Developing and supporting leaders is the key work of MACG.  It puts us solidly in the middle of the grassroots effort to strengthen Democracy that’s moved across the country in the past months.  

MACG’s Delegate Assembly drew 50 people to an invigorating evening of action and learning on October 25.   Thank you to Spirit of Grace Church in Beaverton for hosting.

OHSU Health Equity Circle students from the OHSU School of Nursing made an exciting progress report.  Students and faculty have been working for months on a bill to address the health impact on non-English speaking immigrant communities caused by English-only labeling on medications. Patients cause harm to their bodies or fail to alleviate their symptoms when they do not take their medications correctly.

Last winter and spring, MACG held a formal listening campaign, asking our member institutions to conduct one to ones and group discussions to find out what problems were concerning our community and where they might be willing to work.

On April 28^th, we held a Next Directions Assembly (see photos here) to discern what were the most broadly felt issues and where we had the most motivated leaders. There was strong turnout: 20 of the 25 MACG member institutions were represented and over 100 MACG leaders attended.

From that process, leaders settled on five research action teams focused on the top issue areas, four of which were formally launched at the June 28th Delegate Assembly.  Here is what each team has been up to:

Stan Aschenbrenner, member of Lake Oswego United Methodist Church, and longtime MACG leader, died on August 11th at the age of 89.

Stan brought commitment, passion, warmth, and wisdom to our work, always inspiring our gatherings with his thoughtful and motivating remarks and his tireless action.

A way churches can become part of the solution to houselessness in Clackamas County.

In our end of the year MACG news round-up we sent last week, we forgot to mention one important win:

Gov. Kate Brown signed SB 360 into law in July, which allows former prisoners to pay some court-related fees back through performing community service.

Sen. Lew Frederick agreed to introduce the bill after hearing stories PHOENIX Rising Transition members told about post-prison financial burdens at the 2015 MACG listening campaign.

The end of 2017 has been full of action for MACG and our work for the common good.

As a start, two new institutions joined MACG from Clackamas and Washington counties, increasing MACG’s regional power.

Please join us in welcoming our new leaders from St. Andrew Lutheran Church and St. Paul's United Methodist!