This summer you heard a lot from me about the AMOS Convention on August 30 and our goal of showing up together. We had set an ambitious goal: 60 people from Collegiate/Wesley.
We didn’t quite make it. We showed up with 50 people. And I am calling that a huge win, definitely worth celebrating.
Because our being there mattered.
It mattered because 50 people from Collegiate/Wesley added to the organized presence of AMOS at what we believe was the largest nonpartisan gathering of Iowans in this election season. More than 1,100 citizen leaders filled the Horizon Events Center in Clive that afternoon.
It mattered because we weren’t there to hear candidates speak. We were there as organized citizens, bringing issues that had emerged from more than 1,900 conversations with people across AMOS’ 41 member institutions. We advocated directly with candidates and officials with the power to act around the priorities that grew out of those conversations: water quality and Iowa’s cancer rate, work authorization for refugees and DACA recipients, public education funding, rural EMS response times, and a statewide Silver Alert for vulnerable adults. We demanded—and received—concrete commitments from those candidates and officials to work with us on those issues.
That looks like “moving the needle” to me.
I don’t mean that we are going to miraculously solve all those priorities. These are sprawling issues! We have yet to fully articulate what specific positions AMOS will pursue on these matters. That work will unfold in the coming weeks and months. **See next steps below!**
But we went from a thousand people, organized through dozens of churches and other groups, who individually couldn’t possibly get time on the governor’s—or perhaps even our state representatives’—calendars. By organizing ourselves into a coalition of people standing for these AMOS priorities, we became more powerful together than we were before August 30.
We changed the balance of power around the issues that matter to the people represented in that room.
And not only that. We changed the balance of power where Collegiate/Wesley is concerned.
When 50 of us Collegiate/Wesley folks show up together, we are more than just 50 individuals. We become part of something larger. Our presence adds to AMOS’ ability to say to candidates and, eventually, to elected officials: These are issues our people care about. We are organized around them. We are going to keep showing up. And we expect to be part of the conversation about what happens next.
That’s a collective power we have possessed but not recently exercised here at Collegiate/Wesley.
So, yes, I am pretty darn proud of fifty people.
Even not reaching our 60-person goal, I’m proud of that goal! It prompted us to keep talking, and trying, and following up. Our 50-person delegation was the fifth largest among the 39 AMOS institutions represented at the Convention.
That’s a big deal for us. It moves the needle for us as a church.
Collegiate/Wesley has not been deeply active in AMOS for a long time. So this wasn’t simply a matter of maintaining a tradition. We were rebuilding something. We were reminding ourselves—and, I think, reminding AMOS—that Collegiate/Wesley intends to be part of this public work.
There’s one more detail I especially love: 52 people had signed up, but two people who hadn’t signed up showed up anyway.
I love that! We had been working toward a number. We were keeping track. We were encouraging people to sign up.
A handful couldn’t make it on the day. But two of you showed up out of the blue! You got us to 50 representatives, there in that room.
Moving the needle.
That’s a lot to show for a summer Sunday afternoon.
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Whether or not you were able to join in on August 30, we’d love to include you in AMOS’s next steps! Let Pastor Lee know if you’d like to sign up and/or carpool.
Issue Research Action Teams Launch
Saturday, Oct. 3 9-11a.m. at Ankeny Presbyterian Church
Join in as we organize into teams that will identify winnable solutions and follow up with elected officials on our five priority issues: Water quality, Strong public schools, Silver Alert, EMS response times, and Refugee & immigrant workforce.
Get Out the Vote!
Several dates are possible but you can join Pastor Lee on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 2:00 p.m. at Trinity Las Americas UMC, Des Moines
Brief training provided before each nonpartisan walk begins, in a low-election-turnout neighborhood
And right here at Collegiate/Wesley:
Learn More about AMOS Organizing
Tuesday, Oct. 20 6:00-7:30p.m. in Wesley Hall here at CW
Come to learn more about AMOS’ organizing approach and how you can get more involved.
