Faithful Resistance

As Christians, we are called to help those that are marginalized and outcast by society. You saw a powerful example last month, when the United Methodist Church participated in Faithful Resistance: A Public Witness for Immigrant Justice, an ecumenical and interfaith worship service and march calling for the humane treatment of immigrants.

Free to Be offers free online Bystander Training which explains different strategies that are available to bystanders who witness unjust actions in various scenarios.  Members of the Social Justice Action Team have taken the training and found it helpful for identifying what you may or may not be comfortable doing to help those who are being harmed.

Click HERE to register for this free online training.  The upcoming trainings that focus on this are March 12 from 12:00 – 1:00 and March 15 from 4:00 – 5:00.

HERE is a document about how to be an Active Bystander.

HERE is a pocket guide to De-escalation strategies.

Bear Witness for Yourself!

On March 28, we will have the opportunity to bear witness for just and humane immigration policies at a public rally at the South Carolina State House.  You may be nervous about joining a rally/protest. We understand, and while the resources listed above can help, it’s also good to be with friends.

If you want to join with other members of our congregation and community for immigrant justice, the Social Justice Action Team invites you to meet in the WSUMC parking lot on March 28 at 12:45 so we can walk over to the State House together.

We also will have a couple of opportunities to discuss what you learned from the training and practice how we can use it.  Those dates are March 22 10:00 – 10:45 and March 28 12:00 – 12:45. 

NOTE: Our participation in this community gathering at the State House is a nonpartisan witness rooted in the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church which affirm the rights and dignity of immigrants and call the church to advocate for just treatment of all people, not in support of or opposition to any political candidate or party.