The Oregon-Idaho Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action
an independent movement of progressive United Methodists taking action on issues of Justice, Peace, and Liberation

Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (OADP) is sponsoring an event on June 8 in Portland. The featured speaker will be Illinois Rep. Karen Yarbrough , sponsor of that state’s successful legislation to abolish the death penalty. The event, called New Day, will be held in Portland at 7:30 pm. Read the New Day press release now for more details.

The latest chapter newsletter is here. Click on the link below to read how we are getting ready for Annual Conference and looking ahead to General Conference 2012. Read a challenge from chapter President David Bean to join in sharing the good news we see.

february-newsletter.pdf

Several anti-immigrant bills have been introduced into the Oregon legislature this session. Executive committee member Loerna Simpson has written a petition to legislators for use in her church in Corvallis. She encourages us to use these in our own churches and send the signatures to our legislators. She has written the first page of the petition as a summary and information sheet that can be handed out to people for their consideration.

You can download the Petition to Oregon legislators and print as many copies as you would like. Be sure to insert your own legislators’ names and church name before printing this for your use.

Here are links to the bills that have been introduced: Immigration Bill HB2802, Immigration Bill HB 2803, Immigration Bill HB 2804, Immigration Bill 2805, Immigration Bill HB 2806, Immigration Bill SB 182

As far as we are aware, no immigration bills have been introduced this year in the Idaho legislature.

Loerna has also compiled a summary of UMC positions on immigration that may be useful background as you discuss these issues in church settings.

Find out what’s going on in the chapter and beyond. Click here to read the latest newsletter.

Get all the latest news about what’s going on in our chapter here.

At our May meeting, the chapter executive committee evaluated the legislation that will come before the Annual Conference session June 10 - 13. We considered the amendments and recommendations of the Legislative Assembly that met in April and then made our own recommendations. They can be downloaded from here or you can pick up a copy from the MFSA table at the Ministry Marketplace.

Our chapter has submitted three pieces of legislation for consideration by this year’s conference meeting in Salem June 10 - 13.

Our proposed standing resolutions are:

• Call to Civility (SR5)
• National Health Care Reform (SR7)
• Seeking Peace and Justice in the Holy Land (SR23)

All legislation that has been submitted for this year can be downloaded at this location on the Conference website.

All proposed legislation will be considered by the Legislative Assembly which will be held April 16 - 18 at First UMC in Portland. The assembly is made up of clergy and laity from all 5 districts. Observers are welcome. More information about the Legislative Assembly is available here.

The annual Spring Event of the chapter was held on Saturday, March 5. Those who were there came away with new energy to help abolish the death penalty in Oregon. Whether you were there or not, you can learn more in several ways.

Aba Gayle shared her personal story of how murder and the death penalty has impacted her life. You can read her story at this website or you can contact her at abagayle33@aol.com

Naseem Rakha is the award-winning author of The Crying Tree. You can learn more or order a copy of her book at her website.

Clarence Pugh from Oregonians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty presented information about actions we can take. Learn more about OADP at their website.

Since our conference and our chapter have members in Idaho as well as Oregon, we would like to post information about an Idaho group parallel to OADP. Unfortunately, we are not aware of any active group in Idaho working on this issue. If you know of one, please contact us.

Welcome to the new website of the Oregon-Idaho chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action. This site is still under construction, so have patience with us as we get things going. Thank you.