by Debbie Ow
The ECRD UMW has been active this year with events emphasizing Climate and Racial Justice. As an update on these crucial issues, below is a list of developments in our local areas on issues which affect all of us. Members of ECRD have been active in advocating for change on these issues.
by Nancy Olson, Palo Alto First United Methodist Women
This last June It did look like we would be seeing the end, or at least the easing, of pandemic restrictions — fewer places where facial masks were required, for example, but now in August it seems we are back to using them again. Vaccines were developed in record time to combat COVID-19. Litter in the time of the pandemic, it turns out, frustratingly defies solution.
A year ago, the idea that disposable face – masks, gloves, and wipes could become global environmental pollutants was not a pressing concern. Personal protective equipment, PPE for short, was seen as essential for preventing the spread of COVID-19. No one imagined just how much of it would be needed, for so long. Then production exploded – and now the litter is inescapable.
by Bonnie Home, Almaden Hills UMW
It isn’t often that the author of our Mission u’s “Leaders Guide” comes to lead that very study for us! So when we gathered on Zoom for our July 23-24 class, we were thrilled that Amanda Meisenheimer, author of the guide for “Bearing Witness in the Kin-dom: Living Into the Church’s Moral Witness Through Radical Discipleship,” would be leading us from New York City!
Gathering Mission u leaders and participants from all over the country on Zoom has been one of the happier unintended consequences of our pandemic lockdown. Class members joined us from all over California and Nevada, and even from Washington state and Missouri. Continue reading
At Climax UMC in Climax, Georgia, exercise group is a lifeline
By Kara Witherow, Editor, South Georgia Advocate
To a handful of women in Climax, Georgia, “yada yada” means anything but boring, predictable talk.
These are the Yada Yadas, a close-knit group of women who have been meeting, praying, and exercising together since 2005. Continue reading