFSA Love Train!



Join us in August! For more information visit the Sing a New Song! website and look for more information from us soon!

We are called to act with justice.
We are called to love tenderly.
We are called to serve one another, to walk humbly with God.

*MFSA is still looking for volunteers to join its planning committee, especially those from Ohio and the North Central Jurisdiction. Also needed are individuals with experience or interest in outreach, fundraising, and workshop coordination. For more information or to volunteer, contact MFSA Board member Melissa Calvillo.