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For more information, go to http://www.rmnetwork.org/newrmn/itstime/. |
Prayer Service for General Conference
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA On Sunday, April 24, at 3 p.m., Saint John’s UMC Austin will host a prayer service in its chapel to gather hopes and concerns before The United Methodist Church’s General Conference, meeting May 10-20 in Portland, Oregon. The hour-long service, which will be led by Rev. Paul Escamilla and includes Holy Communion, is open to United Methodists across the greater Austin community. It will provide opportunities to pray for the guidance of the Spirit as the conference deliberates on matters of the church’s theology and policies. Child care will be provided. |
Documentary Screenings – An Act Of Love
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA
First United Methodist Church of Austin Wesley Hall 6:00 p.m. – Sunday, April 17 Free Admission You are invited to a screening of An Act of Love. This powerful film documents the trial that rocked the United Methodist Church and the minister, Rev. Frank Schaefer, who risked his career and identity as a UMC elder to officiate his son’s marriage to his longtime partner. Our local church has ties to this movie. First United Methodist assisted in funding this project with special contributions from several members of our congregation. Rev. Schaefer also preached at our Reconciling Service a few years ago. A discussion with Q&A will follow with Reconciling Ministries Network board member, David Mauzy. The timing of our showing of this film is significant. In May 2016, the United Methodist Church’s General Conference will once again debate the questions of same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy. Even though the United States now recognizes the right of same-sex couples to marry, our denomination still struggles with these issues. We encourage you to attend this screening to inform yourself about the issues that are of national and denominational importance. If you are interested in attending the screening please send your RSVP to RMN Chair Trevor Harper at trevorscottharper@gmail.com. |
| Additional Screening of An Act of Love – San Antonio
Travis Park UMC 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 24
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No Book Fair at Annual Conference this year
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA Rio Texas MFSA will again have a presence at the 2016 Annual Conference meetings in Corpus Christi June 9 – 12. Because of policy changes this year, we will be limited to only one table for our displays in the Exhibit Hall. We will continue to provide information at our booth about our organization and our activities. And we will sponsor our Sixth Annual Peace and Justice Luncheon (see below). |
As a result of limited space, however, we will not have a book fair as we have for the past 7 years. Please find other meaningful places to donate your used religious and spiritual books.
Rio Texas Annual Conference – Peace & Justice Luncheon
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA
Where do we go from here?Reflections on General Conference 2016 Friday, June 10, 2016 – Noon American Bank Convention Center – Watergarden A (upstairs) Corpus Christi, Texas Sixth Annual Peace & Justice Luncheon Methodist Federation for Social Action, Rio Texas Chapter Rio Texas Conference Transforming Communities Vision Team FeaturingWe are pleased to have these four United Methodists share their perspectives about General Conference 2016.
Join us for this on-site luncheon. In addition, we will honor the recipients of the MFSA “Building a Just Community” Awards. Luncheon Cost: $12.00 in advance (by June 3); $15.00 at MFSA booth (limited number available)
Purchase tickets with credit card Here See luncheon flyer at: https://riotexasmfsa.org/2016/04/05/peace-and-justice-luncheon-2016/luncheonflyer2016/ |
MFSA Sponsors One Human Race Workshop in April
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA Rio Texas MFSA is sponsoring the One Human Race Series on three Saturdays in April (16th, 23rd, and 30th) at St. Luke UMC, 1306 West Lynn, Austin, 78703. We will meet once a week or three weeks to create a safe environment to communicate about race using the following resources:
· Watch PBS Series: “Race: The Power of An Illusion” in one hour segments; · Participate in group discussions with trained group leaders; · Examine the American concept of race; · Share feelings and experiences with a goal of building community and common ground. You do not have to attend all three sessions. If you miss a session, you can register for it later at another location. Contact Anne Mund, ennadnum@hotmail.com, if you have questions. Registration Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/one-human-race-series-tickets-21977213437 |
We look forward to seeing you on April 16, 23, and 30th.
Earth Day 2016
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA|
Earth Day Toolkit The movement continues. We are now entering the 46th year of a movement that continues to inspire, challenge ideas, ignite passion, and motivate people to action. In 1970, the year of our first Earth Day, the movement gave voice to an emerging consciousness, channeling human energy toward environmental issues. Forty-six years later, we continue to lead with groundbreaking ideas and by the power of our example. And so it begins. Today. Right here and right now. Earth Day is more than just a single day — April 22, 2016. It’s bigger than attending a rally and taking a stand. This Earth Day and beyond, let’s make big stuff happen. Let’s plant 7.8 billion trees for the Earth. Let’s divest from fossil fuels and make cities 100% renewable. Let’s take the momentum from the Paris Climate Summit and build on it. Let’s start now. And let’s not stop. – See more at: http://www.earthday.org/earth-day/#sthash.IdDpHhGH.dpuf |
BOPA Recycling at Crestview UMC
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA BOPA (Batteries, Oil, Paint, Antifreeze) Recycling in our parking lot at Crestview UMC, 1300 Morrow on Saturday April 23, starting at 9 am. We’ll close at 11 am or when our trailers are full, whichever comes first. We are conducting this recycling drive in partnership with the Crestview Neighborhood Association. Bring Batteries, Oil, Paint and Antifreeze (the last three in closed containers). We can accept only these items! They will be taken to the city’s hazardous waste recycling depot. Just drive up, give your zip code (requested by the city) and volunteers will unload your vehicle.
A collection of electronic items will go on at the same time and place, to benefit Wooten Elementary School. Items can be working or non-working cables, circuit boards, computers, laptops, LCD screens, modems, monitors, motherboards, networking hardware, telecommunication equipment, telephones, cell phones, printer cartridges and toner cartridges, electronic games. |
The Mask You Live In
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA Screening and panel discussion of the film THE MASK YOU LIVE IN
St. Andrews Presbyterian Church – Austin Sunday, April 26, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
In 2011, Jennifer Siebel Newsom debuted her first film, MISS REPRESENTATION, which delved into the dangerous ways mass media reflects and enforces our culture’s belief that the value of women and girls lies in their youth, beauty, and sexuality. In a similar approach, Siebel Newsom’s newest film, THE MASK YOU LIVE IN, takes a look at modern masculinity. What are the messages our boys and men receive from popular culture, sports, and the media? What happens to kids when the traits we’ve feminized are devalued over and over again? In this film, men from various backgrounds share the impact of their upbringing, relationships with their fathers, their struggles, and the deliberate choices they’ve made in raising their own children. Experts in the field, including authors, doctors, and educators, provide research as well as observations on the challenges men and boys face in our society’s unrealistic expectations of hyper-masculinity. This project reveals how our current course of male identity needs to be altered. Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc45-ptHMxo |
Interfaith Action of Central Texas (iACT)
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA
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| This year iACT will be holding its biggest fundraiser, The Hope Awards, on Monday, May 2, 2016 at Congregation Agudas Achim. The celebration will honor the Stewart Family – Liz, Duff, Adam, Noah, and Grace, and will highlight the work of Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
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More information here.
News on Complaint Against Rev. Cynthia Meyer
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA The Rev. Cynthia Meyer moved a step closer to a church trial after she and Bishop Scott Jones failed to agree on a just resolution to the complaint that she is a “self-avowed, practicing” homosexual.
One option the Great Plains Conference bishop offered Meyer was that Edgerton (KS) United Methodist Church, where she is now pastor, could withdraw from the denomination and retain Meyer as pastor in a new denomination. Meyer rejected that choice. “I thought that was a surprising and disappointing request. That he would want those who disagree with the formal position of the church to simply leave the denomination was troubling,” Meyers told United Methodist News Service. “Certainly, on that point I knew this was not anything I would willingly accept or sign. It does not seem to me to be just.” Rev. Meyer – a pastor in The UMC for 25 years – also rejected a proposal to delay the proceedings until after the 2016 General Conference votes on human sexuality petitions during the May 10-20 international conference in Portland, Oregon. More than 800 delegates from across the country and around the world will meet in Portland, Ore. from May 10-20 to consider more than 70 proposals on whether to confirm or rewrite the denomination’s biblical understanding of human sexuality. From United Methodist News Service reports http://www.umc.org/ |
Texas Impact – Better Neighbors – Human Trafficking
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA
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Many consider 1863, the year the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, as the year slavery ended. Perhaps others cite 1981, the year Mauritania became the last country on earth to abolish slavery. However, this ancient form of exploitation continues in our time and in our nation in the form of human trafficking. Human trafficking is typically divided between two types: labor trafficking and sex trafficking. Labor trafficking can occur in domestic work, restaurant/food services, traveling sales crews, bars/clubs, construction, health/beauty services, and begging rings. Sex trafficking venues include hotels/motels, commercial-fronts, residential brothels, escort services, online ads, truck stops, and bars/clubs. Victims of these illicit markets include foreigners who are brought across international borders as well as U.S. citizens and legal residents who are trafficked within U.S. borders. On a global scale, approximately 600,000–800,000 people are trafficked each year. Of the 14,500-17,500 people who are trafficked into the United States each year, the U.S. government believes that 80 percent are women and approximately 50 percent are minors. While human trafficking occurs in many places both nationally and globally, rates of trafficking are alarmingly high in our state. Texas is a hub for international human trafficking because of its many busy interstate highways, international airports, bus stations, shipping commerce through the Gulf of Mexico, and its shared border with Mexico. Specifically, Harris County and the North Texas region serve as major areas for trafficking. In addition, Texas is home to the I-10 corridor, which the U.S. Department of Justice recently designated as the number one route for human trafficking in the U.S. |
Vital Conversations Series
April 12, 2016 — Rio Texas MFSA The General Commission on Race and Religion of The United Methodist Church (GCORR) presents Vital Conversations on Realities of Race and Racism: A Guide to Small-group Discussions about the Video Series. This Vital Conversations series features contemporary theologians, sociologists, laity, clergy, and other thought-leaders dealing with challenges of race, culture, and oppression in the Church and world today. http://www.gcorr.org/series/vital-conversations-series-1/ |
Rio Texas Methodist Federation for Social Action 
