The Long and the Short of It
A History of the SC MFSA
The National MFSA is an organization which has been around in some form or another for most of this century. Over the course of its history, this organization was responsible for getting the Social Principals in the Methodist Hymnal and Book of Resolutions at the turn of this century. They have been at the forefront of the fight of most of the social justice issues in America this century. They fought for Women's Suffrage, Workers Rights, Child Labor Laws, the Prohibition of Lynching, Immigrant Rights, Civil Rights, and have even been accused of being "Communist Pinkos". Currently MFSA is at the forefront of issues such as Homosexual Rights, Prevention of Child and Sexual Abuse, prevention of war, and other social justice issues. If you'd like to learn more about the National MFSA, go check out their website.
Our Chapter is new to MFSA. We formed as a group in May 1998 at the SC Annual Conference in Spartanburg, SC. Organized by Rev. David Smith, our first meeting was held in a local Chinese restaurant with a total of 20 people in attendance. Our little group was made up of a collection of young and old, clergy and laity, with a few Cabinet Members thrown in to keep it interesting.... a trend we continue today. Though we had a variety of interests and concerns, we agreed to keep things simple in the beginning by focusing on one or two social justice issues at a time. Since most of the issues with which we were (and are) concerned tend to be interrelated, we knew that all of the issues would be dealt with in good time. We agreed to meet monthly and set our goal to become an official Chapter of the National MFSA.
By October of 1998, we had elected our officers, studied the required readings, participated in local social justice events, filled out all of the proper paperwork, and gathered enough National MFSA Members to request admittance as a Chapter of the National MFSA. During the National MFSA Meeting in January 1999, we became the first MFSA Chapter ever in SC and the first Chapter in the newly reorganized National MFSA.
We continue to pursue social justice issues both locally, nationally and internationally, by acting both as the social conscience to the UMC SC Annual Conference and by working for justice within our own communities.
If you'd like to learn more, feel free to e-mail us. One of our officers will respond. |
