The GDD is in full support of the intent of the ERA which is to offer equality of rights under the law regardless of an individual’s sex. The ERA is consistent with the social principals of the United Methodist Church that sets out all forms of discrimination as contrary to the teachings of Christ.
To read the full letter that was sent to President Joe Biden, click here.
Don’t miss the Greater Detroit District U-Nite Youth Lock-In!
Join us January 10-11, 2025, from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. at Eastern Michigan University.
Open to youth in grades 6–12, this event is just $25 per participant, with counselors attending for free!
The night will be packed with sports, arts and crafts, tournaments, Zumba, and endless games—there’s something for everyone.
Plus, support the Greater Detroit District Food Pantry by bringing a non-perishable food item.
For more information, contact Rev. Audrey Magnum at (313) 395-3651 or Ms. Tiali Boayue at (734) 834-0796
The Greater Detroit District (GDD) Refugee Resettlement Program
*The GDD C&S Committee has entered into a refugee resettlement partnership with Samaritas Social Services.
*Samaritas cooperates with the U.S. Department of State in resettling refugee families from counties all over the world.
*Samaritas expects to resettle in Michigan over 3,000 refugees in the 21-month period beginning June 2024.
*The GDD has committed its churches to resettle one refugee family each month beginning in June. In large and small ways, there is an opportunity for all 81 GDD churches to participate in resettling a refugee family.
“Everything is so beautiful.”
On June 24th Naima Alkhalil and her 3 daughters were the first refugee family to be resettled under the GDD Refugee Resettlement Program. GDD volunteers a long with volunteers from Samaritas Social Services and Birmingham Frist UMC (the participating church) completely furnished the family’s first home in America. Having a home in Dearborn Heights is the end of a very long journey for family. They are Syrian refugees who fled their home country during war time and migrated to Turkey. Naima lost her husband, and the children lost their dad, who was a causality of the Syrian war. After all the family has been through, the middle daughter summed up her feelings as she looked over her fully furnished home – “Everything is so beautiful.”
It is a blessing and very rewarding for all of us in the GDD to have the opportunity to offer a helping hand to a refugee family in desperate need of a friend.
In July Cass Community UMC will be the participating church. For information on how you and your church can become involved in the GDD Refugee Resettlement Program, contact Carol Driscoll at [email protected].
Jesus calls us to action in Matthew 22:39: “The second most important commandment is love your neighbor as you love yourself.”
Big Beaver UMC Welcomes a Refugee Family to Their New Home
This October, Troy Big Beaver UMC joyfully resettled the Alhabach family through the Greater Detroit District Refugee Resettlement Program. The Alhabach family, originally from Syria, includes 10 members: Mom, Dad, and their eight children, ages 4 to 15.
With love and care, Big Beaver volunteers worked to furnish the family’s new home, creating a welcoming space filled with hope and comfort. On move-in day, volunteers greeted the family and shared in the excitement of their fresh start.
Since the program’s launch in June, Greater Detroit District churches have resettled over 30 refugees, offering support, compassion, and community to those starting new chapters in their lives.
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We are grateful for the many hands and hearts that make this vital ministry possible. Thank you, Big Beaver UMC, for being a shining example of Christ’s love in action!
Couldn’t attend the Mission u in July? Now is your chance to participate virtually on your own or gather a small group of people from your church as we discuss the 2024 theme of ‘Welcome Home’, a book by Naomi Fletcher.
Together, we will explore how we can know God as an intimate friend who welcomes us while we discover what it means to live in the kin-dom of God and how this helps us develop practices for healthier communities. This inspiring study will be led by Steve Taylor, an active Home Missioner from the North Carolina Conference.
This study will be via ZOOM and will take place on Thursdays in January: 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th from 6:30-9:00 PM.
Lay Servant Ministry classes provide laity with: opportunities for personal growth, knowledge about the United Methodist Church, ways to provide leadership in the church, ideas for enhancing a ministry at your church, and opportunities to begin a new ministry in your church.
Greater Detroit District Church & Society Committee
A Statement of Belief
As United Methodists, we believe scripture affirms that “all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God” (161, Human Sexuality, 2016 The Book of Discipline Social Principles). Therefore, we believe the United Methodist Church (UMC) through its ministries of love, justice, and service must be open, affirming and welcoming to all of God’s children.
Too often, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ+*) persons have been marginalized and excluded from full inclusion in the life of the United Methodist Church. Through words, actions, and inaction, the UMC has contributed to the suffering of LGBTQ+ persons and impeded rather than nurtured their personal relationship with Christ. Jesus demonstrated radical inclusion of those rejected by mainstream society. As followers of Christ, we are called to welcome all persons into the life and ministry of the Church and to celebrate the spiritual gifts of all those who have been baptized into the Body of Jesus Christ.
The United Methodist Church therefore must reject and refuse to accept/tolerate any form of discriminatory action directed at LGBTQ+ people by members of our church leadership and in particular our clergy, given their unique responsibility to reflect by word and action God’s will.
The UMC must not sanction discrimination against any group of persons.
Mark 12:30-31 says, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these.”
There are no exceptions in Christ’s call to love your neighbor.
Adopted by the GDD C&S Committee on March 14, 2024.
Frank Driscoll
Chairperson of the Greater Detroit District Church & Society Committee
*We recognize that terminology regarding sexual identity is both fluid and highly culturally contextual. The choice to use the initialism LGBTQ+ in this statement of belief does not preclude translators or, indeed, individuals from applying timely
Our District Treasurer, Victor Raybaud, has been working on a way for churches to pay their District Ministry Shares online. The Greater Detroit District currently uses the Vanco Payment company to receive and transfer funds. These Vanco tiles have already been used to receive payments for several events over the last year. You may have used one of these tiles if you participated or donated funds to an event (e.g. Hands with Detroit, MLK Scholarship Fund, etc.).
To access the Vanco tile to make a District Ministry Share payment, copy and paste this link into your web browser: https://secure.myvanco.com/L-Z9HV/campaign/C-13RHB
Provide the information that is requested and click the proper option to advance to the next page. The process to submit a payment is quite easy to follow. However, if you would like more detailed instructional information on the steps, please click below for a printable instruction sheet. Should you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for improvements, please send an email to our District Treasurer, Victor Raybaud at [email protected].
New district office hours.
The ‘physical’ Greater Detroit District office hours located at Metropolitan UMC are by appointment only. The District Executive Administrator, Dwanda Hayton’s office hours are Mon.-Thurs. 8am-4pm and 8am-11am Friday. If there is a supervisory emergency, the caller can reach Rev. Totty by phone at: 313-300-3085.
Local Church conferences will be held earlier in 2024.
The District will have a new model for church conferences. We are “Daring to Shift” to a new way of ministry as we engage in Missions and Ministry and work in synergy in connectionism and outreach.
We will start the church conferences in late August or early September. The church conference season will end Oct. 31, 2024 and we will use Zoom to facilitate all meetings. Stay tuned for more details and scheduling. If your church would like to have church conference early in the schedule. Please contact the District Executive Admin. Dwanda Hayton at [email protected] to request an early date in scheduling.
Please start to prepare your church leaders for those conversations around church conference forms.
Is your leadership roster up-to-date in Brick River?
Brick River is the official Michigan Conference database. Please make sure your leadership roster is up-to-date. Click HERE for easy instructions to update local church leadership in Brick River.
A Greater Detroit District Church and Society Committee Action Alert
The Greater Detroit District (GDD) Church and Society Committee joins the voices of the United Nations Secretary – General; the US President, and US allies from the Middle East and around the globe, in calling for the aggressive formulation and prompt implementation of a two-state solution as the only just and viable roadmap to an enduring Middle East peace between Israel and its Middle East neighbors.
This Committee endorses a two-state solution that is in compliance with the 1947 UN General Assembly approved plan to partition Palestine into Arab and Jewish states with international rule over Jerusalem.
We concur with the November 29, 2023, statement when the UN Secretary – General called on the international community to move towards a two-state (Palestine/Israel) solution to the Palestinian – Israeli conflict with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace, with territorial integrity and security. The UN went on to declare that under a two-state solution, Jerusalem would serve as the capital of both states.
We also embrace President Biden’s October 25, 2023 invitation to all involved countries and US allies to support the two-state solution as the only doorway to lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. We call on the President to show strong and assertive leadership to put those words into action.
We call on the United Methodist Council of Bishops, who have condemned the recent attacks in the region, to raise their voice in support of the two-state solution as the only just and viable resolution to the long-standing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Directly email President Biden now https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Or call the White House (202) 456-1111 and our Senators (202) 224-3121
Raise your voice and tell the President to use his immense influence for justice and peace. Too many lives continue to face unimaginable atrocities.
Remain steadfast in our witness and advocacy for peace.
We continue to pray for the innocent civilians, both Israeli and Gazan, many of them women and children, who have suffered incarceration as hostages, dislocation from bombardment, and injury and death as a result of the hostilities.
As United Methodists, “we believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ… As disciples of Christ, we are called to love our enemies, seek justice, and serve as reconcilers of conflict. We insist that the first moral duty of all nations is to work together to resolve by peaceful means every dispute that arises between or among them.” United Methodist Social Principles 165.
