The Eastern PA Conference Committee on Native American Ministries (CONAM) submitted a resolution asking the 2020 Annual Conference to call upon churches to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day annually in October in place of the traditional Columbus Day as an act of justice and respect for indigenous Americans. That resolution must be delayed until 2021, since the streamlined Annual Conference session in October will only address resolutions mandated by the UMC Book of Discipline and essential to the business of the conference.
Your gifts on Native American Ministries Sunday helps support the ministries of the Committee on Native American Ministries in their annual conferences. This offering serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society.
But CONAM is nonetheless making its own appeal to churches to celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on Sunday, Oct. 11, in lieu of Columbus Day on Oct. 12. The substitution is recommended to commemorate the lives, cultures and histories of indigenous people who were tragic victims of Christopher Columbus and other European explorers who brought massive deaths and destruction to the Americas that they claimed to “discover” and went on to conquer and colonize.
CONAM offers a recommended worship liturgy for the Indigenous Peoples Day celebration. “CONAM offers this liturgy, developed by the Episcopal Church in 2016, as a template that churches are free to adapt to their individual needs,” said Sherry Wack, CONAM co-chairwoman.
Download, copy, share and adapt the liturgy.
Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference Website
One of six churchwide Special Sundays with offerings of The United Methodist Church, Native American Ministries Sunday serves to remind United Methodists of the gifts and contributions made by Native Americans to our society. The special offering supports Native American outreach within annual conferences and across the United States and provides seminary scholarships for Native Americans.
When you give generously on Native American Ministries Sunday, you equip seminary students who will honor and celebrate Native American culture in their ministries. You empower congregations to find fresh, new ways to minister to their communities with Christ’s love. Give now.
