Advocacy and Repair Team
The Advocacy and Repair Team (ART) at Assembly Mennonite Church welcomes all who have an interest
in the work of addressing the harm done to Black and Indigenous Peoples in this country.
ART, established in August 2024, is engaged in education/truth telling, advocacy, and relationship
building with Black and Indigenous Peoples. It is affiliated with the national Coalition to Dismantle the
Doctrine of Discovery which calls on the Christian Church to address the extinction, enslavement, and
extraction done in the name of Christ on Indigenous lands and other communities across the country.
Mission and Purpose
* Education and Truth-telling—includes self-education and congregational education about the
ongoing history of White supremacy in the U.S.; especially regarding the legacy of slavery, racial
terror, and economic exploitation of Black people; and the legacy of removal, slaughter, and
interment of Indigenous Peoples.
* Advocacy—includes taking action to effect public opinion and public policy in support of
repairing harm done in the past and currently to Black and Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. ART
supports the work of the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery and the actions of
other local and national groups and movements in repairing the legacy of harm and neglect
effecting Black and Indigenous Peoples.
* Relationship-building—includes being open to (but not requiring) relationships with groups who
receive reparation funds from Assembly and other Black and Indigenous organizations. Such
relationships might involve invitations to speak (with honorarium), possible visits with those
groups, and/or an invitation to let us know of additional actions we might take to support their
work.
Activities since August 2024 through January 2026
* Speakers at Assembly on a Sunday
* Artist Jake Webster
* Mac McNeil, National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Executive Director of their Community Development Fund
* Breanna Allen, Executive Director of Elkhart’s Tolson Center
* George and Pat Godfrey of Citizen Potawatomi Nation in community wide weekend series of educational events about the Trail of Death.
* Arden Shank, Assembly member, Tolson Center board member, National Community Reinvestment Coalition board member
* Connecting with Community
* Members visited the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana in Peru, IN and toured their headquarters, including their museum
* Some members attended the Tolson Center’s open house events
* Some members attended the book release party for “What Happened at Benham West?”
* Some members planned and led a communitywide dedication of the Trail of Death signage on Assembly’s grounds
* Co-sponsored The Last Class, a film about Robert Reich’s class Wealth and Poverty
* Some members actively support the Shinnecock Indian Nation of Long Island, NY and have visited leaders there
* A member has been very involved in supporting the campaign to stand with the Apache Stronghold in Oak Flat, Arizona in the Tonto National Forest
* A member is actively involved with the Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery
* Supported AMC’s Reparations Committee in sending reparations payments to the Tolson Center, the Miami Nation of Indians of Indiana, and the Miami Nation of Indians of Oklahoma with a presence in Fort Wayne
* A member prepared four lectures for a four session class for Goshen’s Lifelong Learning Institute on Race, Wealth and Power and later led another similar event at Reba Place
Church in Evanston, IL
* Members visited the Koinonia Indian Mennonite Church in Clinton, OK and were gifted a hand beaded cross created by the minister at the Northern Cheyenne Mennonite Church
* Members participated in Global Day of Action protest on January 17, 2026, and other protests such as No Kings Day.
To learn more, contact Karl Shelly, the pastor relating to the Advocacy and Repair Team.