Dear Caldwell,
For the last two Thursdays, Anne and Gail have hosted a welcomed online gathering just to visit and catch up called “Let’s Chat and Chew the Fat.”
It’s been a great chance to see each other in these disembodied pandemic times for the church. If you could use some company or just want to get to know some of our members and newcomers, click below Thursday at 7 pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86917914455?pwd=Vk5OM3Z3RGpjbVB6V1ZQM3ZLQ1lGQT09
Or call in at – 929 205 6099 US
Meeting ID: 869 1791 4455
Passcode: 847239
A Watchful God
I hope for all of us it was a rich and meaningful day off Monday to reflect on how Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. blended his faith with his sense of God’s justice in the world. This morning the staff discussed that tension so many of us feel between the faith, stamina and endurance needed to take the long view of the arc of justice bending while also maintaining an “urgency born of this moment” in what is happening before our eyes in America. (If you haven’t had a chance to partake of the great program Helen Hull and others provided Saturday, you can take it in with a click here.)
That tension between the long-term and the immediate is the way of faith, isn’t it? To persevere (one of the Apostle Paul’s favorite concepts) and trust that the Lord is working all things out … all while avoiding complacency or thinking that we cannot effect peace and justice in our lifetimes. Over it all, our Lord keeps watch, as told in these lyrics of an old spiritual W.E.B. Du Bois quotes in his landmark work, The Souls of Black Folk (1903):
Careless seems the great Avenger,
History’s lessons but record
One death-grapple in the darkness
‘Twixt old systems and the Word;
Truth forever on the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne;
Yet the scaffold sways the future.
And behind the dim unknown
Standeth God within the shadow
Keeping watch above His own. (Lowell)
In the weeks to come, you’ll be hearing more about how we can take our place in the ongoing work of love, healing and justice in multiple directions, including a range of trainings and classes that will be offered in 2022 on our anti-racism journey. Just last week, I wrote to you about the upcoming White Privilege Conference in March and the registration is now live – click here. Be sure to use code PCUSAWPC23 for a 20% discount. If you, your company or organization would like to sponsor the conference, contact me. We are also looking for “goodie” providers – napsack/backpacks, snacks, drinks, etc. – for the youth portion of the conference.
Standing With our Jewish Siblings
Tragically, bigotry takes many forms and erupts in many places, each time breaking God’s heart. I know you join me in both concern and prayer over the hostage event at the Jewish synagogue in Texas and its reminder that anti-semitism is alive and well in the world. My colleague Rabbi Asher Knight at Charlotte’s Temple Beth El shared a compelling commentary with a circle of clergy today and I am glad to pass it along. Click here to read and let us pray ever more fervently that we will get through these days to the time when love conquers hate.
Resurrecting Church
If you’re interested in more conversation about the research in my book or hearing more about what other resurrected, intersectional churches in our denomination are doing, Union Presbyterian Seminary is hosting a 2-session workshop event on the first two Mondays in February. This is a continuing education event for pastors and congregational leaders. The more the merrier, I say. Click here to learn more.
We are keeping Elli Dai, Richard Campbell, Donna Willis, Nancy Nancy, the Martin Family and others in our prayers. And speaking of being watchful, we will be watching the weather for worship decisions later this week.
With our hearts full of both sorry and faith, let us all stand on the scaffold of truth as best we can recognize it, knowing the God watches over us all.
In Christ,
John