Stephen Drachler is executive director of United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania. UM AdvocacyPA is one of only two statewide United Methodist advocacy groups in the nation that focuses on educating state legislators and the governor to see their work through the lens of the denomination’s Social Principles. The other state is Iowa.
A board of directors representing the United Methodist conferences in Pennsylvania governs UMAdvocacyPA. It is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a tax-exempt organization, and the executive director is registered as a lobbyist with the Pennsylvania Department of State.
With 2,400 congregations in neighborhoods and communities across Pennsylvania and upwards of a half-million members, United Methodists have a potent voice. Pennsylvania’s bishops in 1985 started organizing A United Methodist Witness in Pennsylvania to educate and advocate on behalf of the church in the halls of the State Capitol in Harrisburg.
In 2009, the name was changed our name to United Methodist Advocacy to more closely reflect its purpose: education and advocacy based on the United Methodist interpretation of the Bible and the denomination’s Social Principles.
UM Advocacy efforts bear fruit only when grassroots United Methodists organize to tell their elected officials of the church’s perspective on legislation. It is vital for United Methodists learn about issues, and then pass on the results of what they learn to their elected representatives.
By:
Stephen Drachler
on
4/3/2012
Nearly every time United Methodist Advocacy in Pennsylvania takes a public position on an issue before lawmakers or the governor of Pennsylvania, executive director Steve Drachler gets calls and emails saying he has no business telling government officials what they should do. The group has been accused of being partisan--by those on both sides of the aisle and by governors of both parties. Drachler says there are days he wishes Jesus were governor.
