Endings & Beginnings
Our Proudest Moments of 2024
At the Church Council, celebration is a key component of our organizing strategy. Whether you joined us through Grupo de Solidaridad, the Faith Land Initiative, our Seattle Budget Roundtable, ceasefire organizing, or supported our work through your financial resources, we are thankful for you and inspired by what is possible through the collective power we are building! This E-news, staff share their proudest moments of the past year:
Marina - Immigration Organizing: Our fall forum on "Understanding Forced Migration" was a powerful event led by our Grupo de Solidaridad. In 2024, Grupo identified political education as one of our key organizing strategies, both for migrants to know their rights and for allied communities to learn to be in solidarity with migrant communities. The forum helped attendees to understand the origin of migration, the causes that motivate it, and how we can create a community that welcomes migrants. We ended the evening with three panelists sharing their stories. That takes courage!
We celebrate the leadership of Grupo members, who continue to meet monthly despite the fact that many members have busy jobs. Members have shared that it is a supportive space for their lives, and a great contribution to living independently in the United States. Through Grupo, migrants raise their voices for justice and stay informed as they navigate new realities.
Joey - Seattle Budget Organizing: As we wrap up 2024, I am celebrating the impact of our Seattle Budget Roundtable this fall! Through our budget organizing, we built a city-wide faith coalition that engaged the greater community through education and invitation to strategic advocacy. Week after week, we boldly and visibly declared that "budgets are a moral document", adding our voices to the thousands who demanded that city council prioritize community care over punishment.
As we shared in our recap, city council continued forward in using the JumpStart tax to fill the budget deficit and failed to pass new progressive revenue sources that would help our communities thrive. However, the collective power we built through our consistent presence and strong witness means that we have new leverage as we continue to push city council to listen to the many, not the wealthy few, and to support thriving neighborhoods across the city.
Tara - Finances and Development: I celebrate our network who supports the Church Council through organizing their resources. We would not be here without you! 2024 has been a vital year to dig deeper into our financial history and to create and sustain effective systems that support our stewardship of the Church Council's resources in the years to come. By understanding the trajectory of our financial past, we can better tell the stories of our current realities and make vital strides in shaping a sustainable, mission-driven future.
Janet: We are switching this one up to celebrate Janet! Janet has been our Accountant for over a decade and has been key to sustaining our work as we've gone through various transitions. This year, Janet has helped us make a big shift to a new accounting software and has singlehandedly tackled the sorting of our archives. Thank you Janet for your long dedication to supporting staff in living out our mission and vision!
Saying Goodbye to E.N. West
The end of 2024 also brings the celebration of a long-time staff member. E.N. West, Lead Organizer for the Faith Land Initiative, is transitioning from the Church Council this year. E.N. joined the Church Council in 2017 through the Justice Leadership program of the United Church of Christ, arriving at a critical time in the Church Council's history. We had begun our shift to community organizing in Seattle & King County. E.N.'s contributions over the last seven years have been important in shaping our methodology to where we are today.
E.N. deeply believes “we are uninhibited when we know our power” and is committed to co-creating a world where everyone intimately knows how powerful they are and directs that power toward collective liberation. E.N., along with other organizers over the years, helped envision and build the Faith Land Initiative, which accompanies, facilitates, and convenes faith communities in discernment around stewardship of their land and property. We celebrate all the care and dedication E.N. has brought to our network over the years and wish them well in the places they will go!
What We're Looking Forward to in 2025
2025 is promising to be hard - in so many ways. And yet, there are reasons to find excitement and hope. Staff share:
Marina: I look forward to empowering migrant community members in the face of a second Trump Administration. Migrant community members should know their rights, and lead this work. 2025 will be about amplifying the voices of migrant community leaders and following their leadership!
Joey: At the Church Council, we often talk about the interweavings of our work. Land is connected to migration, is connected to war, is connected our local and national law, is connected to how we spend our money. In the coming year, our communities will be facing renewed fear and uncertainty. I look forward to tapping into the collective power we've been building in order to build a community of care that can withstand these threats and remind us of our inherent worthiness.
Tara: We believe collective power is organized people and organized resources. I'm looking forward to organizing the resources half of this equation to meet the organized people who are engaging in our work toward justice and liberation. Meet me at your favorite coffee shop and let's talk!
Janet: I'm looking forward to building a more stable foundation for the Church Council to continue the wonderful work we're doing, toward a future when justice is realized.