Commission for Witness Life
Annual Report to the
2009
Mission Statement: The mission for the Commission for
Witness Life is to focus on areas of ministry relating to God’s world globally,
nationally, statewide, locally and ecumenically through: serving human need,
proclaiming peace and justice, promoting the integrity of creation, witness of
evangelism, denominational and ecumenical ties, stewardship and mission
interpretation and (in consultation with the Coordinating Council) new and
emerging ministries.
The mission
statement above is far-reaching and challenging. The Commission has attempted to follow some
of the many directions in the following ways during 2009:
Just Peace:
Following the Conference 2007 vote to become a Just Peace Conference the
Commission has offered workshops providing interpretation and resources for
churches and other instrumentalities of the Conference at the 2008 and 2009
Annual Meetings.
In addition
members of the Commission are available to present a program for a church
congregation or an Association meeting upon request.
Open and Affirming:
Bill Walsh, Lori Whittemore and Rev. Mark Wilson have met several times
to work on developing a plan and process for the ME Conference to be in
dialogue regarding becoming an ONA Conference. They plan a series of screenings
of the movie, “For the Bible Tells Me So”, regionally around the state. There will be a discussion and information
gathering session in conjunction with each screening. Next Spring, a series of workshops will be
planned to deal with a number of issues of inclusion in our Conference such as
those faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) folks, people with
physical challenges, people dealing with economic stresses, people dealing with
a mental health diagnosis, and other groups which may be identified during the
Fall movie screenings and discussions.
The working group continues to operate under the auspices of the
Commission and is supported by that budget.
Anyone who would like to become involved is invited to contact Bill,
Lori, Mark or another member of the Commission.
(Reported by Bill Walsh)
Neighbors in Need grant to Maine:
For the second year the Commission met with Jonathan Falk of PICA (Peace
through Interamerican Community Action) and endorsed his application for the
grant to support the program titled, “kNOw US and THEM”. Jon will present a workshop at the 2009
Annual Meeting to introduce the process which is building broader alliances in
Integrity of Creation: The Commission has submitted a
“Resolution on the Urgency for Action on Climate Change” to the 2009 Conference
Annual Meeting. The resolution is
modeled on one developed by the Connecticut Conference and presented at Synod
2009 with the endorsement of other bodies, including the Maine Coordinating
Council. The Commission will present
suggested resource materials at the Annual Meeting hearing, and by request following
the vote.
Seminary Scholarships:
This year seven qualifying students at Bangor Seminary will receive
modest scholarship assistance from the Commission budget.
Justice and Peace Action Network: The Commission continues to have
permission from the National JPANetwork to issue alerts on statewide issues to
their Maine Email list.
Other Ministries:
Lori Whittemore, Disaster
Relief Coordinator for the Conference, is a member of the Commission
and received support from our budget.
Silver Moore-Leamon is President of the Board of the Maine Council of Churches and
provides liaison with MCC. Mark Wilson
has become an active member of the board of Maine Interfaith Power and Light and keeps the Commission
informed of their initiatives and campaigns, including the development of wind
power in
Respectfully
submitted:
Jeanne Davis,
Chair
Commission for
Witness Life
August 10, 2009