Category Archives: Educate

Mission u 2024

July 25 through 27, 2024
at Yakima Wesley, UMC

Mission u is the annual mission education opportunity for the Pacific Northwest Conference. We meet at Wesley UMC in Yakima, WA, for three days of learning and fellowship. Wesley UMC is our location of choice because of its size, its hospitality, and that it is centrally located for participants arriving from northern Idaho and all of Washington State.

Save the dates of July 25-27, 2024. We will reserve a block of rooms; children and youth are welcome to join, and an age-appropriate curriculum will be provided.

The curriculum for this year’s study is entitled: “Welcome Home,” by Neomi Fletcher, with Contributors Parker Roberts and Sandrea Williamson. The book is available for purchase through the United Women in Faith website: Mission u | United Women in Faith (uwfaith.org). This link opens to the order page for the Adult curriculum book, as well as those for Youth and Children.

Plan to attend this Spirit-filled gathering. We are working to identify opportunities for home hospitality where some may stay in the home of members of the congregation while participating at Mission u.

The United Women in Faith reading list has been compiled for 2024. So many of our members are dedicated readers. Here is a link to the Reading Program Catalog for 2024:

United Women in Faith – 2024 Reading Program Catalog (uwfaithresources.org)

Remember, you can go back five years to compile your report of books read for the year. Some used United Women in Faith books will be available for purchase at Mission u.

Plan to come to Mission u this year. Bring your children or grandchildren along for a great weekend.

Jan Catrell
Assistant Dean, Mission u

Get ready for the Legislative Session!

On Wednesday 1/10 at 7pm or Thursday 1/11 at noon, you can attend Advocacy 101 to learn more from FAN Staff about how to advocate or refresh your skills. All sessions are online—you will receive the link when you register.

You can find FAN’s Legislative Agenda on our website; it is still being updated with bill numbers and sponsors as session begins. Our Issue Fact Sheets for each bill will continue to be updated as well as our Bill Tracker as legislation moves through committee hearings.

Before session even begins, we invite you to write your legislators to highlight the issues you care about this session. As the session moves forward, we’ll be focusing these alerts on specific bills, so this is a great time to share with them a general message about the change you hope to see. Here’s the link and template you can use.

It’s also a good time to make sure you know who your two representatives and senator are: you can confirm your legislative district and legislators at Washington State Legislature. Go to their websites, look at the legislation they’ve introduced, and find out what committees they are on. Finally, we hope you’ll plan to join us for Interfaith Advocacy Day in Olympia on Thursday February 8! Our plans for plenary, workshops, caucus time, and meetings with your legislators are coming together. We are intending to have an online opportunity in late January to meet others in your legislative district before IFAD to strategize your day in Olympia—more information will be shared with those who register. Put together a carpool and plan to join us! Some overnight accommodations are available at Gwinwood Retreat Center in Lacey for those coming from further away.  

Become Part of the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement

With the UM Commission on Religion & Race recently deciding to try to reach net-zero emissions by the year 2050, I have created this chart loaded with real actions we all can take in support of this goal. Please share this poster with anyone who wants to work toward a healthy and just world!

I would also like to recommend people look into becoming a UM EarthKeeper and read these creation justice books:

  • “All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis” by Ayena Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Keeble Wilkerson
  • “Climate Justice: A Call to Hope and Action” by Pat Watkins
  • “Inconspicuous Consumption: The Environmental Impact You Don’t Know You Have” by Tatiana Schlossberg
  • “Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation” by Paul Hawken“Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World” by Katharine Hayhoe
  • “The Better World Shopping Guide” (latest edition)
  • “This Is Climate Change: A Visual Guide to the Facts…See For Yourself How the Planet is Warming and What it Means For Us” by David Nelles and Christian Serrer