Come to Advocacy Day on March 12 and stay for a new afternoon training, which will allow you to organize around immigration and other critical issues.
JAMES DEATON
Content Editor
On March 12, Michigan United Methodists and friends will gather in Lansing for Advocacy Day 2025 to learn the basics of advocacy work, conduct respectful dialogue with elected officials, and make positive changes for the common good. Participants will discover tools they can utilize for advocacy work at the local, state, and national levels.
Each year, Advocacy Day organizers choose a state issue with bipartisan support, offering an opportunity to build bridges and have a lasting impact. This year, participants will advocate for needed modifications to state auto insurance laws enacted in 2019, which have created a crisis in access to care. Click here to learn more about this year’s topic and to register.
You can still register for Advocacy Day, and walk-ups are welcome, but late registrants will not receive lunch and will be unable to meet with their lawmakers. Click here to register.
In addition to the hands-on advocacy work meeting with state legislators, a new afternoon session led by the Michigan Conference Board of Justice has been added for those wanting to meet with other justice seekers on critical issues at the national level, such as immigration and environmental justice.
The training session — “Continuing Conversation for Compassion, Mercy, and Justice” — will be held at 2 pm following worship at Lansing: Central UMC (click to view the day’s schedule). Rev. Haley Hansen and Rev. Kristi Hintz, co-chairs of the Board of Justice, along with Rev. Alice Fleming Townley, consulting coordinator of Advocacy Day, will lead this session.
The three facilitators will first provide tips on advocating for justice in chaotic times and learning how to tap into passion around an issue and find community needed for support. Then, they will break everyone up into small groups based on the justice issue they are passionate about.
Representatives from each of the Board of Justice task forces will lead these groups:
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- Environmental Justice
- Gun Safety
- Immigration Justice
- Justice in the Middle East
In addition to these justice issues, space will be made for other interest groups to organize.
Rev. Townley explained further the desire of Advocacy Day planners to pay attention to the Holy Spirit’s leading: “This year, many of us are overwhelmed by the number of critical issues on our minds. None of us have a magic wand. The key to advocacy with lawmakers is still to focus on relationship building and communicate on one issue at a time. However, this new session will focus on centering and coalition building on additional topics. Leaders will be at tables around the fellowship hall to host discussions. Let us use this time to support one another in building communities of compassion, mercy, and justice.”
The two Board of Justice co-chairs echoed the need for organization at this key moment in time. Rev. Hintz commented, “We are grateful for this space that has been created to explore additional emerging justice issues. We encourage Advocacy Day participants to engage with this additional opportunity for learning and network building. We are grateful to our task force chairs for their leadership.”
Rev. Hansen concluded, “We hope this time can help people build relationships within the conference and beyond. Peace and justice work is never a solo endeavor — we need each other now more than ever.”
Last Updated on March 3, 2025