Young people with a passion for justice issues, an interracial youth camp for boys and social justice education for teenage mothers, the mentally ill and children are some of the projects that will receive more than $185,000 from The United Methodist Church’s social action agency.

The Ethnic Local Church Grants program seeks to strengthen congregations through education, advocacy or leadership development for social justice engagement. The grants are awarded twice each year during the United Methodist Board of Church and Society’s spring and fall meetings.

The grants awarded this spring are divided among 13 programs in nine annual (regional) conferences in the five U.S. jurisdictions of the denomination.

The 2009 Ethnic Young Adult Summer Internship (EYA) Program received $75,000. This program is a joint endeavor of the Inter-Ethnic Strategy Development Group (IESDG) of the United Methodist Commission on Religion & Race and church and society. IESDG comprises the leaders of the denomination’s five U.S. racial/ethnic caucuses: Black Methodists for Church Renewal, Methodists Associated Representing the Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA), the Native American International Caucus, the National Federation of Asian American United Methodists, and the Pacific Islander National Caucus of United Methodists.

Young people, ages 18-25, from around the world participate in the summer internships. They work for eight weeks with social justice advocacy agencies in Washington and are supervised by church and society staff.

“Listening to Native Churches: Visioning a Seminary Program for Native American Leadership” received $12,331. The funds will support a dialogue tentatively set for this August that will address Native American theological educational needs at seminaries. The event is a partnership involving the Oklahoma Indian Missionary Conference and Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University.

“The Annual Pathways to African-American Heritage Program” was granted $5,000. The Galilee United Methodist Church History and Archives Center in Englewood, N.J., received the funds for its scholarship initiative that sends youths on a pilgrimage to explore African-American history.

New Day United Methodist Church in the Bronx, N.Y., received $15,000 for its “Abundant Social Justice Ministries.” The multi-racial communitywide program aims to build a comprehensive justice ministry that includes, but is not limited to, congregational-based community organizing. The New York Conference is helping the ministry get started by providing financial support.

“Faith Focused Church and Community Restoration” in Desoto, Texas, was awarded $15,000. The program of United Methodist Church of the Disciple includes direct service mentoring and social justice education especially targeted to teenage mothers, the mentally ill and children.

Brentwood United Methodist Church, Denver, will receive $10,000 for its faith-based community organizing program. The multi-racial program will provide a foundation for collaborative ministry, neighborhood revitalization, and congregational development in Southwest Denver. Six bilingual, faith-based organizers, both Spanish and Vietnamese, will provide the Denver Public School system quarterly training sessions, and be deployed to build partnerships with existing institutions

The grant to MARCHA of $10,000 is to help create comprehensive resource materials to raise awareness of institutional racism and issues surrounding immigration reform. A three-day consultation will gather information for the materials, and an advocacy workshop will be offered at the MARCHA Annual Encounter in August. The goal is to equip and mobilize people who will work for social change on behalf of the Hispanic/Latino population.

Members of MARCHA hold hands in prayer during its 2007 meeting in Newark, N.J. A UMNS file photo by Corey Daniel Godbey.

The $7,000 to Hedding United Methodist Church in Barre, Vt., is for a local church multi-racial initiative to confront systemic, white privilege. Invitational events, ecumenical partnerships, community-based gathering events and creation of a Council on Racial Reconciliation will realign existing ministries to address racism.

The Pharr, Texas, Literacy Project will receive $5,000 for a leadership development outreach program to a predominantly Mexican-American population. This ongoing program seeks to provide comprehensive community outreach through literacy, hurricane relief, food pantry, cultural arts and English as a Second Language classes. This program also received $8,000 through an Ethnic Local Church grant in 2008.

Edison Park United Methodist Church in Chicago will receive $10,000 for “Education, Advocacy and Action for Filipino Social Injustices.” This is a new initiative for a Filipino-American congregation to be educated for advocacy through cultural presentations, and four specific workshops on poverty, Filipino World War II veteran equity, extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the Philippine and advocacy for undocumented persons.

Sons of Thunder Summer Day Camp in Titusville, Fla., will receive $10,000. This program of Indian River City United Methodist Church is a five-week interracial youth camp for boys involving the partnership between Caucasian and African-American churches.

Ravenswood Fellowship United Methodist Community Garden Program in Chicago will receive $5,900. The ministry is a multi-racial response to inequitable food access as a justice issue. The proposal addresses health concerns among people of color and access to public space, sustainability, agricultural subsidiary and local ownership of food.

Social Justice Advocacy for Refugees in Albany, N.Y., was awarded $5,000. A multicultural leadership team at Emmaus United Methodist Church leads the ministry.

Nearly $270,000 was available for the grants, and $83,100 has been carried over for the fall board meeting. Deadline to apply for the fall grant cycle is Aug. 10, and for the spring cycle is Jan. 10. More information and applications are available on GBCS’s website, www.umc-gbcs.org, under Leadership Development. For more information contact the Rev. Neal Christie, Education and Leadership Development, at (202) 488-5611 or send e-mail to nchristie@umc-gbcs.org.

*Rhodes is director of communications for the United Methodist Board of Church and Society. This story was first published in Faith in Action, a newsletter of the agency.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.