Engaging Our Congregations
Friends of MOSES at Grace Episcopal Church
By Margaret Irwin
People in our congregations who support the work of MOSES may hesitate to get involved because they are already busy with other commitments. So how do we recruit active members and allies? I started by inviting our Organizer, James Morgan, to speak about MOSES at a Sunday forum. He was enthusiastically received, and some people signed a form indicating an interest in learning more. I wasn’t sure what the next step should be but decided to try an experiment.
I invited people who had signed the form and any other interested folks to come to an informational meeting about MOSES led by Thomas Smith and me. We prepared a handout using materials from the website and MOSES emails that included MOSES’s mission and values and descriptions of both MOSES and WISDOM task forces. We talked briefly about these things, plus the history and structure of MOSES.
We went on to explain the many ways one can support MOSES and emphasized that any type of support is welcome. Our suggestions included: get on the mailing list (secretary.moses.madison@gmail.com); attend a monthly general meeting; keep informed by reading the MOSES newsletter and yearbook; try out a task force or indicate an interest in an operational team; attend Madison Action Day; pray for the work of MOSES; donate money; attend the Gala or another event; check out the website (note – a new website is coming soon); submit a letter to your newspaper; call a legislator; tell a friend about MOSES. Again, we sent around a sign-up sheet from which we have formed an email list. And we named ourselves the Friends of MOSES at Grace.
I am working at doing one-on-ones with the Friends and have already connected one member with the RJAC task force. When an opportunity for participation arises, I let the Friends know. A few folks made contributions through the Big Share day. This initiative shows promise of greater awareness and support of MOSES in our congregation. I would be happy to talk with you if you want to try something similar or if you have ideas to share: mbirwin@charter.net .
Increasing Engagement at Prairie Unitarian Universalist Society
By Pam Gates
Prairie UU has been a member of MOSES since 2013, when a special meeting was held and those present voted unanimously to join. They passed the hat and raised the $200 membership dues at the same meeting!
Staying involved with MOSES has fallen mostly to me, the MOSES rep since that day, but lately there have been signs that interest may be building again, for several possible reasons. First, the problems with Wisconsin’s criminal-legal system are far more in the public eye than they used to be, thanks in part to the work of MOSES and WISDOM over the past ten years. Another reason may be that Trump’s actions have created a great deal of distress, and people are feeling the need to do something. A third reason may be that I have finally come up with some ideas to transmit MOSES concerns that seem to work better than simply leaving yearbooks and newsletters in the lobby. Even mentioning that I’d done that never seemed to generate a lot of response.
Recently, our new minister, our director of religious exploration (kids’ ministry), and I came up with the idea of adding one “MOSES sentence” per week to our Weekly News email. Our administrator was happy to do it and even added a MOSES logo. Here’s a sample: “Did you know … that Blacks make up about 7% of Wisconsin’s population, but about 50% of those incarcerated in this state?”
I also made use of the service auction, which Prairie holds every year as a fund-raiser. Members bid on opportunities or items provided by other members. Last year I extended an invitation to the Gala as my contribution, and two members took me up on it. Our interim minister attended on his own. This year, I will have four Prairie guests at the Gala, and I had two at Madison Action Day. A third signed up but had to work. Altogether, in fact, Prairie had seven people attending Madison Action Day this year, two of them also singing with the Raging Grannies!
Our new minister has made a commitment to attend some general MOSES meetings and has already offered to give a reflection. Sundays are busy days for ministers, and she’s only half-time, but she is clearly interested in the concerns MOSES addresses, which is a definite plus for the Prairie-MOSES connection!