• By RJ Walters, Editor •
Instead of talking about the decline of the United Methodist Church, tangible evidence of growth and vitality were presented by United Methodist Communications and Justice For Our Neighbors at Saturday morning’s plenary session.
Jennifer Rodia, the Director of Brand Engagement for United Methodist Communications, said while “an exact number cannot be agreed upon, Americans are bombarded by roughly 3,000 messages per day” and more and more of them are distinctly United Methodist.
The ongoing Rethink Church campaign launched 24 events, mobilized 20,000 volunteers and impacted more than 1 million lives in 2010.
The transformation is not just nationally, but also locally, Rodia stated.
She said United Methodist Communications bought and placed specific radio and electronic advertising in metro areas throughout Michigan, highlighting Change the World — the denomination’s community outreach weekend on May 14-15.
The results speak for themselves.
“We are still five days out from the official results, but as of right now the state of Michigan had the fourth highest number of churches registered to participate, so thanks for taking on the challenge,” she said.
Paul Perez, regional coordinator for Justice For Our Neighbors of Southeastern Michigan, spoke of similar progress being made by the organization that provides immigrants free legal council around the state.
Earlier this month JFON SEMI officially opened its third Detroit Conference clinic, at Ypsilanti First United Methodist Church.
Perez also celebrated the positive impact of volunteer and communications coordinator intern Joseph Bradley — who he refers to as “Mr. Cambodia — and Ellie Levine, who JFON SEMI hired as its full-time attorney in June 2010.
Prior to beginning her legal career Ellie performed volunteer services in the Northern Volta Region of Ghana and interned with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Social Justice Unit in Sydney, Australia.
“The World is our parish and Michigan is our mission,” Perez said. “Ellie has served people from 32 different countries, just in Metro Detroit.”
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