Congregations honoured for creative advocacy work [Congregational advocacy award]

Washington, D.C.

From building a Sukkot booth with local Jews to petitioning schools to add international flags, two U.S. congregations have found creative ways to advocate for justice and understanding.

The Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office recently awarded Madison Mennonite Church in Wisconsin and Assembly Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana, its congregational advocacy award. The award is given to congregations that demonstrate an exemplary witness to government, particularly advocacy that is creative, persistent and involves a large number of members.

Both Madison and Assembly have invited speakers, written letters and participated in vigils. They have addressed world conflicts, as well as local issues, such as racism and prisons.

Madison church's advocacy is fueled by the commitment of nearly all its 75 members. As part of the church's call for peace between Israel and Palestine, church members built a Sukkot booth together with members of a Jewish synagogue. These booths commemorate the Israelites' time in the wilderness. During these efforts, the church promoted discussion of differences between American Jews and Arabs.

The congregation has also been involved in negotiations over a decommissioned army ammunition plant nearby. Church members have supported a community coalition to conserve the land while upholding the rights of the indigenous Ho Chunk Nation. Letters opposing the war in Afghanistan and its expansion to Iraq were paired with a blanket drive.

When the Assembly church speaks out for justice, it is not just the adults who are speaking. Junior high youth fasted in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, donating the money saved on lunches to MCC's peacemaking efforts. They also petitioned the principal of their school to add the flags of countries across the world to the school Christmas tree. Children in the congregation participate in a summer "peace reader" program.

Locally, congregants are involved in reforming how the city of Goshen distributes assistance to low-income people. The church has also formed an anti-racism team and has called for fairer treatment of Goshen's Hispanic community.

On the global scale, Assembly church has a sister relationship with a Mennonite church in Colombia and incorporates reports from Colombia into its worship services. Members were also involved in the "Prayer and Faxing" campaign on Palm Sunday, in which church members asked their congressional representatives to prevent an expansion of the war into Iraq.

Some members of the congregation travelled to Washington to voice their opposition to the death penalty. Others organized a vigil at an execution in Indiana. Many signed a petition calling for a moratorium on the death penalty and wrote letters asking that the execution of juveniles be outlawed. Throughout these activities, the congregation prayed for those facing execution, their victims and the officials who would decide their fate.

Both congregations will receive paintings by Leo Emerson Jr., a graduate student at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The paintings were commissioned by the MCC Washington Office and have a peace and justice theme--From MCC U.S. release by Rachelle Schlabach