If not now…when? 

If not me…who?
   

National Seminar of United Methodist Women / August 6, 2003

 

 

What in the World Do I Do Now?

United Methodist Women will leave the National Seminar with a plethora of information and resources.  Hopefully, though, they won’t leave with the question, “What in the World Do I Do Now?”

Yesterday’s morning plenary, UMW 101, was meant to help participants understand how to take home the information.

First, participants need to relate their experiences to the Conference Mission Team.  Here are some suggestions:

·        Begin with a centering moment for the team to connect their experience and the topic.  Example:  ask the team what their experience has been with the issue topic you studied.

·        Write down some of the significant facts about the topic.

·        Present in creative ways, like a song, jingle, or poem.

·        Plan an action that the Team can do to help them experience the issue deeper – field trip, ingathering, research in your own community.

You in turn can expect from the Conference Mission Team:

·        Cooperation

·        Expanding of your ideas

·        Modification of your ideas

·        Teammates to work with you

Thank You Notes

Would you like to say “thank you” for the hand-made heart pillows?  Here’s an idea.  Send one of the new mission recognition Thank You notes to the United Methodist Women’s Unit in the Topeka Correctional Facility who made the pillows with much care and love.  Send notes to:

WHWI
Lorna Anderson
Topeka Correctional Facility

815 South East Rice Road
Topeka, KS 66607

Consider giving a gift like this at a meeting also.  The money for the pillows is part of their gift to mission!

 

Announcements

"...There are millions of poor people in this country who have very little, or even nothing, to lose. If they can be helped to take action together, they will do so with a freedom and a power that will be a new and unsettling force in our complacent national life..." -- The Trumpet of Conscience, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, 1967.

Tonight we will host the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (www.kwru.org) marchers as they march through the south on their way to D.C. This is a historically-supported organization of United Methodist Women.  They march for economic human rights.

 

Ideas from Skills Groups for “Taking it Home”

Led by Women’s Division director, Emily Dawson, the skills building workshop entitled “Gathering Information and Resources” offered participants a chance to learn and teach about how to use research in mission.  If you need more information when you go home to prepare for your mission, here are some ideas:

Learning how to do good research helps United Methodist Women answer our Christian mandate to give voices to the voiceless.

In the “Telling the Stories of Our Success” skills group, participants planned creative ways to tell their story about National Seminar:

·        Bulletin Boards (in women’s bathrooms) and Exhibits

·        Speeches

·        Annual Conference Newspapers/ UMW newsletters/ local newspapers

·        Press Releases  (You’ll receive one tomorrow.)

To pull people into the stories – no matter what medium you use – it’s necessary to have:

·        A title or picture that explains the idea but attracts the reader, viewer, or listener

·        A personal connection for the reader

·        A poignant story and facts

·        An idea of how the viewers, readers, or listeners can follow up and act.

Grown in Tennessee

Small farms abound throughout the lush state of Tennessee.  With 91,000 farms, 45% of the state’s land area is still used as farmland.  Consistent with the Women’s Division concern for rural farmers and agricultural sustainability, we wanted to make sure that each of you could connect with the men and women whose toil yields the bounty of our tables during National Seminar.   At our Bar-b-que celebration tonight, you will experience a variety of the state’s produce.  Mr. Dwight Henderson, Ms. Annie Murray and the entire Scarritt-Bennett food services staff have tracked down free-range chicken, vegetables, and beef—all from Tennessee.  The staff have driven directly to the producers to pick up the food.  As you pass along the serving tables, note the pastel-colored placards that will tell you the city in Tennessee where the items were produced. 

Due to its temperate climate and abundance of water, you will eat foods from the three distinct geographical regions in the state.  East Tennessee is the beautiful mountainous area, which includes Knoxville.  It is known for its beef cattle and dairy farms, hogs, and fruits and vegetables.  From Mid-Tennessee, where Nashville is the central city, we get row crops such as corn and tomatoes, as well as cattle.  The last operating farm in this region is a dairy farm in Nashville.  In addition, mid-Tennessee is the world’s nursery capital with its flower, tree and shrub production.  The large flat area of West Tennessee, along the Mississippi River, is also known as the Delta Region.  From this region we get corn, molasses, and some row crops.

            The food service staff, comprised principally of people of color, promises to transform raw productions from Tennessee farms into delicious Southern cuisine.  We know you will join the Women’s Division in appreciating them for their culinary skills and their gracious response to our request for a special evening showcasing farm produce grown in Tennessee.