{"id":16763,"date":"2017-12-19T15:03:27","date_gmt":"2017-12-19T23:03:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=16763"},"modified":"2017-12-20T16:56:34","modified_gmt":"2017-12-21T00:56:34","slug":"the-western-methodist-justice-movement-convenes-in-sacramento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/the-western-methodist-justice-movement-convenes-in-sacramento\/","title":{"rendered":"The Western Methodist Justice Movement convenes in Sacramento"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Western Methodist Justice Movement Leadership Team met in November for their annual meeting held at Central United Methodist Church in Sacramento, Calif. Representing the California-Pacific, California-Nevada, Rocky Mountain, Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Conferences, 17 participants helped to redefine WMJM and how they can better serve the community in the Western Jurisdiction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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By Rhondalei Gabuat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sacramento, Calif.<\/strong> – The leadership team of the Western Methodist Justice Movement (WMJM)<\/strong><\/span><\/a> convened their yearly planning meeting at The Table United Methodist Church<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in Sacramento, California on Nov. 30 – Dec. 2, 2017<\/strong><\/span>. The 17 participants represented the California-Pacific<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, California-Nevada<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Rocky Mountain<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Oregon-Idaho<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and Pacific Northwest<\/a><\/strong><\/span> Annual Conferences. The weekend redefined WMJM<\/strong><\/span> and how we can better serve the community in the Western Jurisdiction with our focus on the current structure and planning for the next six months.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The weekend was led by the young adults in attendance: Joyous Prim<\/strong><\/span>, Albert Longe<\/strong><\/span>, Stephanie Rice<\/strong><\/span> and Rhondalei Gabuat<\/strong><\/span>. We received guidance from seasoned leaders in attendance and created an agenda for the weekend that would allow us time to discuss in-depth, our relationships, commitments and plans for the upcoming year and 2020 General Conference<\/strong><\/a><\/span> and upcoming 2019 Special General Conference<\/strong><\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Their time spent together as a large group yielded in unities that allowed individuals to focus on areas of interest and strength. From February\u2019s Rise Up Conference in Portland, Ore., they were affirmed that creating spaces to take action and having timely communication on how different Annual Conferences can respond are needed as the current political climate rapidly changes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the three days, we were able to work together as a large group to strengthen unities<\/strong><\/span>, but also spent time in smaller breakout groups that allowed individuals to focus on areas of interest. From February\u2019s Rise Up Conference<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, we affirmed creating spaces to take action are what is needed in the current political climate and that we saw intergenerational interaction from attendees who are passionate about creating change.<\/p>\n

There is a need for timely communication and social media presence as a way to engage with members and the broader community about issues, especially with the increase in membership from the conference alone. We are committed to building this organization and ensuring that people from the communities we serve, have opportunities to serve in leadership within WMJM.<\/p>\n

By making improvements and additions to the leadership structure and assessing the current action networks, we are looking forward to having more active participation from members and conducting outreach to all Western Jurisdiction Annual Conferences<\/strong><\/span> in the upcoming year. Areas of focus during our time together were: engagement, finance, structure and leadership that were led by the young adult members of WMJM, keeping in mind different ways that members can participate in each area. Through giving, prayer, study, advocacy or engagement, our hope is that each member will be empowered to share the work of WMJM actively in their communities and grow in faith, love and stewardship.<\/p>\n

How can the PNW Conference be more involved?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Rev. Austin Adkinson and Rhondalei Gabuat<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Currently, there are two representatives from The Pacific Northwest Conference<\/strong><\/span> that are on the leadership team. The Rev. Austin Adkinson<\/strong><\/span>, whose focus is around supporting the UMC Queer Clergy and Rhondalei Gabuat<\/strong><\/span> who will serve on the nominating committee.<\/p>\n

All attending were encouraged to network in our respective Conferences with emphasis on building connections in the Annual Conferences that are underrepresented in WMJM (Alaska<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, Desert Southwest<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, and Yellowstone<\/strong><\/span><\/a>) and understand what issues those Conferences are taking up. When the updated structure for the leadership team is finalized, the PNW Conference will be able to nominate candidates for those positions for the next term during the 2018 elections.<\/p>\n

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The WMJM Leadership Team closing out the successful weekend of planning for the start of 2018 with a shared meal at Journey To The Dumpling in Elk Grove, Calif.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rhondalei Gabuat serves as a district administrator for Seattle, Tacoma, and Inland Districts.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Wesley Challenge: 21 Days to a More Authentic Faith (D3294)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Renew your passion and discover deeper commitment to God in just 21 days. How can we introduce people to the practical and accessible Wesley? In The Wesley Challenge small groups or whole churches will spend three weeks working through twenty-one questions that will engage their physical, spiritual, and emotional lives and their relationship with God and others. The challenge will inspire participants to a new kind of commitment — one that is more authentic, vulnerable, and soul-shaping, resulting in a renewed passion to discover deeper levels of commitment to God and others.<\/p>\n

Listen: Praying in a Noisy World (D1024)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>This resource by retired UMC Bishop Rueben P. Job is a six-week (forty day) prayer journey that can be used anytime of year but may be particularly meaningful during Lent.\u00a0 The resource helps individuals and groups learn how to listen for, understand and follow God’s guidance and direction. Participants use the prayer guide on their own and then come together once a week to watch a video, discuss and share what they are learning and pray together.\u00a0 The DVD provides six video segments featuring interview clips with a variety of people talking about their own experiences with prayer<\/p>\n

Reserve these resources, now!<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Rhondalei Gabuat Sacramento, Calif. – The leadership team of the Western Methodist Justice Movement (WMJM) convened their yearly planning meeting at The Table United Methodist Church in Sacramento, California on Nov. 30 – Dec. 2, 2017. The 17 participants represented the California-Pacific, California-Nevada, Rocky Mountain, Oregon-Idaho and Pacific Northwest Annual Conferences. The weekend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":16770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,15,6,246,449,157,460,233],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-16763","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-justice","9":"category-conversation","10":"category-ethnic-ministries","11":"category-general-conference","12":"category-immigration","13":"category-the-pacific-northwest-conference","14":"category-training-2"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/COVER_NEWS_WMJM.png?fit=1080%2C565&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-4mn","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16763"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16844,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16763\/revisions\/16844"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}