Many of you have already heard of or experienced presentations by Circle of Indigenous Ministry’s Truth Telling work: LINK. Many more have probably never heard of it. The Truth Telling Teams have been together for over two years now! Follow the links to witness the work.
They have researched and shared on Jason Lee, Doe Kag Wats/Indianola, and “Father” Wilbur at Annual Conferences in 2025 and 26 (LINK), as well as, sharing with local churches (Seattle FUMC, Portland FUMC), and with Tribal elders, witnesses, and cultural committees (Suquamish, Grand Ronde and Yakama so far). There are also other Truth Telling teams currently working to research the National Mission Institute and Willamette Valley/Kalapulyan Removal. We are collecting stories from across the Western Jurisdiction to present a larger written report in 2028 and continuing to call the church to transparency.
Together, we lament what we have learned about the United Methodist / Methodist / Methodist Episcopal Church’s complicity and leadership in taking land and resources from Indigenous peoples. We see glimpses that, together, paint a clearer picture, revealing patterns: church leaders, some serving as pastors and missionaries, were often also leaders in government, the military, and education. It would be difficult to argue against discerning that Methodist Episcopal leaders played an integral and leading role in the genocide that happened, and is still happening.
We know from your emails, calls, zooms, conversations, organizing sign up petitions/requests, and invitations to speak, that many of you are lamenting too. And so many of you are asking: so what? We saw many of you at the Annual Conference last summer too, where we began gathering people together to brainstorm and prayerfully discern “So What?” questions together. What is next? How do we help heal? How might we do/be better? Can we have integrity moving forward?
Are you interested in being part of a group who will ask and actively walk together with those questions? Are you interested in continuing to help organize “So What” teams that will move together toward action? You are invited to get involved!
Join a “So What” Conversation via Zoom
We are hosting three conversations over Zoom, each focused on one topic:
Wednesday, November 18th at 6 PM PDT/ 7 PM MDT- Camp Indianola / Doe Kag Wats
Tuesday, December 8th at 5PM PDT/6 PM MDT – Jason Lee
Tuesday December 8th at 6PM PDT/ 7 PM MDT – “Father” Wilbur
Other Ways to Get Involved: Visit our website at https://greaternw.org/circle
To register, email program facilitator, Megean M. Sanchez at msanchez@greaternw.org
Invite us to your church: Invite the Circle and Dr. Rev. Allen Buck to speak at your congregation about Land Genealogy, Truth Telling, and the questions of “So What”.
