Living Faith Seeking Justice Pursing Peace

Grace Church & Society Committee

Church and Society equips United Methodists across the globe to faithfully advocate for a more peaceful and more just world. https://www.umcjustice.org/ Globally Church and Society focuses on immigration and global migration, poverty, climate, health and peace.

The Church and Society Committee of Grace United Methodist Church also strives to engage the Grace Community in the same issues. The committee supports the monthly free immigration legal clinics offered through Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice. The committee also hosts immigration webinars to inform the congregation about pressing immigration issues.

The Church and Society committee recently hosted a presentation by Irene DeMaris of Interfaith Power and Life and is undertaking a climate focus, starting with a workshop on native plants that optimally support pollinators and soil health.

Several times a year, Church and Society organizes a presentation on an emerging issue. Typically, these have been in person but due to the pandemic, we have switched our focus to a Facebook Live format.

The Committee meets by Zoom from 5:30-6:30 the second Wednesday of the month. New members are welcome. Committee co-chairs Laura Sands (515-238-5063) and Binnie LeHew (515-473-5913) will be happy to talk to you about the committee and how you can be involved.

Church & Society Listening Session

Do you have an interest in issues related to Immigration?  If so, the Church & Society Committee invites you to join us for a listening session on Monday, September 26, from 7 – 8:30 p.m. in Fellowship Hall. We will identify ideas for action steps that Grace can take to further our work as allies and advocates for this issue in the community.  Please join us! Dates for other issues and listening ses

Legislative Advocacy Alerts

AMOS A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy

AMOS is distinguished from other community-based organizations in its commitment to the IRON RULE: “NEVER DO FOR OTHERS WHAT THEY CAN DO FOR THEMSELVES.” AMOS believes in the inherent dignity of each person, and the iron rule affirms this dignity, believing in every person’s ability to act. AMOS seeks to channel individual action into a responsible and powerfully-organized force for the common good. Through face-to-face, one-on-one meetings, AMOS members build relationships with members of their communities. In the process, they cut through divisions such as race, religion, and socioeconomic status, and discover the passions and concerns that unite us all.

Grace has been a part of AMOS for over 20 years.  AMOS regularly organizes research action teams to find concrete, specific, and winnable solutions to the problems plaguing families in our community. These volunteer, citizen-led issues teams are formed out of the small group house meeting process AMOS organizes every two to three years. Our issues grow out of this bottom up, grassroots process of listening and telling our stories. Over our 20-year history, AMOS has amassed an impressive track record of finding solutions to otherwise divisive, complex public problems through an intensive, win-win, non-partisan approach to politics.

Visit the AMOS web site to learn more about joining an AMOS.

An AMOS Story that Started at Grace

It all started with a house meeting, as so many AMOS stories do. In the Fall of 2004, at a house meeting with the middle school youth group at Grace United Methodist Church, youth began to talk about the need for more outdoor activities for young people in Des Moines, and asked the question: why can’t we have a great skatepark in our city? One conversation led to another… and a strategy was born.

1810_-_AMOS_-_Skate_Park_History_by_Jan_Hill

Emerging Issues Forums