Sierra Leone UMW Banner
Two girls from the United Methodist Girls Secondary School carry an anti-violence banner in the procession of United Methodist Women of the Sierra Leone Annual Conference along the streets of Freetown on July 27. The women, all dressed in black, marched from UMC House — the conference’s head office — to King Memorial United Methodist Church, where United Methodist Women was holding its Western District Annual Convention. (File Photo by Phileas Jusu, UM News)
October was National Domestic Violence Month in the United States. Both Church and Society and United Methodist Women have resources for US Americans to take action on this issue within the United States.
But it is not only in the US that United Methodists are standing against domestic violence and other forms of gender-based violence. Indeed, just within the past year, here is a rundown of countries where there has been news about UMC efforts to combat domestic and gender-based violence:
Democratic Republic of Congo (East Congo Episcopal Area)
Democratic Republic of Congo (South Congo Episcopal Area)
United States (Wisconsin)
Certainly, the members and ministers of The United Methodist Church are not perfect in their gender attitudes in any country. But that should not cause us to overlook what a significant force the UMC is on behalf of the rights of women in many countries, especially across Africa.
[Editor's note: In addition these readings, we recommend the World Council of Churches' anti-gender-based violence campaign known as Thursdays in Black.]
UM & Global blogmaster Dr. David W. Scott serves as Director of Mission Theology at the General Board of Global Ministries. The opinions and analysis expressed here are Dr. Scott's own and do not reflect in any way the official position of Global Ministries. This post is republished with permission from UM & Global, the collaborative blog of United Methodist Professors of Mission.