Mishpat
Advocacy Mission Group
| Mission Statement: The call of the advocacy mission group is to embody and practice the spiritual gift of advocacy in all areas of life, from the personal to the systemic and structural. Through personal commitment to daily spiritual disciplines, practiced in Christian community and through advocacy with others, we look for opportunities to grow spiritually with God through Christ and in the power of the Spirit in faithfulness to Biblical witness. We believe by faith that the Biblical witness embodies in Jesus Christ emboldens us to stand before the principalities and powers of this world and proclaim a new Kingdom where the blind receive sight, the widows and orphans are clothed, the oppressed are liberated and the prisoners are freed. (Luke 4:18; Eph. 6) We believe that proclaiming this inclusive good news must mean engagement with the political realm of our society. Thus, with fear and trembling, recognizing our limitations and grounded in faith, we advocate on behalf of the people whom we serve before local, national and international leaders, bodies and officials.
Commitments:
Current Group Members: Rev. Jim Melson, Mission Coordinator Rev. Jim Dickerson, Worship Leaders Doug Dodge, Study Leader Ryan Juskus, Spiritual Director
Principles and Foundations: Recognizing that God has instituted the authorities (Rom. 13), both civil and spiritual, we respect the civil law and seek to uphold the law where it does not contradict the biblical message. In addition, we realize that we live in a democracy where it is ourselves who have political power and are therefore responsible to ensure that civil laws do not contradict the Kingdom that Jesus initiated and is presently bringing about on Earth as it is in Heaven. To live in a democracy and to disengage from all things "political" is not an option. Inaction is action in the sense that doing nothing is simply upholding the status quo. Through advocacy we seek reconciliation with those who both agree and disagree with us as well as reconciliation of our inherent political power with our call to mission. We ask for forgiveness when we fail to realize such reconciliation. As Christ advocated before the powers of His day for His alternative Kingdom and also advocated for us with the Father today, we too advocate His way for our families, neighbors and communities. As Moses constantly went before God and Pharaoh on behalf of the people of Israel, we too pray to God and advocate before Earthly powers on behalf of our neighbors. As Esther went before the King and advocated for a policy change, we too go before lawmakers and advocate for policy changes that will enact Kingdom principles and values of justice in our communities. As Paul exercised his rights as a Roman citizen, we too exercise our democratic rights and utilize established channels of involvement to create change. As a mission group, our field of activity is in our own lives as well as in churches and other organizations who invite us to share the vision with them of a deeper spiritual understanding of God's Kingdom, engagement with churches and fellow Christians in efforts to bring about equality, justice and peace in our communities, country and world -- specific emphasis will be on housing. Churches and organizations with active ministries can strengthen their impact on target communities by engaging the political powers. Churches and organizations with a vision and any number of congregants can consolidate their collective ability to create change and focus it on a few issues that it decides on. We serve as facilitators and educators for other groups as well as advocates for our own areas of concern. We believe that each locality is different and that advocacy will depend on local conditions, political make-up and availability of leaders to define and address their chosen issues.
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